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ClassTwo-ZeroStemRotationBlocks

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Saved by maxntropy@...
on February 20, 2008 at 10:12:10 pm
 

 

 

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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

 

 

Movement:

Movement - proper movement is the cornerstone of power generation, proper shot setup, the basis for proper defensive maneuvers, and the premise for all unit actions.  Understanding and implementing proper movements can make the critical difference between poor, good, and great fighting.

  • Five Movements
    • Half-Pass/Half
    • Full-Pass/Pass
    • Traverse
    • Gather
    • Compass
  • Six Directions
    • Forward/Advance
    • Reverse/Backwards
    • Left
    • Right
    • Cross (Left)
    • Cross (Right)
  • Lead-Leg
    • Left (Fighting Stance)
    • Right (Funny Leg)

 

 

Turning/Rotation:

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 -- rotate explosively around your hips clockwise as if swinging a golf club or baseball bat.  Note that both feet want to rotate up on the balls of the feet, the right foot more than the left.  Rotate counter-clockwise around your hips.  Note the small amount of rotation possible from Zero Stance.
  • Fighting Stance Explosive Hip Rotation - Assume fighting stance with your right leg denied behind your left leg.  Rotate explosively around your hips clockwise as if swinging a golf club or baseball bat.  Note that both feet want to rotate up on the balls of teh feet, the right foot more than the left.  It is alright if your right foot comes off the ground and rotates on the balls of your feet as you push forward with your rear leg.  You can assist the rotation of the hip with the thrust of the leg.  In Karate, this is known as Jun Kaeshi (Rotation with the Technique)

 

 

 

New Material

 

 

Zero-Stem:

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.

  • Flat Snaps - With shield edges and hanging guards forming formidable barriers to sword penetration, there is only a narrow window a few inches wide within wich to strike the head of an opponent.  With most opponents, the most effective way to strike into this window is with a shot that comes in "flat" or parallel to the plane of the floor.  Once one learns the basics of a flat snap (and flat offside), one can begin learning all the various modifications of angles off the flat, but the basic shot is the flat snap.  To throw the flat snap, one can think of starting the shot by holding the sword in basic Fighting Stance comfortably at rest on your shoulder as if you were holding a bowl of soup in your palm.  When you throw your blow, imagine you are handing the bowl of soup in your open palm diagonally across the face of your opponent to the opposite side of their face without spilling any of the soup.  This will keep the plane of the sword entering flat along the plane of the shield edge and ensure that your sword is not passively blocked by the shield.
  • Zero-Stem Onside Head - Facing an opponent with only a few inches (six or so) between you, lock your elbow into the side of your body (as if you were holding a Ham Sandwich tightly under your armpit) with your arm straight-up and your fist by your face holding your sword facing rightwards away from your face.  With your upper body held rigidly tight holding onto that Ham Sandwich, rotate explosively around your hips counter-clockwise thrusting your rear (right) leg forward and punching your sword upward slightly and rotating your sword around your wrist to strike the opponent while keeping your elbow locked into the side of your body (locking your elbow into your side forces the power to come from your hips and not your arm).
  • Zero-Stem Offside Head - Facing an opponent with only a few inches (six or so) beween you, hold your elbow into the side of your body (as if you were holding a Ham Sandwich tightly under your armpit)  with your arm straight-up and your fist by your face holding your sword facing rightwards away from your face.  Rotate explosively around your hips clockwise thrusting your forward (left) leg forward and punching your sword elbow up and to the right in a lever-like motion while slightly arcing the sword downwards to lever flat into the opponents' temple (note the arm motions are extremely small, and the power generation is from the hips).

 

 

Rotation Block:

 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 - As an opponent throws a slow onside blow towards your head, rotate around your hips counter-clockwise as if throwing a Zero-Stem onside shot while turning away from the opponent and raising the left shoulder holding the shield.  The combination of the rotation, turning out, and slightly raising the shoulder should both take your head sufficiently out of range will bringing your shield into deffensive posture to block the shot.

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