[Jeroen Averhals]

Best wishes to everyone,

I've been training western swordmanship for three years on a weekly base but recently I've got another job and it is impossible to train every week. Still I want to keep my swordmanship at the same level so I do a lot of solo exercises at home.
I mostly practise the moulinette-strikes (slow with a lot of attention to the footwork), changing guards with the proper footwork and hitting the pell for sword-control (full force strike at the pell and only touching it lightly).

Do you know any other solo drills I can do at home?

Thanks,

Jeroen Averhals

[Bill Grandy]

Hi Jeroen,
What style of swordsmanship? There are some drills which are better for certain styles than others.

Other than that, target practice is always good: Practice thrusts against a marked target, divide your pell into quadrants, etc. Go through the plays of whatever style you practice without a weapon in hand, then later with the weapon in hand. Drill in front of a mirror. And certainly don't forget the physical fitness aspect: Aerobic exercise, push ups, etc.

[Jeroen Averhals]

The styles I train are bastard sword and scottish baskethilted broadsword with shield/dagger.

With the bastard sword we train both german and italian moves.

thanks,

Jeroen Averhals