Kat's Personal Progress Page

 

 

 

 

Novicius Concepts: The Seven Deadly Virtues, Integrated Fighting Framework

 

"Virtuous Wrist" is definately my weak point... if I was doing it right, I'm pretty certain I'd stop hurting it.  During the past couple of practices, and on the pell at home, this is what I've been focusing on the most.

 

18May -- not sure where precisely you are having problems with the rotation of your wrist, which techniques? Steve

 

20 May -- I think it's primarily being aware of what postion my wrist is in at any particular moment, not a problem with a particular technique.  If I'm not looking at it, I can't tell.  Most often, I think my wrist is straight and locked where it's supposed to be, but it's actually bent back at least 45 degrees.  This is what has been doing all the damage, not to mention sapping power.

 

20 May 1020 -- well we need to focus on one wrist position at a time, the movement from ready to that. And on developing your wrists so they do not suffer damage.  Did you have trouble configuring your wrist and had damage before we introduced the use of the wrist? Just need to figure out at what point the problems started to occur. And what kind of damage?  A program of light stretching and exercise will help work that out, just depending on what is wrong. Steve

 

20 May -- The trouble configuring my wrist is a sensory-processing issue.  My brain doesn't know how my wrist is oriented, because it isn't getting the signals.  If I concentrate really hard, I can figure it out, but it's going to take more practice to be able to do it automatically.  It's been about three weeks since I figured out the problem, and I can already notice improvement.  My shots are somewhat better, the weakness is gone, and the pain has almost disappeared.  It's just going to take me some time to fix completely.  I also have leftover damage from stress fractures (childhood gymnastics) that were probably due to the same mis-orientation of the wrist, now that I think about it.  Now that I'm out of that stupid wrist brace (finally) stretching and exercise can happen. Can you recommend anything in particular?

 

20 May 1754 -- yes, you need a small weight, and then a swingbell or a club.  Then your standard wrist extension, curl, roll, and then with the swingbell rotations.  For stretching there are a number.  I will try and bring my stretching book. There are likely some good things on the web, e.g., family doctor dot com. Steve

 

22 May --  I found some small weights, and started the strength exercises last night.  Still looking for a stretch that feels like it's working.  I'd love to have a look at that book, if you can find it.  I'll be so glad when this stops being an issue!

 

0523 1244 --This is cobbled from Bob Anderson’s book on stretching, and from Jim Johnson’s books on physical therapy. You are to WORK UP to these levels, start with less reps and sets with the weights, and not all the exercises, and be gentle with the stretches, NO PAIN, start slow each time and then as your body relaxes go deeper into the stretch.  If it hurts too much, it just makes it worse.

Perform stretching 5 times a week in order to make a muscle longer, 2 times a week to preserve flexibility.  30 seconds, go slowly into the stretch until you feel it, but no pain. You can slowly extend the stretch as your muscle relaxes during the stretch (developmental stretch)

Interlace your fingers and make a dual fist, rotate your hands counter clockwise 10 times, then clockwise

Place your palms together in front of the center of your body, then lower them together, until you feel a stretch for a count of 10, then turn the tips of your hands to point downwards, 10 count, then using hand, bend the other over until you feel a stretch in your wrist, count of 10, then the other side.

Start on all fours, supporting yourself on your hands and knees, point your thumbs to the outside with your fingers pointed towards the knees, palms flat.  Lean towards your knees.

Interlace your fingers; straighten your arms in front of you, trying to straighten your arms

Same position, and then bring your arms beside your head and bring your palms upward.

Sit in chair, but your hand flat, thumb to the inside, fingers back beside you on the seat, and lean back. Keep your palms flat.

 Perform strengthening 2-3 times a week to become stronger, 1 time a week to retain strength. Use a weight that allows you to do 10 reps comfortably, but no more than 20, without pain. Three times (sets)

With a dumbbell

Wrist curls – hold your forearm on your upper leg while seated, wrist over your knee, hand palm up.  Rotate the hand from hanging up, then slowly lower. Count of 3 up, count of 5, down (holds for all)

Wrist extensions – palm down, rotate up. Otherwise this is the same.

Wrist rotations – wrist curl position, turn clockwise as far as it goes, then counter clockwise.

With a swingbell (you can use a sword) –

Forehand – lock your elbow into your side, hold the tip of the sword with the basket hilt back, raise the hilt up, this is like the wrist motion with an onside blow.

Backhand – same position, but the basket hilt is now in front of you, raise the hilt up, this is like the wrist movement with a wrap..

