http://youtu.be/ItwJPDBShuA
Keith Chow was test cutting newspapers rolls with windlass 15th century longsword and katana.
http://youtu.be/rotweb6oqXw
Dicky Lei test cut under heavy rain with katana.
http://youtu.be/ZEe1DLJN6f0
Keith with longsword practiced sparring with Lancelot, under lightning storm, strong wind and horizontal rain!
http://youtu.be/CzZ4DtI7MeM
Dicky with katana practiced sparring with Lancelot for 30 rounds after the rainstorm.
Both of them were from the same Japanese swordsmanship school, while they also practiced Chinese martial arts. Keith has fencing background as well. Keith had won our 2nd private tourney before.
Glad to see that nobody was blown off the roof by the wind or electrocuted by lightning or something. ;) :D
( At least not steel swords at a high place in an electrical storm. ;) :lol: :cool: )
In general you seem to be outiming and maybe outranging in most of the exchanges/bouts and dominating the fights rarely loosing the initiative. ( True for almost all of your bouting I have seen in the past. :cool: ).
You also seems to use some good work in the bind, although at high speeds this is much more challenging to apply in the " blur " of very fast action.
I often wonder how I would fare in a bout against you mostly because I'm not used to being able to hit with full force and speed because of having to be " sane " when using a wooden waster or steel blunts: Having a safe to use sword simulator at full force does change the timing and need to be explosive without telegraphing and not overpower blows i.e. be able to strike at full force but also keep the point menacing and all the possible play at the sword.
One thing though is that repeating bouts with very little time between bouts tend to encourage a "reset " mentality rather than a prudent one if one was fighting trying to imagine and act as if one was facing something sharp ..... a serious fight would involve a lot of prudence alternating with explosive attacks when one felt intuitively the timing for any attack.
On the other hand, one does want to have fun, and it does look like very seductively fun. ;) :D
( At least not steel swords at a high place in an electrical storm. ;) :lol: :cool: )
In general you seem to be outiming and maybe outranging in most of the exchanges/bouts and dominating the fights rarely loosing the initiative. ( True for almost all of your bouting I have seen in the past. :cool: ).
You also seems to use some good work in the bind, although at high speeds this is much more challenging to apply in the " blur " of very fast action.
I often wonder how I would fare in a bout against you mostly because I'm not used to being able to hit with full force and speed because of having to be " sane " when using a wooden waster or steel blunts: Having a safe to use sword simulator at full force does change the timing and need to be explosive without telegraphing and not overpower blows i.e. be able to strike at full force but also keep the point menacing and all the possible play at the sword.
One thing though is that repeating bouts with very little time between bouts tend to encourage a "reset " mentality rather than a prudent one if one was fighting trying to imagine and act as if one was facing something sharp ..... a serious fight would involve a lot of prudence alternating with explosive attacks when one felt intuitively the timing for any attack.
On the other hand, one does want to have fun, and it does look like very seductively fun. ;) :D
Thanks for your kind words and blessings. Hhahaha
We actually witnessed many bolts of lightening coming down from the sky during our bouts, and the test cut. We just simply told ourselves "it ain't gonna hit us, it ain't gonna hit us" when Dicky raised the katana in high guard position.
For range, Keith's sword is slightly longer than mine and mine being longer than Dicky's. I just used a well measured distance to allow myself enough time to react to their actions.
You're right. Being in full speed, full force can lead to differences. And with the sword weights being so different apart also plays a bit part in the bout. You can see I how I broke through their guards sometimes, even when my sword was already stationary on theirs. I just suddenly put my weight on my sword and crush through their defense.
I agree with you about the "reset" mentality. We used to spar in a "king of the hill" style where 1 hit takes you back to the queue and that caused the players to become more careful. However, for developing skills and experimenting tactics, being able to test again and again consistently helps better. :D
We actually witnessed many bolts of lightening coming down from the sky during our bouts, and the test cut. We just simply told ourselves "it ain't gonna hit us, it ain't gonna hit us" when Dicky raised the katana in high guard position.
For range, Keith's sword is slightly longer than mine and mine being longer than Dicky's. I just used a well measured distance to allow myself enough time to react to their actions.
You're right. Being in full speed, full force can lead to differences. And with the sword weights being so different apart also plays a bit part in the bout. You can see I how I broke through their guards sometimes, even when my sword was already stationary on theirs. I just suddenly put my weight on my sword and crush through their defense.
I agree with you about the "reset" mentality. We used to spar in a "king of the hill" style where 1 hit takes you back to the queue and that caused the players to become more careful. However, for developing skills and experimenting tactics, being able to test again and again consistently helps better. :D
| Jean Thibodeau wrote: |
| Glad to see that nobody was blown off the roof by the wind or electrocuted by lightning or something. ;) :D
( At least not steel swords at a high place in an electrical storm. ;) :lol: :cool: ) In general you seem to be outiming and maybe outranging in most of the exchanges/bouts and dominating the fights rarely loosing the initiative. ( True for almost all of your bouting I have seen in the past. :cool: ). You also seems to use some good work in the bind, although at high speeds this is much more challenging to apply in the " blur " of very fast action. I often wonder how I would fare in a bout against you mostly because I'm not used to being able to hit with full force and speed because of having to be " sane " when using a wooden waster or steel blunts: Having a safe to use sword simulator at full force does change the timing and need to be explosive without telegraphing and not overpower blows i.e. be able to strike at full force but also keep the point menacing and all the possible play at the sword. One thing though is that repeating bouts with very little time between bouts tend to encourage a "reset " mentality rather than a prudent one if one was fighting trying to imagine and act as if one was facing something sharp ..... a serious fight would involve a lot of prudence alternating with explosive attacks when one felt intuitively the timing for any attack. On the other hand, one does want to have fun, and it does look like very seductively fun. ;) :D |
| Lancelot Chan wrote: |
| You can see I how I broke through their guards sometimes, even when my sword was already stationary on theirs. I just suddenly put my weight on my sword and crush through their defense.
|
When they are weak in the bind " push through ": I found that it's good to start by assuming they are weak in the bind, if I am correct I can hit them right away and win, if I am incorrect and they are hard in the bind I can't get through their guard but now I know for sure that they are hard in the bind and I can double or use other means to get around their hard/stiff unmoving block or break away from an active push by them by using Durchwechseln using fûhlen.
