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 Comments/Quick Walk-Through:
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.
Rotation Block Refresh Comments/Quick Walk-Through:
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.
Zero-Stem Refresh Technique Comments/Quick Walk-Through:
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.
Short-Stem Refresh Technique Comments/Quick Walk-Through:
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.
Long-Stem Refresh Technique Comments/Quick Walk-Through:
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.
Combination Long-Stem/Zero-Stem 6-Shot Combination Maneuver Drill:
101R-Buddies (Refresh)
Shield Blocking (Block/Block) Refresh Drill:
Buddies pair-off at the Inner Baseline. Both buddies practice Block/Block shield rotation drills rotating onside/offside bringing the shield corner-up when the shoulders drop, observing each others' technique to offer direction. Emphasis is on proper technique, form, and power generation.
Turning/Rotation (Turn-Strive/Turn-Evade) Buddy Drill:
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
Zero-Stem Refresh Onside/Offside Head/Leg Buddy Drill:
Buddies pair-off at the Inner Baseline. One buddy is the offender, one the defender. The defender practices Block/Block shield rotation drills. The offender practices zero-stem technique. Emphasis is on proper technique, form, and power generation. Switch when complete.
Short-Stem Refresh Onside/Offside Head/Leg Buddy Drill:
Buddies pair-off in the Dead-Zone. One buddy is the offender, one the defender. The defender practices Block/Block shield rotation drills. The offender practices short-stem technique. Emphasis is on proper technique, form, and power generation. Switch when complete.
Long-Stem Refresh Onside/Offside Head/Leg Buddy Drill:
Buddies pair-off at the Outer Baseline. One buddy is the offender, one the defender. The defender practices Block/Block shield rotation drills. The offender practices long-stem technique. Emphasis is on proper technique, form, and power generation. Switch when complete.
Inside Baseline Angle-Change (Onside) Zero-Pressure Combination Drill Refresh:
Buddies pair-off at the Outer Baseline. One buddy is the offender, one the defender. The offender practices the zero-pressure drill, the defender practices rotation block defense and provides direction to the buddy. Offender makes certain to change the angle of the Inner Baseline on the Zero-Pressure and to end in a position of least weapon risk. Emphasis is on proper technique, form, and power generation. Switch when complete.
101N (New Material)
The Hanging-Guard and the Moulinet:
The hanging-guard is a defensive stance that is often over-applied and often mis-applied. It is usually most effective in melee contexts, where it can add passive defense against sword-side opponents and face-thrusts from spears. It can also be quite useful as a transitional stance between shots and movements, as a method for optioning shots, and as a position from which to fake or feint (particularly for thrusts). However, many fighters tend to over-use the stance, believing it to provide greater defense than it actually does. They also misapply the stance by bringing their arm too far forward or their elbows too far outwards, leaving their arms exposed. The Hanging Guard stance is valuable defensively, and the hanging-guard drop-shot is valuable in that it not only provides us the most effective blow from the hanging-guard, but also introduces the elbow drop (the mirror of the elbow-flip of the offside-shot) which allows us to throw zero-stem shots at short-stem ranges. The Moulinet takes the evolution of both the hanging-guard drop shot and the thumb-turn wraparound to their full conclusion by introducing the full wrist rotation (beyond the half-wrist rotation learned in the thumb-turn wraparound) into the basic mechanics of the hanging-guard drop-shot.
Hanging-Guard Drop-Shot:
When taking a hanging-guard stance, it is important to remember to keep your sword-arm passively defended with the elbow sufficiently high and back (towards the ear) and the sword towards the right-side of your center line in such a manner that it is not blocking your vision.
Hanging-Guard Moulinet:
When taking a hanging-guard stance, it is important to remember to keep your sword-arm passively defended with the elbow sufficiently high and back (towards the ear) and the sword towards the right-side of your center line in such a manner that it is not blocking your vision.