Stick with rope tied to its center, with a weight on the other end

Wrist roller – holding onto the stick your hands to either side of the rope tied to its middle, roll the stick so the rope wraps around the stick as the weight rises, until it meets the stick, and then rotate the other way. -Steve

 

There are also exercise tools, like squeezers and gyroscopes that can help.  I will try to bring some to practice to show and/or hand-off (at least temporarily, and excuse the pun) -- Max

 

Class One: Breathing, Stance, Movement

 

 

Class Two: Zero Stem, Rotation Blocks

 

Class Three: Short-Stem

 

20 May --  Thanks, Max, for working with me on the offside short-stem on Sunday.  It was really helpful.  In addition to not popping my elbow enough,  I think I wasn't locking my shoulder completely before, so the shot was bouncing instead of sticking. 

 

There's a reason virtuous extension (elbow) and virtuous lock (shoulder) are two of the foundations upon which all else is built.  Without proper technique, it's just not as much fun (this holds true just about everywhere in life)... so glad you are getting it and hope you keep gaining a deeper understanding of the importance of foundational technique (the less massive you are, the more important this is) -- Max

 

6 June -- Let's just hope I don't need quite as much help with my non-martial technique.  Seriously, though, every practice I seem to have an "Oh, so that's why Max and Strykar said that!" moment. Yesterday's moment was figuring out (the hard way) why a compass-step is not a replacement for a full pass.  

 

6/25/08 The more you can identify, note, and track these moments in these pages, the more you will be able to find your key weaknesses and the places to focus for greatest advancement.  You clearly learned a key conceptual and biophysical aspect of maneuver regarding when and how to employ a compass-step vis-a-vis the full pass.  Try to analyze other maneuver in that context -- Max.

 

Class Four: Long-Stem

 

 

Class Five: Striking Blows

 

 

Class Six: Baselines, Evade, Legs

 

 

Class Seven: Leg Combo, Inside Angle Change, Unit Maneuvers

 

 

Class Eight: Onside Wraparound, Offside Jam, Uppercut Thrust

 

Been working on the thrust as well.  My power is better, but my targeting is still seriously lacking.

 

0520 1030 -- The thrust targeting depends on having good alignment of all the points of your body.  It is thrown eseentially from the hanging guard.  Stand in zero stance, but at a 90 degree angle to the target, your shoulders and hips are orthagonal to the inner baseline between you. Your forearm, rear arm, shoulders, hips and knees are all in this line, as practically. Now turn and rotate so you are in more or less fighter stance and extend your forearm along its axis into the target, locking the shoulder. You can even put a bit of a lean of your hips into it, or even a little advancing step.  -- Steve

 

22 May -- I keep trying to lean too much, but I really like putting the step in there.  Will keep working.

 

When you are in hanging guard, if you rotate your hips (with or without turn, depending on your range), you will find that a sword in (shoulder) lock will be automatically aimed at the face.  The rotation brings the sword right into the face, as you should be threatening the face from your hanging guard.  If you stop thinking about aim and stop worrying about it, it will automatically hit there.  Take your mind out of the equation, and let your body do the work -- Max

 

0529 1621 -- To jump onto what Max just said, the positions we teach all show up in different places, again, with the application of one of the virtues.  Another example is the move from the hanging guard to that at the end of the hanging guard drop shot -- its the same position that you put your arm into when you lock for an offside high to mid-line sword block -- elbow now locked to the center of your chest - Steve

Class Nine: Offside Jam, Zero-Stem Swordblock, Thumb-Turn Wraparound

 

 

Class Ten: Melee Concepts, Melee Drills, and Unit Scenarios

 

 

Class Eleven: Shield Blocks -- Flat Blocks and Corner Blocks

 

 

Class Twelve: Hanging-Guard Drop-Shot, Hanging-Guard Moulinet

 

I don't have a very good handle on the Moulinet. Would like to do some buddy drills with this one in the near future, if possible, to practice and get some feedback.

 

0518 1716 Simple exercise. Take your bat and holding it in "ok" with your hand (thumb and forefinger) practice making circles using your wrist, foreward and back, inside (so if your hand where being held as if you were throwing a short stem blow, the tip of the bat would circle in front of your body) and ourside (the circles are to the outside of your elbow in the same position).  Then close your eblow into the center of your chest, standing in zero stance. Make a circle with the bat, forward and backwards, so the bat goes over your head (outside).  This is kind of like throwing onside and offside short stem.  Now move to where your hand would be finishing an offside short or zero stem blow. Start doing forward and backward inside circles. As you are going throw a forward circle, your bat goes through the motion of the drop shot moulinet.  Then read the section and see us. Steve

 

6 June -- Cosimo seems to have spotted the major problem, which was that I wasn't tightening my grip at the end. MUCH more power in the shot now.

