Ru's Personal Progress Page

Ru the Doghead, savage naked heavily-tattooed Pict from the deep, mist-enshrouded wooded hills of the Caledonian forest. Son of a questing warrior absentee Doghead father and raised in isolation by my battle-bitch warrior-witch mother. Picts were matrilineal and there was a tradition both in Irish and in Scottish legend that warriors were trained by women. Cuchulain went to Scotland (or Pictavia, as it were) to be trained by Warrior-woman Scathach and Finn MacCumhail was also trained by women, his aunts, I believe.

One day whilst out hunting, up rode Sir Guy, Sir Grethferth, and Sir Strykar.  Having never seen anything like a knight before, I asked them: "Be ye Gods or be ye Spirits?"  And they said: "Nay, we are but men, and Knights of Atlantia!" and they rode off.  Bidding farewell to my battle-hag mama, I left to wander the island in quest of Sir Guy and knighthood and met with strange people from strange foreign lands and passed through harrowing danger and adventure before finding the Knights again and becoming squired.

My fighting goals? Constant progression towards mightiness with perfection as a real but unattainable goal. To distinguish myself in the killing and thus become a gifted killer, beloved by the Morrigan.  Or more poetically: To break my foes in half, smash their bones, and leave the path behind me wet with their brains. To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their women. To take their head and their daughters to bed.  To be the teeth in the darkness, the talons in the night.  Mine  shall be strength, and lust, and power, I am The Doghead.

But you know what? I think that the best thing that I'll take unto myself from my involvement in the SCA is a hightened sense of chivalry and continual striving for chivalric self-betterment.  Knightly behavior in the face of a progressively more morally bankrupt culture.

'Noble savage', thank you Rouseau

Novicius Concepts: The Seven Deadly Virtues, Integrated Fighting Framework

Personal notes about Novicius Concepts progress

Class One: Breathing, Stance, Movement

Personal notes about class one....

Guy sent me videos of the recent Western Crown, where Viscount Brand MacLellan of House Bellatrix did really well. I looks like he's about my build and similarly of an athletic nature, and I love the way he fights. He fights goofy-foot like Guy most of the time, although he occasionally switches leads. I think I might try it out and see how it works, but also humbly seek advice. I mean with sword and shield, not Florentine. I already tend to fight right-leg forward with Florentine.

07081610 -- Not a novice topic, but essentially, it is related to fighting an offhander, or fighting off handed.  The stance is different, but similar. You stand with the right foot forward in the normal fighting stance, but your left foot is more or less online with his center, but then rotate yourself so that your centerline and the shield form a line with the opponents center (for outer baseline) or their shoulder (inner baseline). Ensure that your rear leg is also more or less on this same line.  Note that this stance now places your sword side CLOSER to your opponent than otherwise, your major targets might be one step beyond his range, but your lead shoulder and arm (when extended) would pass into the dead zone.  You need to be aware of this, but generally, except with a small shield (like a buckler) the centerline to centerline alignment will take care of some of this. You will forsake some offside capabilities at the longer ranges, but gain advantage with a short stem, that might be able to be thrown while further out than otherwise, but again, you need to have some sort of lock to get good power generation.  You can pass easily into a jam a forehand blow given this, but note the shield has to control the shoulder line as you close, if the opponent attempts an offside, a rotation with the entry will allow you to control it and if you compass back your right foot to the left side, you can zero pressure it and open up their sword side even more.  With the aforementioned jam to the onside blow, you can make a small compass with the right foot to their offside, and complete the triangle and attack behind their defense. There is more, but this reuses a lot of the stepping drills of the novice class. - ST

07082100 -- Viscount Brand is an awesome guy. I camped right next to him at Pennsic XXX. He was a great Prince Consort of the Mist. I remember walking by a couple of Western fighters after a battle at Estrella. They looked glum. I asked them what was wrong, and they replied "We were fighting in the battle, and we got killed by Sir Brand. He went into a beserker rage and killed twenty of them, and ten of us." For a long time Sir Brand focused on polearm and a long handled axe. I've always admired his bearded axes. -Jurgen

P.S. I added the video of which you speak to the top of the Other Videos page...

Class Two: Zero Stem, Rotation Blocks

Personal notes about class two....

Class Three: Short-Stem

Personal notes about class three...

Class Four: Long-Stem

Personal notes about class four...

Class Five: Striking Blows

Personal notes about class five...

Sticky sword that Stryk is teaching me seems difficult, but it would give me magic fighting powers.  I think Greth is training me Greatsword so I can start figuring it out, but I find it quite challenging.

0821 1130 - Sticky and press, snatch, etc., are all components of control, physically, you can also control space and time with a stop or time technique, one of the meisterhau Schielhau where you turn and evade behind your blade and interpose your blade into his blow development, right shoulder is an example.  Or you can use the Sprechfenster but again, controlling his lines of attack, without touching. And then this is like the winden, except you use more control to bring their sword to an indefensible position, then you can disengage and then wind over or in. - Steve 

Class Six: Baselines, Evade, Legs

Personal notes about class six...

Walking the baseline is something I really need to work on. I'm not comfortable fighting so close, but it would step up my fight significantly. Maybe some slow-work practice?

I tried fighting closer and throwing more whilst inside last practice, and I felt I showed a good deal of improvement.  I landed some of the blows I've been pell-training real hard, so that was cool.

Next practice I want to try to do what Stryk was showing me yesterday, where you actually put your right shoulder up on their shield...like, sticky shoulder or something.  Using the right leg to push against their left leg...I feel a bigger dude would have an easier time with this technique, but that just means I'll have to be cleverer about it, I suppose.  It's kind of like Winding and Binding from WMA or push-hands from Tai Chi, just with the body...give to their pressure, push at their weakness, etc.

0821 1123 You still need to work with winding and binding per the texts, this is more like ringen am schwert, except its like ringen am shild.... You need to work better on body positioning to stay in close. And indeed baseline manuevering.  Steve

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

Personal notes about class seven...

Class Eight: Onside Wraparound, Offside Jam, Uppercut Thrust

Personal notes about class eight...

My left wrap is coming together (thanks, Max)...I think my left offside is better than my right offside, interestingly enough; it learned that blow really quick.  I just need to think of more than one or two situations where I might use it.

I still don't think I'm quite generating enough power with my left wrap...it hits hard on the pell, but seems to fall apart a little when in the heat of battle.  My left doesn't have the point control that my right has...but I'm working on it, and last practice I actually killed with it!  I had been trying to land it all Pennsic, and only met with failure, so I'm kind of stoked about it.  It's a good blow...it sneaks in on the inside of the shield, but it's hard to defend myself when I throw it.  My left leg is particularly vulnerable.

0821 1126  defending the torso and leg when throwing or thrusting with the left sword is a combination of ingredients along with a situational based set of decisions.  You need to considered tempo and range, and use a defensive strategy that utilizes all the components to defend yourself.  Also there are aspects of "sticky" that play into this -- sticky sword, sticky body.  Steve

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

Personal notes about class nine...

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

Personal notes about class ten...

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

Personal notes about class eleven...

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

Personal notes about class twelve...

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

Personal notes about continuing progress in class thirteen+...