Experimenting with my sword master a few years ago we found that assuming that the opponent is soft in the bind work better than trying to decide what to do after one has determined if he is soft or hard in the bind: Doing this either gives one an instant win or convinces the opponent to become hard in the bind and one is already ahead of the opponent in anticipating what he can and most probably do.
Obviously this is easier said than done against an equally skilled of more skillful opponent, and I'm much better at explaining it than doing it ..... ;) :D :cool:
Anyway, I think that you are already doing some of this in addition to being in control of measure/distance and timing: An opponent to be successful against you has to sneak into range before you notice that they are now in time of the hand, not easy to do when you have a superior sense of measure to most ! ;) :cool:
Mastery and application of the basic core principles is more important than the number of " tricks/techniques " one knows: The best technique fails if the core principles are not used or not undestood/applied.
I totally agree with you about "always assuming oneself being weak" first, so I don't waste any moment struggling in a bind situation. This is how I taught my students too. Because it was obvious that if they assume they were the stronger one, they get stuck there for a long while (longer than one realizes). So when they assume they were weaker, they would seek another opening right way and have a faster reaction time. :D
| Lancelot Chan wrote: |
| I totally agree with you about "always assuming oneself being weak" first, so I don't waste any moment struggling in a bind situation. This is how I taught my students too. Because it was obvious that if they assume they were the stronger one, they get stuck there for a long while (longer than one realizes). So when they assume they were weaker, they would seek another opening right way and have a faster reaction time. :D |
Actually, what I meant something different, although I agree that the approach you use is also valid the way you use the words weak as in not as physically strong as your opponent. ( Or maybe using the expression strong fighter meaning more skillful ??? ).
What I was talking about was the German Liechtenauer concept of being weak in the bind meaning can be pushed away easily versus being hard in the bind meaning the opponent is either static and firm or actively pushing your sword in the bind after a parry. ( Being weak in the bind has nothing to do with being stronger but only how much one is pushing with the sword, weak just means that the sword is in contact with your sword, but so softly that it's easy to push it aside ).
If the opponent is weak in the bind you just attack and push through since he is not giving resistance to your'e reaching him with your blade.
If he is hard in the bind you can't just push through, but you can take advantage of his overcommitted pressure on your blade to leave the bind safely and attack from another angle.
If he is just statically firm you can double or wind.
Now the way to deal with a soft bind and a hard bind is different so you need to feel if he is weak or strong in the bind.
The approach I speak of is you test if he is weak or strong by first acting as if he is weak, if he is weak you push through displace his sword and hit him, but if he is strong in the bind you immediately feel it and transition to the options to deal with the opponent being strong in the bind.
The main thing is you don't contact his sword, and take/waste time to find out passively if he is strong or weak in the bind, you take and maintain the initiative by forcing him into being strong if you haven't already killed him ;) ( Actively trying to defend and push/parry your sword away )
Since you are both testing the bind and forcing him to defend at the same time you have the advantage in reaction time by forcing a response you already have a plan to defeat.
By the way, most times people are weak in the bind at the end of a parry or attack in a spent condition where they haven't yet decided on their next move. ( When indecisive or between decisions they are usually weak in the bind ).
Those who overcommit and strongly push at your sword are strong in the bind so obviously that one feels it immediately and one can use their pressure on your sword to accelerate your sword to attack safely from another direction since they have made it safe for you to do so as their edge and point is not an immediate danger to you.
I think any confusion is due to the way the words weak and strong when defining the nature of the bind is used in a technically specialized way and have nothing to do about who is stronger if both are trying at the same time to push as hard as possible.
The concepts are similar to these quoted from Wing Chun:
| Quote: |
| Uncommitted techniques
Wing Chun techniques are uncommitted. This means that if the technique fails to connect, the practitioner's position or balance is less affected. If the attack fails, the practitioner is able to "flow" easily into a follow-up attack. All Wing Chun techniques permit this. Any punches or kicks can be strung together to form a "chain" of attacks. According to Wing Chun theory, these attacks, in contrast to one big attack, break down the opponent gradually causing internal damage. Chained vertical punches are a common Wing Chun identifier. [edit]Trapping skills and sensitivity The Wing Chun practitioner develops reflexes within the searching of unsecured defenses through use of sensitivity. Training through Chi Sao with a training partner, one practices the trapping of hands. When an opponent is "trapped", he or she becomes immobile. |
So it is similar and can be compared in principle to the sensitivity to pressure of trappings of hands but with blades making the contact.
I got your meaning now. Good advice that I shall pass on to my students. You're totally correct that the test does not have to be done in the actual bind but in the first few contacts. Thanks for your tips! :D
Page 1 of 1
You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
All contents © Copyright 2003-2006 myArmoury.com — All rights reserved
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Full-featured Version of the forum
Discussion forums powered by phpBB © The phpBB Group
Switch to the Full-featured Version of the forum