Class with Jesse, Risa, and Miriam. Stretch and requirements. I reviewed and refined Miriam’s green braid requirements while Jesse and Risa worked together, then paired her with Jesse while I worked with Risa some. We then did a study session on The I Move, a new move for Miriam. After the break, I started by reviewing dagger and knife targets and general technique, then did Refined Strikes, first with daggers, then with our regular bokken. We finished with Balance 1 & 2, tonight being “student challenge”, as in I told them to put together the balance course. Once they had finished, I noted the lesson of communication an team work, as they had each each just added to it individually with almost no consultation amongst each other, and drew parallels to team combat.
Tag: dagger training
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Class with Jesse B, Risa, and Chris. Stretch and requirements (I paired Jesse with Chris, and I matched Risa on White Rope reqs). We then did a focus session on The Mantis. After the break, we did 100 full circle cuts (Jesse and I with steel) and then a couple rounds of advanced response training. We finished with dagger training, reviewing the critical targets and then doing Refined Strikes with daggers.
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I traveled to Hayward to attend class led by Head Kaiden Gad. The Kaiden spoke on a few subjects, foremost on dedication and the amount of time needed to actually become skilled versus just subsisting with minor improvement. I was paired with Kaiden Kris for requirements, each of us going through our Silver Chain requirements. During this, Gad re-adjusted my “Akira” back to the standard two-handed finish and replaced “Gad’s Bane” with “The Raven”, a move similar to Akira but with a horizontal cut and the one handed release. He also made an order correction to my deflections, having the 5th deflection go from the left shoulder, the 6th from the right.
After a break, we reviewed dagger targeting and a few techniques. The focus was on opposite hand/foot stance (e.g. left stance, right hand). We practiced using the leading empty hand to block an income thrust to the outside of our body while countering, then grabbing the opponents empty lead hand to control them while moving behind with an attack. Gad also briefly covered moving inside an attack and countering up the center line and a hand/wrist torte for unarmed vs. armed to remove the opponents weapon.
After another break, we finished class with a round robin set of dagger sparring matches, facing each opponent three times. -
Class with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Elijah and Dalton. Caleb and Nick observed. Stretch and requirements. I worked with Elijah, reviewing where he is at. After the break, during which we armored up, I went over knife and dagger fighting, including types and styles of weapons, targets, etc. We then did a couple rounds of Dagger Refined Strikes, then finshed with dagger sparring duels, a few team melees, and a final round of free for all melee.
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Class with Elijah, Mary Ann, Dalton, and Renee. Stretch and requirements. With Dalton and Renee, I covered resting and defensive stance, and then head and neck cuts. After the break, I did basic dagger training, including refined strikes with daggers, and finished with Balance 1.
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Final class of 2012, with Sal, Steven, Joshua, Jesse A and Chance. Jesse B called out. We went straight into requirements tonight, myself working with Jesse A. Chance arrived late, at which time I put him with Sal. After the break, we had dagger training, covering the general mentality that weapons are everywhere in various forms, differences in knives versus daggers, and the primary (killing) targets for knives and daggers. We then did refined strikes with daggers, followed by light unarmored (except mitts) dagger sparring, and we finished with some dagger throwing.
Classes will resume late January 2013. -
Class with Sal, Chris, Steven, Joshua and Jesse. Stretch and requirements. I went through Sal’s requirements first, then Joshua, then Jesse, and then instructed Steven, Joshua and Jesse on The Tradition. After a break, I started with dagger and knife training, talking about the differences between them as well as how weapons are everywhere, they don’t have to have a blade, and moving on to targets and how to approach them. We completed the section with dagger refined strikes, then moved back to boken for refined strikes and finished class with machine gun drill with any head, neck or decap attack. Everyone cycled through as defender, and then Sal and I had one further stint making counter attacks after the defense.
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Class with Sal, Sabrina, Nate, Joe and Charlie. Tonight was a dagger training night. I started with a discussion on how virtually anything can be a weapon, and on intelligent life and death choices, when to fight, and when to walk away. We then examined different styles and knives and daggers and discussed the differences, and then took some time practicing throwing boken daggers into hay bales, getting a sense of how length and heft change the rotation of a weapon. After a break, we put on helmet, gloves and gorgets and had one-on-one dagger matches, using best of three to cycle opponents. I concluded with a single four-way free for all match.