To start: I don’t think I know anybody who can talk about their “A” game without sounding pompous. Hopefully this won’t sound overly pompous and will actually be useful. What I sincerely hope is that people talk about how to defeat my kind of “A” game so that readers will learn more than just “stretch […]
Author Archive
Preparing for my “A” Game – Wistric 1 comment
Preparing for my “A” game – Dante 1 comment
Ed: With Ruby Joust this weekend, we thought we’d give a little insight into tourney mindset, starting with Dante di Pietro’s discussion of his mental state before, during, and after a fight. Good luck at Ruby, everybody! First, let me define what I mean when I am speaking about my “A” game. I think […]
The Only Four Actions you will Ever Need 2 comments
I am, I think, when bored or feeling mischievous given to relying on axioms that may or may not be completely accurate, or contain all the necessary nuance to enable true understanding (for instance, “Point control is a myth”). Sometimes the point is to elicit questions that bring enlightenment. Usually the point is to provide […]
Weekly Warfare – 3 – Fighting strength Leave a comment
Ed: In the third part of the series, Iskender discusses weight training. In my first article, I briefly mentioned strength. Strength can be divided into two categories – how much mass you can move, and how fast you can move it. This article will discuss how you can move more mass. It will be geared […]
Weekly Warfare Fitness – 2 – Fueling your fighting Leave a comment
Ed: This week brings the second part of Iskender Bey’s series on fitness and conditioning for fencing. There are a number of factors which will affect your performance in the Society’s martial endeavors. Some of these aren’t in your control – the terrain and its condition, the condition of your opponent(s) & their weapons, etc. […]
Symptoms and causes of common technical issues 3 comments
Ruairc suggested a sort of cheat-sheet for fixing common problems fencers encounter. Wistric found hisself unable to sleep, awake at 5am, and two or three soporific beverages into his attempt to achieve sleep, when he decided he would provide said cheat-sheet. Here you go… I have bad point control You have bad form My […]
Weekly Warfare Fitness – 1 – Terminology & Getting Started 4 comments
Ed: This week brings the start of a series of articles from Baron Iskender (formerly Alejandro). Mundanely, he’s coached and coaches college fencing and rugby. Now, he’s agreed to share some of his knowledge with us. In the far misty time of our ancestors, say about 1980 through 1995, concepts of preparing your body for any […]
Second Giganti IV: Cuts to the sword (Giganti on melee) Leave a comment
Between the sections on defense against cuts and the use of passing steps in a fight, Giganti pauses to include a “preface<sic> to the reader on the nature of cuts”. It’s three pages, with no plates, but does set forth two pieces of advice. The first is that cuts are not good contratempo responses to […]
Second Giganti III: Defense Against Cuts to the Leg 2 comments
Giganti’s system for defense against low-line cuts is fairly simple, though laid out over three plates mostly for reinforcement. As he instructs in his first book, the best defense is to stab your opponent in the face as he primes the cut. This works when your sword is not already engaged, so in his second […]
Second Giganti II: Voids against cuts Leave a comment
Giganti offers a second defensive alternative to cuts against the head roughly described as “don’t be there”. In contrast to the parries, the void leaning backwards provides for two responses, one a bit more contratempo than the other. Both options proceed from the void. Against either the mandritto or the roverscio, simply lean your torso […]