He has been practicing freestyle fencing and test cutting with my friends in Guangzhou, besides his usual kendo practice. Thus he is very used to real sword weight and balance, plus the full body targeting rules. Many sword friends in China has been hoping to see my bout with him one day, and the day has come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIEkWwjUyA8

And here is the "King of the hill" bout where he easily won 11 times straight, reaching our best record here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak8ZlBMRntU

Looks like fun! It reminds me of my high school days!

General impressions:

I notice a lot of waving of his sword and some attacks initiated way out of measure ? I'm guessing that he was attempting to have you react to a false attack and for him to take advantage of a mistake, but I think that it wasn't working with you because you can't be easily baited into reacting to what isn't a real threat, and even more so when it's clearly out of measure ! ( This sort of reminds me of boxer bobby and weaving and done for the same reasons ).

An in measure or just a tiny bit out of measure a " fake attack " might trigger a defensive " Panic " reflex before one could think better of it !

In any case this works a lot better with someone not as good at reading the actual intentions of his opponent.

I'm not very familiar with Kendo but I think I remember seeing a lot of this twitching and constant movement of the shinai to either cause a predictable attack or cause a prudent opponent to disregard the twitching and then end up not reacting to a real attack in measure.

I could be wrong but like with European modern Olympic style fencing the fencing is very linear with no side steppin out of line, and it may be hard to break out of deeply ingrained sports fencing habits when all targets are fair targets and one is free to move as one wishes.

Oh, he does seem to adapt and the exchanges toward the end of the first video are much more equal.

There where also a fair number of dual kills, or very near dual kills !

Now, in the second video against your students he basically owns them, and his tactics of eliciting reflex defensive reactions that end up being the wrong thing to do seemed to work much better than when duelling against you !?

I think he basically out times them ?

Again correct me if I'm analyzing the videos incorrectly ...... In a way it's for me very useful to learn if I'm analyzing fencing bouts correctly and it would be as useful to know when I'm misinterpreting things.

He actually sparred with the students and his friend first in that "king of the hill bout". Then I sparred with one of the visitors, there were three of them, which is this bout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpKbIimrugY

Then I sparred with Ken which you watched, without break in between. Then I sparred one more also without break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIc6Zsr0Oi0

So I sparred them straight. Exhaustion is a factor here. :)

Otherwise all your analysis is correct. :D You always do very well analysis.

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

General impressions: I notice a lot of waving of his sword and some attacks initiated way out of measure ? I'm guessing that he was attempting to have you react to a false attack and for him to take advantage of a mistake, but I think that it wasn't working with you because you can't be easily baited into reacting to what isn't a real threat, and even more so when it's clearly out of measure ! ( This sort of reminds me of boxer bobby and weaving and done for the same reasons ). An in measure or just a tiny bit out of measure a " fake attack " might trigger a defensive " Panic " reflex before one could think better of it ! In any case this works a lot better with someone not as good at reading the actual intentions of his opponent. I'm not very familiar with Kendo but I think I remember seeing a lot of this twitching and constant movement of the shinai to either cause a predictable attack or cause a prudent opponent to disregard the twitching and then end up not reacting to a real attack in measure. I could be wrong but like with European modern Olympic style fencing the fencing is very linear with no side steppin out of line, and it may be hard to break out of deeply ingrained sports fencing habits when all targets are fair targets and one is free to move as one wishes. Oh, he does seem to adapt and the exchanges toward the end of the first video are much more equal. There where also a fair number of dual kills, or very near dual kills ! Now, in the second video against your students he basically owns them, and his tactics of eliciting reflex defensive reactions that end up being the wrong thing to do seemed to work much better than when duelling against you !? I think he basically out times them ? Again correct me if I'm analyzing the videos incorrectly ...... In a way it's for me very useful to learn if I'm analyzing fencing bouts correctly and it would be as useful to know when I'm misinterpreting things.

Well, fatigue affects what one can do physically and a tired mind can feel burned out with information overload and make bad decisions or even freeze for fractions of a second !

The first video in the preceding post seems to show two fighters near equally matched, management of distance and measure is very sensitive to the other's footwork.

You do at times make a few very very wide overextended cuts but these seem to not have made you too vulnerable due to quick footwork to be out of measure and a quick recovery to a guard ..... Basically you used the momentum to return to a guard instead of using short swings stopping your sword in a still menacing direction.

Both methods can work I think depending on measure which is faster or safer ?

There is at least once where after a one handed maximum range cut you sort of spin around and expose you back ! I interpret this as you perceiving the exchange to be finished and your'e not still actively bouting ? Sort of going back to your corner before bouting again ..... ;) :lol:

Your opponent does charge in and takes you by surprise when you are very open and does a very good hit .... This is the one where he after loses his footing and fall to the ground.

In the second video there are a few very good " Kills " on each side, but a lot of near simultanous kills.

Yes, I try to keep him guessing whether the next strike will be large or small, so I don't just go for "faster" move but also "slower" move. Timing wise, as long as he got it wrong, the strike will hit. It is not always racing for the faster.

As of the spin, I know it wasn't finish. The spin was used to get out of the way using the momentum of the cut.

The last video showed me in "whatever" state lol since it was the third guy I sparred straight. And he's a blind aggressive one, thus more double kill.

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

Well, fatigue affects what one can do physically and a tired mind can feel burned out with information overload and make bad decisions or even freeze for fractions of a second ! The first video in the preceding post seems to show two fighters near equally matched, management of distance and measure is very sensitive to the other's footwork. You do at times make a few very very wide overextended cuts but these seem to not have made you too vulnerable due to quick footwork to be out of measure and a quick recovery to a guard ..... Basically you used the momentum to return to a guard instead of using short swings stopping your sword in a still menacing direction. Both methods can work I think depending on measure which is faster or safer ? There is at least once where after a one handed maximum range cut you sort of spin around and expose you back ! I interpret this as you perceiving the exchange to be finished and your'e not still actively bouting ? Sort of going back to your corner before bouting again ..... ;) :lol: Your opponent does charge in and takes you by surprise when you are very open and does a very good hit .... This is the one where he after loses his footing and fall to the ground. In the second video there are a few very good " Kills " on each side, but a lot of near simultanous kills.

I always enjoy watching your videos Lancelot! Thanks for sharing them. I always wonder if the people in the nearby buildings enjoy watching these bouts...