 

0606 1515 -- Yes, likely the buddy drills, with someone experienced will help. It sometimes takes a lot of observation to get what is going wrong, I think we finally had something work for your sister for her offsides, also which blow is this for? On the moulinet, yeah, ditto, need an experienced fighter as a target for slow work.  The particular moulinet is kind of difficult to describe, but once you can get it, its an Eureka moment - Steve

 

6/25/08 Don't forget, however, that you don't *always* tighten your grip at the end of shots, and that *how* you tighten your grip differs.  Sometimes you want to tighten your grip with the back two or three fingers (pinky et al), and sometimes you want to tighten around the "OK" -- depends on the mechanics of the shot, so play around with your shots and see where it makes most sense to tighten -- Max

 

Novicius 101,102,103: Beginner Basics (101), Continuing Refresh (102), Advanced Practicum (103)

 

 8 June -- Wow. Getting in armor today (finally) has given me a million new things to think about.  Still processing everything.  My initial observations:

 

-The weight of the legs makes me want to compensate by falling back onto my heels, severely limiting my ability to move quickly and effectively, and to hit solidly.

-Having my torso armored made it difficult to figure out where to keep my shield. I held it out too far, and relied soley on flat blocks until the peanut gallery pointed that out.  My arm tired out very quickly, my blocks got slower, and my head got hit even more than it was in the beginning.

-My offside leg shots suck. Need to spend some quality time with the pell until they have sufficient power.

-I hesitated to use a thrust, because I didn't know if I would hit too hard.  I'd like to work with someone to help me figure out what "positive pressure" feels like.

-I have a lot of hard work ahead of me if I'm going to be able to keep up with my friends at war!

 

0611 0915 - You have to wear the armor as much as possible, helm too, to become used to the weight and balance.  The arm tiring is because you were not bearing the weight with your large muscle groups, through maintaining lock. And listen to the peanut gallery, when you can get away with just using rotation blocks try and do so.  Use the pell, but also, at practice, find someone with sufficient armor and experience (as the lanistae who) to act as your "man dummy" (old story) to give you feedback. Don't worry about thrusting too hard, use the "man dummy" to give you feedback. Yes you do, but you can make it, you have enough knowledge, you know where you need to improve, and have tools you can apply. - Steve

 

6/25/08 In Atlantia you can no longer officially hit too hard with a face thrust.  So stop worrying about it and hit people for cripes sake.  Seriously.  We teach you the rotation block first and the corner block second for a reason.  The flat block is third for a reason.  In general, your block should be a combination of rotation and corner with perhaps a little flat blocking -- Max

 

13 June -- This all still feels weird, but not as weird as Sunday. 

 

-Not on my heels anymore, which is good, but I'm not bending my knees enough (feels to me like they are more bent than the really are). 

-A couple of folks, Ragnar in particular, said my stance was too narrow, and that I was up too high (see above).

 

-Still struggling with the sheild. Sir Eldrid moved the strap down on Monday, but Max and Gunar thought it was too low/wrong angle. Not sure what I think yet. My left leg thinks I need those three inches back on the bottom of the shield. My head got hit a little less though.

-Need to remember to use more corner/rotation blocks.

-The blocking exercise with Max was really helpful.  I'd like to do that one a lot more.

 

-All offside shots are still weak, though towards the end of last night they got better.  Wish I could have had 20 more minutes and a bit more energy to figure out what was sucking all the power out of them. Pretty sure I'm not locking correctly. Pell time.

 

-I have got to work with somebody ASAP on gauging shots. Jonah volunteered for the task, but I got a late start last night and he had to leave early.

 

6/25/08 Shieldwork is critical (as you state above) and is the drill most overlooked by most newcomers.  It will teach you how to block.  Keep at it.  Expect to get hit.  Callibration is a difficult skill.  It will take time to differentiate light from good.  Have patience.  Have many different folks hit you light shots and good shots.  Build-up your experience base.  It will take time.  Do not get frustrated -- Max

 

 

16 June -- Upset with myself about yesterday. No aggression and no power, among other things. Argh... not my best day ever.

 

18 June -- (Apologies for the previous whine. I was frustrated.)

 

Went over to Eldrid's on Monday night, and watched the video he took on Sunday.  That was really, really helpful.  I was able to see the problem(s) with my stance.  And we (ok, Eldrid) pointed out that I was cranking my shoulder back before I threw a shot.  So, good stuff to work at on Thursday. 

 

Also, I need to figure out what's going on with my offside blows.  I keep drawing my arm back, and I don't know why. That wasn't something I ever did in class (I don't think). Seems weird that I should start doing that now.

 

6/25/08 Many, many, many things are different in armor (which is heavy, unwieldy, fits in weird places and changes mechanics).  First we work on technique.  Then there is armor-sense.  Then there is technique with armor-sense.  Then there is technique with armor-sense and melee-sense.  We have worked on technique.  Now you are gaining some armor-sense.  We are now working on mixing your technique with armor-sense -- Max

 

23 June -- Sunday practice was good.  Went through (most of) a mock authorization with Gunar & Sir Thomas, which helped me identify a few things to really focus on in the next couple of weeks.  Namely blocking my head, and sticking to the shots I can throw more consistently.  Which didn't include wraps.  But that said...

