I often remark that Giganti leaves nuance aside (having addressed theory sufficiently in the first six pages of his first book) and just tells you what to do. His section on attacking with passing steps starts with the same approach: “If your enemy attacks… you can pass with your foot if you know how to […]
Archive for May 2014
Second Giganti V: Parrying with dagger while passing 3 comments
Practicing Principles Leave a comment
A lot of our pre-melee discussion, in Atlantia and elsewhere, seems to center on assigning people to various roles. Where do we put the junior fighters? Where do we put the senior fighters? Who’s in command? Everyone together? Specialized units? I think Windmasters’ Hill has it right: everyone should be capable everywhere. We shouldn’t ask […]
Applied Principles: Awareness, comma, Situational Leave a comment
This is the last of the core skillsets for melee fighters within my framework. There’s plenty more to melee, of course, but as with tournament fencing, a lot of it is simply refining these basics. This section is also on the shakiest ground, as I’ve mostly moved beyond the hard truths contained in measure, tempo, […]
Preparing for my “A” Game – Wistric 1 comment
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 […]
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 […]
Applied Principles: Maneuver and Cohesion Leave a comment
We’re starting to push up against the limits of these simplified principles, but we can go a little further. In a melee, units form into lines precisely because it is a very safe formation (at least, at first glance). It’s hard for anyone, on either side, to attack effectively, so everyone is pretty safe. Cohesion […]
Applied Principles: The 2v1 Leave a comment
These simplified Italian principles give junior-level fighters a way to process the chaos of melee, to focus their limited Attention in the right places, and to interpret the fight from the sidelines. However, to build up from individual swords and individual actions to a full melee, we’re going to have to add more people. Principles […]
Principles of Melee, Mk. 2 10 comments
I’m teaching a class at Sergeants & Scholars next week. Might as well lay it out here, for my benefit and yours. This will also allow me to expound on a few tangential topics and theoretical underpinnings, while I’ll have to keep things relatively short and simple at S&S. We have a certain way of […]
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 […]