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 […]
Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category
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 […]
Tournament Structure/Rulesets Conducive to HMA Study 6 comments
Rory put forth the observation that the HEMA community is much troubled by what the “best” tournament format is, and long debate between entrenched positions as to what’s wrong with every current format (see: Sayre’s Law). It starts with the assumption that there is an optimal format, or at least a universally least-bad format. That […]
On University, and New Folks 7 comments
A week ago, I went to University to teach some classes. (Gawin was supposed to come co-teach, but life intervened.) Our classes were three: Rapier Melee Fundamentals – providing a mental framework for new fighters to process melee, based on how my own brain works in melee. When in measure, focus on swords: stymie threats, […]
Learning Without A Teacher Leave a comment
Get a copy of the Thibault manual. It was written specifically for someone with no instructor. The end. Of course, that may not be an option for you; perhaps you have your heart set on some other style, or perhaps you’re vehemently opposed to right angles. For whatever reason, you want to study something else, […]