REVIEW

Breathing/Focusing/Centering:

Positioning your feet in what we will refer to as a Zero Stance, feet shoulder width apart, toes pointed forward and knees slightly bent with your weight on the balls of your feet and your pelvis thrust slightly upwards and forward, the objective is to concentrate on your breathing, focus your attention and center yourself:

1. Breathe in, raising your arms slowly up over head, bringing your air into your diaphragm and raising your ribcage

2. Breathe out, lowering your arms slowly to torso level, feeling a slight tightening in your stomach as your breathe out your air

3. Breathe in, bringing your arms in to the center of you torso (almost like giving someone a loose hug), bringing your air into your diaphragm and raising your ribcage.

4. Breathe out, bring your arms out to torso level as described in step 2

5. Repeat steps 1-4 until you are focused, centered and in control of your breathing

Turning/Rotation Refresh:

Killing force in SCA blows are primarily generate from putting the weight of the body behind the blow by rotating (or turning) into a blow around the hips.

• Zero Stance Explosive Hip Rotation/Recover
• Fighting Stance Explosive Hip Rotation/Recover

Rotation Block Refresh:

 As the Zero-Stem shows that hip-rotation turning movement is all that is necessary to kill on opponent, the Rotation Block shows that the same type of hip-rotation turning movement is all that is necessary to block shots.  The rotation block is a shield-block defense that is fully integrated with the turning/rotation component of movement.

• Fighting Stance Rotation Block/Recover

Zero-Stem Refresh:

The Zero-Stem is the offensive sword shot thrown from the inside baseline at extreme close range from an opponent with only a hip rotation for force generation and no arm movement at all associated with the blow.  It is the ultimate expression of the fact that force generation comes from body movement, as to kill with a Zero-Stem is to kill solely with body rotation.

• Zero-Stem Onside Head/Recover
• Zero-Stem Offside Head/Recover
• Zero-Stem Combinations/Recover

Short-Stem Refresh:

The Short-Stem is the offensive sword shot thrown from short ranges at an opponent using both hip rotation and small arm movements.  It differs from the Zero-Stem in that there is some arm extension and from the Long-Stem in that we are not fully extending our arms.

• Short-Stem Onside Head/Recover
• Short-Stem Offside Head/Recover
• Short-Stem Combinations/Recover

Long-Stem Refresh:

The Long-Stem is the offensive sword shot thrown from range at an opponent using both hip rotation and large arm movement.  It differs from the Zero-Stem and the Short-Stem in that we are fully extending our arms.

• Compass-Step Long-Stem Onside Head/Recover
• Compass-Step Long-Stem Offside Head/Recover
• Compass-Step Long-Stem Combinations/Recover

New Material

Turning/Rotation:

The same hip rotation that forms the basis of our killing force and the rotation block can also be used as the basis for movement to increase or decrease the range to opponents and to strike or evade blows

• Turn-Strike/Turn-Evade Drill - From Fighter Stance gauge the distance to your opponent by measuring the distance from your sword's sweetspot to their temple from a hip rotation when you rotate into the blow on the balls of your feet.  Notice that you will be out of range in a simple rotation around the hips, but in-range as your turn into the blow putting your weight onto your front foot and rotating on the balls of your feet.  After striking your opponent (in a "flat" snap with a follow-through striking diagonally across the opponent's face), rotate on your hips clockwise, turning out on the balls of your feet and recovering your sword back to your shoulder, turning your body clockwise and outwards so that your right shoulder faces the back wall opposite the opponent.  This will be an evade maneuver that should bring your head out of range of the opponent's weapon.  Once you have evaded the oponent's swing, rotate back into the Turn-Strike, rotating yourself back for an onside shot as per the original strike as the opponent Turn-Evades to avoid your shot.  Continue the drill with each opponent Turn-Striking and Turn-Evading.

Outside Baseline, Inside Baseline, and the Dead-Zone:

• Outside Baseline - The line at which you are out of weapons range is known as the Outside Baseline.  It is *not* a point without danger.  At the Outside Baseline, it is possible to change the angles of the fight as you are outside of the cones of offense and defense and it is possible to gain a beat advantage and to alter the flow of movement of a fight.  

•  Inside Baseline - The line at which you are tightly engaged with an opponent in Zero-Stem or close Short-Stem range is known as the Inside Baseline.  At the Inside Baseline, it is possible to change the angles of the fight as you are inside the cones of offense and defense, and it is possible to tie-up an opponents weapon or defense or to work inside or outside an opponents own weapon or defense.
• The Dead-Zone - The Dead-Zone is the area in-between the baselines where both the Long-Stem and the Short-Stems are optimally effective and where one is within the cones of offense and defense of an opponent.

Leg Blows

• Zero Stem Onside Leg -
• Zero Stem Offside Leg -
• Short Stem Onside Leg -
• Short Stem Offside Leg -
• Long-Stem Onside Leg -
• Long-Stem Offside Leg -