Class with Bryce and Chris. Stretch and then had them go through their requirements while I practiced lightly on my own, interjecting on their training as needed. I then reviewed Thorn with them, as Kaiden The Severer had introduced Chris to it at the event, and also reviewed Jumping Tiger 2. After a break, we did some rounds of Add-On, rotating through every partner pairing twice.
Tag: wcos
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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.
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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.
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Class with Bryce and Chris, Rakta Nadi called out, Alucard observed. Stretch and requirements, continuing to refine Chris’ basics and demonstration of requirements. Focus session on Jumping Tiger 2, Chris’ first practiced move. After the break, we did some move builder, and Balance 1 & 2.
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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.
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Class with Chris, Bryce and Rakta Nadi called out. Stretch and then review of what he knows so far, then added leg cuts and blocks. After the break, I instructed him on Cutting Pattern 1, then we did a couple rounds of Refined Strikes, and finished with Balance 1 & 2.
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Still trying to whittle down some numbers, 100 FCC and 25 gambit
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Another lunch break set of 100 FCC and 25 gambit passes
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Class with Bryce, Rakta Nadi and Chris called out. Stretch, his requirements once through, a focus on Mantis, break, sparring for 25 matches.
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Worked in a lunch time double set, 200 FCC and 50 gambit
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Pumped out my third set today, 100 FCC and 25 gambit
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Getting in my second set for the day, 100 FCC and 25 gambit
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Another morning set, 100 FCC, 25 gambit
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Getting in another set before bed, 100 FCC, 25 gambit
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Starting the weekend off strong, morning set of 100 FCC and 25 gambit
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Got in another set before bed, 100 FCC, 25 gambit
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First set directly after work, 100 FCC and 25 gambit passes
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Got in a second set this evening, 100 FCC and 25 gambit
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Continuing to try to finish training workbook as strong as reasonable, 100 FCC and 25 gambit
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100 FCC, 25 gambit
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100 FCC, 25 gambit
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Class with Rakta Nadi, Bryce, and Chris. Stretch and requirements. After the break, we reviewed the primary targets and intent and I noted how the targets don’t necessarily change when using a dagger or knife, only the way in which you reach them. We then worked on combat movement, followed by continuous full circle cuts (50 for Chris, 100 for everyone else – just bokken for myself, I didn’t place my steel at hand). Next was several rounds of Refined Strikes and we finished with a few rounds of Add-On.
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I attended and competed in the 2021 Best of the Best tournament today.
The new arm and leg protective gear that I have fashioned worked well, they did not hinder my movements that I could discern and protected me well enough, though the thighs need additional work (they were incompletely padded and the sports shorts I used have padding only in area targeted for their original intended sport).
My win to loss ratio was pretty standard for me, which is to say, not particularly improved despite all the additional training. I anticipate this will be an issue in my Silver Chain test. After two decades of fighting largely defensively, it is very difficult to change my patterns and responses, it will take a lot more work, and a lot more sparring.
In addition to my 38 tournament matches (19 opponents twice), I got in another 25 bokken matches afterword before I had to stop due to finger injury. Unfortunately, 20 of the matches (10 with Danny, 10 with James) are unlogged and captured on camera at extreme distance, so outcomes will be difficult to determine. The last (roughly) 5 with with Requiem and I had an up close camera for record.
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100 FCC, 50 gambit, continued working on straight offense and aggressive defense
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Class with Bryce and Chris, Rakta Nadi called out. Stretch and requirements. Had Bryce go on his own while I reviewed Chris and instructed on neck cuts and head blocks, then I reviewed cutting patterns and moves with Bryce. After a break, we practiced combat movement and did continuous full circle cuts (100 steel for myself, 100 bokken for Bryce, 50 bokken for Chris), then took a jog (approx 0.6 miles) through the forest, followed by a few or so rounds of refined strikes, and finished with Balance 1.