101R-Group (Refresh)

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

Combination Long-Stem/Zero-Stem 6-Shot Combination Maneuver Drill:

• Form Right beside your Buddy
• Open Formation
• Sword-length between ranks
• Compass-forward-right onside Long-stem
• Compass-forward-left offside long-stem
• Onside Zero-stem
• Offside Zero-stem
• Compass-backward-right onside Long-stem
• Compass-backward-left offside Long-stem
• Recover

101R-Buddies (Refresh)

Turning/Rotation (Turn-Strive/Turn-Evade) Refresh:

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.

Inside Baseline Angle-Change (Onside) Zero-Pressure Combination Drill Refresh:

It is possible to get outside the opponent's cone of defense at the Inside Baseline through a compass-step around the opponent (facing the opponent at the inside baseline, if you do a compass-step-forward-right, you will rotate around the opponent's shield and be outside the defense cone/shield of the opponent with your sword positioned behind their shield).  A Zero-Pressure is a move along or into the Inside Baseline away from blow development or into a favorable position in regards to the opponent's defense/shield to avoid a shot or place oneself late in blow development in the zone of least shot power or greatest defensiveness vis-a-vis the opponent's cone of defense.  Building this Inside-Baseline Angle-Change Rotation/Maneuver into a shot/combination (with defenders blocking using the rotation block and the Flat Blocking Onside/Offside Head):

• Compass-forward-right onside Long-stem head (starting from the Outside Baseline into the Dead-Zone) [the set-up shot]
• Compass-forward-left offside long-stem leg (crossing out-of the Dead-Zone to the Inside Baseline)
• Compass-forward-right angle-change short-stem onside head (rotating around the opponent and striking onside behind the defensive cone of the shield) [This is the technique, the rest is drill]
• Offside zero-stem head
• Compass-backward-right onside long-stem head
• Compass-backward-left offside long-stem leg
• Recover

Leg Blows Refresh

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

101N (New Material)

Inside Baseline Angle-Change (Onside) Deep Wraparound Combination Drill:

• Fighting stance facing your buddy
• Compass-forward-right onside Long-stem head (starting from the Outside Baseline into the Dead-Zone)
• Compass-forward-left offside long-stem leg (crossing out-of the Dead-Zone to the Inside Baseline)
• Compass-forward-right angle-change Deep-Wraparound Head (rotating around the opponent and striking onside behind the defensive cone of the shield), arm locked to the compass-step leg
• Onside zero-stem head
• Compass-backward-right offside long-stem head
• Compass-backward-left onside long-stem leg
• Recover

Inside Baseline Angle-Change (Offside) Jam Drill:

At its most basic, the Jam is a movement (to an advantageous position at an opportune timing) at the Inner Baseline that interrupts the offense and/or defense of the opponent.  There are thus weapon Jams that interrupt the offensive shots of the opponent and shield Jams that interrupt the defensive efforts of the opponent.  The opposite of a Zero Pressure, where you are moving out of the maximum effectiveness of the offense and defense of the opponent, a Jam is a movement into the area of your opponent's maximum shot or defensive power so that you can place your blows or your defense into the way of their formation:

• Fighting stance facing your buddy
• Compass-forward-left offside Long-stem head (starting from the Outside Baseline into the Dead-Zone)
• Compass-forward-right onside long-stem leg (crossing out-of the Dead-Zone to the Inside Baseline)
• Compass-forward-left angle-change zero-stem onside head (rotating around the opponent, Jamming your shield into theirs and striking offside head behind the defensive cone of their shield) [This is the technique, rest is drill]
• Onside zero-stem head
• Compass-backward-right offside long-stem head
• Compass-backward-left onside long-stem leg
• Recover

Inside Baseline Uppercut Thrust Drill:

Swords are thrusting as well as cutting weapons and ability to thrust is an assumed part of both authorizations and the art of swordsmanship.  Thrusts are excellent shots of opportunities, as opponents shield maneuvers often make thrust openings available -- and they are excellent components of combinations, as you can similalry make such openings become available by making an opponent move their shield through combinations:

• Fighting stance facing your buddy
• Compass-forward-left offside  Long-stem head (starting from Outside Baseline through the Dead-Zone to the Inner Baseline)
• Compass-backwards-right raising arm into locked offside (Ham Sandwich) or Hanging Guard-like position
• Hip-Rotation Uppercut-Thrust (face) forward (the hip rotation will bring the arm and shoulders forward). [This is the technique, rest is drill]
• Recover