The Weekly Warfare   Musings martial from across the SCA

So apparently the new year decided to be inaugurated without making an enemy of another favored alcohol, but also with drills.  Lots of drills.

More Drills than a Home Depot

Saturday, to celebrate the first day of 2011, Gawin and his friend Adam came over (and brought Gawin’s lady, and another of their friends, who watched and laughed).  Adam is currently in the East, but closer to an Atlantian practice than an Eastern, and will be moving down to Windmasters in May, so we’re training him up to actually be able to fight.

We started, as is the way, with footwork and lunges, then ran through the Priest drill.  Next I experimented on them with what I’m going to call the “cavazione series” (May 27, July 1, June 10, and a contracavazione from Drill of the Week).  It needs work, as it didn’t flow quite perfectly, so I worked on it with Letia on…

Monday, where we also got video:

And then, again, there was drill on

Wednesday, where Rachel and Rory came over.  Among other things, we worked on leading the Priest drill, so that, come the spring when new fighters are showing up en masse, we can have multiple teachers leading students through basic drills.

And having done all that drilling, I felt no obligation to teach at practice on

Thursday, where had Rory, Rachel, Gawin, Jlona, Letia, a new guy named Jason (another new guy was expected but didn’t make it), Roz, Percy, and Jauma (yes, Dante, we have a practice, it’s verrah nice).  We’d also been expecting Don Trap of Trimaris, but work (which had sent him up our way) kept him late.

Because I was in totally non-teaching mode, I got to work on my own stuff.  And, because Percy and Roz were there, I got to!  The tactical focus I mentioned last week, working on feints and cavazione lunges, has been difficult in most settings, as the properly-executed feint doesn’t draw the proper response, and just becomes a direct attack.  But with Percy and Roz, I was forced to actually take my strategy to that level, and then could start playing around with my technique there.  Woo hoo.

Also, next week Roz is giving the practice a beat over the head with George Silver’s First General Rule, way too many of them set up facing the light, or downhill, or on bad terrain.