 

I went over to Eldrid's tonight to work on the last bits of armor I need, but ended up working at the pell with Turgeis for a couple hours instead.  In addition to having a hell of a lot of fun, I was able to improve power in my offside headshots, and I might be on my way to throwing a decent wrap. Evening well spent.

 

6/25/08 Mock authorization identified Shieldwork and KASS (Keep Aggression Simple, Stupid -- or focus on controlled onsides and offsides as your offense, and not in wildly aggressive continuous all-over combinations) as what you need to work on.  Not that this is the case in this circumstance, but in general, be careful about working with too many folks, as all kinds've folks teach all kinds've different things... and you'll have to be aware of what works well for you and what doesn't and what will integrate well and what won't.  In particular, be careful about losing focus.  Keep focused on the few things you're working on and work on them.  Don't get distracted.  And get your armour finished -- Max

 

14 July -- Ok, I've been really lax lately about keeping up with my page.  Anyway, quite a bit has happened since.  I tried to authorize at Stierbach and failed spectacularly.  So I spent the last couple of weeks focusing on defense and range.  I guess it paid off because I managed to authorize yesterday at the war practice, which means I can fight with everybody at Pennsic.  So, so happy about that!!!

 

Participated a little in the actual war practice (I was feeling crappy most of the day).  Didn't do any field stuff, bit I did get in on the bridge. That was pretty intense, but I think I get the general idea (get behind my shield, stay low, and don't let them get around the side of me).  Can we try to go over that at practice if we get enough people? Seems like one of those things it would be very good to remember :)

 

Also, I really understand what Max was saying about how hard it can be to know when you're hit in melee.  There were epic battles taking place over my head, and shields and people crashing into me, and a hell of a lot of noise.  Got bumped and pushed around a lot, but didn't really feel anything solid hit me.  I'm a little worried that I didn't acknowledge stuff I should have.

 

25 July -- Tonight I leave for War.  I think this is my eighth, but since this is the first one I'll be fighting in, it feels new all over again!

 

Last night's practice was short but fun. Didn't put on armor, but I did some slow work with Lucas, learning how to fight a lefty.  Lots of new things to think about.

 

19 September --  Long story short: Due to illness I didn't get to fight at Pennsic.  That really threw me, and I've been in a bad, bad headspace for the past few weeks.  Been working my way back into armor, albeit slowly.  Hope to get back in the game very soon.

 

19 October -- It's been a great three weeks.  Finally put my armor back on! A quick run-down:

 

I made it up to the (awsome) practice Max arranged with the East.  Fought a couple of people, mostly one of their novices, which was really fun.  Did some shield work with Seamus too- really cool guy, and he gave me lots of things to work on. Like not counterbalancing.

 

Bad Thursday practice last week.  Worst freak-out to date.  Argh!

 

Last weekend I went down to War of the Wings, and fought in melee for the first time (Ragnar made me do it; I was going to chicken out).  Even though I had pretty much no idea what I was doing, it was a blast.  Managed to make some folks dead in the field/bridge battle, not so much in the woods. It was chaotic, and I wasn't with a unit, and I felt like I was more of a liability than an asset.  And I think I got a mild concussion too.  Oops.

 

Good Thursday practice this week.  Warmed up with Cosimo, which helped immensely with my nerves, then had fun fighting Jurgen.  It took him much longer to kill me than usual; I think my defense is improving.  Matteo got my leg hard towards the end of the night. Spectacular bruise, and armor repair required.  Defense still has room for improvement :)

 

Saturday was all-day melee up at Storvik, and I felt a lot more competent this time.  Fighting with a unit made the biggest difference, I think.  Did better protecting the polearm guys, still not great with actually killing people when necessary.  Threw more shots than last weekend, though, some of which were effective.  Need to work on keeping my head together when I'm mixed up with a bunch of swords and shields.  Was having difficulty spotting who to hit, in time to hit them first.  I'm sure that will come with experience, though.  Also, I borrowed Gunnar's helm for the day. My god! It was so much more comfortable than mine, and I was able to defend my head properly more often than not.  Going to scrounge up the money for a new helm ASAP.

 

I'm still pretty beaten up from yesterday, so today's practice involved re-taping my sword and doing a little work with Max on throwing leg shots.  I pretty much only aim for people's heads, so I plan on spending the next few practices forcing myself to hit people in other places.  And since my armor was free, Lauren put it on and fought for the first time.   I'm so proud of my sister!!!

 

 

 

 

Errata

 

 

The shiny new fighter named Kat

Hit all her foes with her bat.

She was quite effective

'Cause their defense was defective

Against someone as small as a gnat