A journal of my martial arts training
Class with Jesse B. Stretch and requirements for both of us. We reviewed Kata Ni a bit, then reviewed his steel requirements which I matched, including a little extra time on Cutting Pattern 2 and worked a bit on Jumping Tiger 2 in steel.
After a break, we did 100 continuous full circle cuts with steel, a couple rounds of refined strikes, reviewed draw cuts a bit, and finished with a couple rounds of Add-On.
Special combined PNW weekend class with Kaiden Severer, myself, Jesse B, Bryce, Amanda, Risa, and Anne. Started with a stretch and then a couple times through requirements so that Severer and I could work with and/or observe multiple students. I then lead a focus session on Thorn and Severer lead one on Jumping Tiger 1. We took a short break and then resumed with a round of 5 minute non-stop battles using boffers. We took another short break to gear up and finished with running two sparring circles martialed by Severer and myself. Anne was unable to spar and thus logged for one circle, the other circle was logged by whomever was not currently in.
For the sparring, I largely wielded one handed with some short and buckler shield as well, and of course Severer and I faced with steel.
Class with Jesse B, Risa, and Chris. Stretch and requirements (paired Jesse with Chris, I matched Risa on White Rope requirements). Did a study session on Thorn, emphasizing aggressively closing the distance to interrupt the opponent’s technique. After the break, we did 100 continuous full circle cuts (Jesse and I with steel), and a couple rounds of Refined Strikes. Next we had several passes through a gauntlet, first just the wooden pel dummies, then added us in amongst the pels as additional targets. We finished with some multi opponent training, putting one person in the middle with the other three arrayed around them, announcing their attack and then making only head or neck attacks with the person in the center only blocking.
Class with Jesse B, Risa, Chris. Stretch and requirements, paired Chris with Risa while Jesse and I went through ours. Reviewed Jumping Tiger 2. Got into protective gear during the break and for the second half had sparring. There was only a brief spate of rain, but their were a number of slippery, mucky, soft areas within the sparring boundaries. Jesse and I did about half of our matches with bokken, half with steel.
Class with Bryce and Risa. Stretch and had them go through requirements while I solo’d my own (steel). Reviewed one of their practiced moves then took a break. Afterward, did 100 full circle cuts (mine steel), refined strikes, advanced response training, and pel gauntlet.
(missed a few weeks due to back to back travel)
Class with Bryce and Chris. Stretch first, then I reviewed their respective cuts and blocks individually before putting them together for requirments while I soloed my own requirements. We then took some time to work on The Mantis, including examining variations in application. After a break we did 100 CFCC (myself steel), a few rounds of Refined Strikes, and finished with Balance 1 & 2.
Class with Rakta Nadi and Chris. Stretch and had them go through requirements while I soloed mine (with steel), after which we then did a focus session on Jumping Tiger 2. Took a break, then started the second half with a roughly half mile jog, after which we sat in seiza for several minutes to take a moment to take in the evening and let all students regain their breath. We continued with Refined Strikes, then a pel gambit, and finally some Move Builder.
Class with Bryce and Chris. Stretch and had them do requirements while I soloed mine. We then did a focus session on The Tradition. After a break, we did 100 continuous full circle cuts (myself steel), a few rounds of Refined Strikes, and some Pel Gauntlet.
Class with Chris. Stretch and our respective requirements, with him repeating his practiced moves a few times through. Focus work on one of his moves, then a break. After the break, we did just 50 continuous full circle cuts (myself steel), then a couple rounds of Add-On, then we donned helmets, mits, and legs for armored parry ( 1-attack, 3-attack, and switch- ).
Class with Rakta Nadi. Stretch and went through his requirements, then reviewed Dragons Tail a little and did a focus session on The Tradition. After a break, we did some Move Builder, followed by Add-On, and finished with 100 full circle cuts (myself steel).
Class with Bryce and Chris. Stretch and requirements, first reviewing their cuts and blocks individually, then paired them for their full requirements while I soloed mine. We then spent some time studying Jumping Tiger 1, a new move for Chris. After the break, we did 100 full circle cuts (myself steel), refined strikes, and move builder.
Attended the annual Best of the Best tournament, held in Half Moon Bay again as typical. There were 18 competitors including myself. Master Gemini took first again, Kaiden The Severer took second, and Daniel took third. I had made some adjustments to my armor so I had some better mobility, but I still need more work, particularly on my grill and bevor. As usual, I had some good matches, and some matches where I should have done better, but in general I felt reasonably good about the day.
Class with Bryce and Chris. Stretch and requirements (paired them, I went through mine solo). Study on Mantis again, continuing to work to move that muscle memory groove/habit into the smoother, better transition into each follow-up attack. After a break, instructed on Gad’s Sword Disarming Move, then worked on combat movement, did 100 full circle cuts (me with steel), and finished with Balance 1 & 2.
Class with Bryce. Stretch and respective requirements. Worked on Mantis with the revised/improved flow from cut to cut. 100 full circle cuts. Did some Move Builder and Add-On. I used one handed all night except steel for the FCC.
