Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Saturday practice in Coldwood

A bit ago, several of us spoke about organizing a joint Coldwood/Outpost practice in Coldwood, on a Saturday. Kit volunteered to host it at her house, and we announced it on both lists.
Practice started at noon, and we rolled in right about then. Ended up with Rhys, Jimena and I being the only ones who were able to go from here. Coldwood turned out well, with Kit, Snorri, Aiden, Ivar, Mike, and a transplant from Atlantia whose name I forget. Ambrosius also showed up a bit later.
It was a laid back practice... we wanted to work on skills and fundamentals, and did a good amount of that. I think we all tried to get in fights with everyone there, and discussed what was working and what wasn't.

I worked with spear a bit... Mike loves spear, and I don't completely suck at it, so I worked with him for a bit. We talked different stances, different ways to throw spear shots, and how to work as a team and against a team. I tend to not really fire to full extension with a spear, generally not having my front hand lose contact, and as such end up at a bit closer range. Dunno if it's right, but it seems to work most of the time.

Fought with Snorri a bit, which I like to do. He fights too high... center of gravity above where it should be for good balance. We talked about it, and discussed possible fixes. I find that breaking things down to football technique works best, as we share that background. Optimally, I'd like to have him doing footwork (agility)drills and slow pell work with me... the agility drills would help with cardio and I think would help get his center of gravity back where it needs to be.

Fought with Ivar, which I have not really done before. Ivar has a bit of a tendency to rely on strength rather than mechanics, which will wok in the short run, but will result in him tiring faster. Also talked about the hind brain taking over... at one point, I saw him kind of leave his own eyes, and whatever animal lives in the back of his mind take over. We discussed harnessing the energy that gives you without letting it drive.

Kit and I fought a few different times, with my sword and shield, and with my axe. She is a bit intimidated by the axe, and we were discussing why. She got lit up by an unexpected shot from it one time, and it probably goes back to that. I do use the intimidation factor with the axe sometimes, but I tried to help her get by it. Kit is doing well as a fighter, her biggest issue is self image. She sees every mistake and flaw, and focuses on those, to the detriment of what she is doing right. We talked about that, but I know it's a hard thing to get past.

Not much to say about the Atlantian transplant, as I didn't fight hum much. Seemed a little reliant on upper body strength rather than technique, but I also don't know how long he's been in armour. Seems to want to get in close and brawl a bit, but he's going to have trouble with it without a bit more polish on the body mechanics of throwing close in shots.

Jimena is back in armour after a while out due to life. Was good to fight her again... her style is very different than most I'm used to, and I get to play with some fun angles. She also has the ability to pick out technique flaws and problems, even ones she can't necessarily do. She can see the problem and suggest corrections well.

Scrapped with Rhys, which I always like doing. He's a fun fight with varied technique, and I feel like he brings out a good fight in me. Rhys is an amalgam of styles, and combines raw power to immobilize or displace your defense with good targeting on combinations. I fought him two stick against his shield deliberately, as it's something I'm trying to work on. He was nice enough to let me flail about like an idiot trying to get the left side of my body to obey me.

Fought Aiden a few times... sword and shield, axe, and two stick. He has a solid defense, and a reactive offense, and is always a tough fight. We didn't fight alot, but mainly worked on things. He made a good suggestion for training my left hand sword that I'm going to use, suggested to him by Karl Von Sussen... put my right hand sword inverted, and not strike with it... just use it to block a bit and fire with my left hand. i had been trying to do left hand sword and shield, which I will still work on, but this closer duplicated the feel of trying to fight two stick while making me concentrate on the left.

Only fought Jaime a couple f times, so I have no real input there...

Had some excellent food after... thanks again Kit for hosting, and for feeding us.

So overall, I need to work on several things. I intend to work my agility drills for footwork and cardio. I'd like to get a pell to work on, and do more slow work on it. Left hand needs work... alot of it. That will be pell work... basically, my body is so wired to fire with the right hand, it's still doing that potion when I throw with the left. Practice.
Also... I need to work on fighting fighters who are legged. I suck at it, and find that I avoid firing leg shots because I don't want to fight people on their knees. I need to either get someone to just let me practice this, or start legging people more. :)
It all comes down to practice. Because it's one thing to know it... it's another thing to do it.
"Training and education are two different things. Training gives you a skill set to perform a specific task. Education provides you with academic theory for problem-solving issues."
~ Master Sgt. Juan Lopez, USMC

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