Class with Bryce and Chris. Stretch and 50 continuous full circle cuts (FCC) to warm up, followed by requirements. I reviewed both Bryce and Chris individually, then paired them to go through once more together. After a break, we reviewed The Mantis, a new move for Chris. Next was another 100 FCC (myself with steel) and then several rounds of Refined Strikes.
Class with Bryce, Rakta Nadi, and Chris. Final class for 2021. Stretch, 50 continuous full circle cuts to warm up (myself steel), and requirements. Focus study on The I Move. Blind Man’s Boffer. Armored up and had 1-on-1 sparring.
Class with Chris (Bryce called out). Stretch and reviewed his requirements, then did some focus work on The I Move and The Tradition. After a break, we did a couple rounds of Refined Strikes, followed by 100 continuous full circle cuts (myself steel). We then donned helmet and gloves and did light armored one attack parry (akin to silent sword), followed by switch parry. Finished with a couple more times through Cutting Pattern 1.
Class with Jesse B and Chris (Bryce and Rakta Nadi called out). Stretch and requirements, starting with me reviewing Jesse’s most recent five moves, then having Jesse and Chris go through requirements while I soloed some of mine and observed and interjected on theirs. We then took some time to do a focus session on Thorn. After a break, we did 150 continuous full circle cuts (me with steel) in increments of 50 as well as 25 CFCC with iron sword. Followed with one round of Refined Strikes, and finished with pumpkin cutting using blunted steel, first against a standing post, then against chunks tossed at us.
Class with Chris. Stretch and once through his requirements. I then instructed him on The I Move as his first Straight Offense move. After a break, I took some time to go through some hand to hand basics (stance, movement, front punch, and front kick). Chris has a background in some hand to hand already, so it was mostly review, nuance, and discussing application in a sword fight context. We got in some Refined Strikes and 100 Continuous Full Circle cuts (mine steel).
Class with Chris, both Bryce and Rakta Nadi called out for health reasons. Stretch and once through our respective requirements (Chris repeating his practiced moves as I got through all of mine). After a break, we did 100 full circle cuts (me with steel), refined strikes, bokken sword dance aka one attack parry (quarter speed, no circle), and finished with Balance 1.
Class with Bryce and Chris, Rakta Nadi called out. Stretch and requirements. I reviewed Chris first, then paired him with Bryce and went through my own requirements while they worked together, interjecting as needed. We spent some time working on Thorn, then took a break. After the break, we practiced combat movement, did 100 continuous Full Circle Cuts (me with steel), a few rounds of Move Builder (we each created a sequence), and finished with a single round of Refined Strikes.
Class with Rakta Nadi and Chris (Bryce called out). Stretch and then I first reviewed Chris’ requirements while Rakta Nadi worked solo, then I paired them for another time through. We took a little time to work on The Tradition a bit more then paused for a break. Afterward, we started with some basic stance and combat movement, then 100 continuous full circle cuts (myself steel). I then had us arranged with two target pels and two opponents forming a box around a defender in the middle. The person in the middle alternated between receiving either head or neck attacks from the live opponents and delivering any attack against the pels. We then moved to a few rounds of Advanced Response Training, and finished with rotating through few rounds of Refined Strikes (with the unpaired fighter using the target pels again).
Day two, we got up at a reasonable hour, Kaiden The Severer and I prepared breakfast, then we held a training session. Kaiden The Severer started us with Refined Strikes, then I covered one of my favorite mantras, basic stance and combat movement followed by 50 continuous full circle cuts, after which I had us do machine gun drill with head or neck attacks, and Kaiden The Severer finished up with (blunt) steel cutting of overgrown zucchini gourds (kindly provided by the farm).
After we wrapped up, all the gourd bits were collected and we fed them to the farm boar and met their ducklings before packing up and heading out.
Kaiden The Severer set up our first PNW event. I drove up with Bryce, arriving at the event site with plenty of time to spare. Set up the sword wall and my personal camp, then got ready for the day of sparring. We had a number of bokken melee, followed by bokken one-on-ones, each attendee holding a circle where they faced the other competitors for three matches each. We took a break for some lunch and finished up bokken one-on-one circles, then did a series of melee scenarios. We had some 4v4 team matches, some 4v4 Royalty Protection matches, and some 3v5 and 5v3 VIP Escort matches. Last, I had 5 steel 1-on-1’s with Kaiden The Severer and with Fanaticus, and gave Amanda and extra 5 bokken matches so she could experiment with naginata (myself using 1 handed sword).
Participants were Kaiden The Severer, myself, Ross, Fanaticus, Christy, Bryce, Amanda, Patrick, and Chris.
Afterward, we took a dip in the nearby creek and had dinner prepared mostly by The Severer, Chris, and Amanda. As we sat around the camp fire, we had smores and played with some light sabers I brought.
Class with Bryce and Chris, Rakta Nadi called out. Stretch and worked on requirements. Instructed Chris on thrust and thrust block. After the break, combat movement, continuous full circle cuts, and then arranged us in a triangle, defending against and then delivering specific attacks; head/neck, neck/leg.