Getting to the point.

It was the second week of dussack at the Barbican class this week, again going through the strike at the weak and catch of the counter. Then slow constant problem solving sparring.

 

Tuesday was incredible fun with noting but sparring with the spear and staff, concentrating on varying attacks and grips a fair few bruises and a lot of very happy people.

 Wednesday was working on two principle attacks from di Grassi and Lignitzer, seeing how they relate and working against the most likely counter to each of them.

Thursday as usual was Burn Night. This week our four sets of drills were with short and long staff,
unarmed and sword and buckler. Unusually we didn't do any longsword but looking at the grins of those thrusting each other in the face or throwing each other across the mats, that omission was forgiven.

Tonight of course is the Highgate class, where there will be all the longsword you could hope for, cutting drills and an approach under cover from wrath. Look forward to seeing you there.

This week, rebellious striking staff.

This week. I was expecting a very low turn out on Monday due to the onset of the tube strikes, so opted for dussack rather than rapier as it's much easier to transport. As it turned out we had an almost full house. We worked on forcing an opponent in bow to counter cut and then seizing that cut to our advantage with a cut of our own.This took several forms with some work on driving the opponent back with intention to top the evening off.

Tuesday was a reverse strike with the short staff and, having several folk off ill we really went for giving the staves a good flourish. The grip is reversed in this way to allow you to strike naturally when your staff is withdrawn to your own right from below the opponent's staff.

There was no Wednesday class this week so this led us to...Burn Night.
How fabulous was this? All the fabulous, we worked three weapon sets and unarmed.
Unarmed was a follow on from last week's lesson, balance breaking in two directions followed this week by...

A throw over the back.

A throw over the back.

The short staff was the same drill as on Tuesday but the long staff was a new and exhausting treat. We worked Mair's first assault and the first part of the counter. Lunges, oh so many lunges.

 A very nice drill and I can't wait to put it into practice.

 

All that was left was a more free form of di Grassi's hurt from high and counter (pic at top of the page).

A hot lesson and lots of work, but fantastic fun. Roll on the next one.

All that remains is to thank everyone who came to the opening class in Highgate on Friday last. Good to hear the more advanced students clashing in the background while I took the beginners (who did remarkably well) through the first few cuts of Meyer's longsword.

It's looking like being a great class already.

This week at the London Longsword Academy.

 

 A lot going on this week, Monday got off to a wonderful start with a good turn out at the Barbican rapier class despite it being a bank holiday.  We started with a method of finding the opponent's blade, then closing the line with the thrust. We put the same exercise into practice with a game, one person in the middle attacking a circle of people who each adopted a different guard. On the first circle the middle had to find the blade and enter, on the second circle the outer parties disengaged stealing the tempo. Great fun and a fantastic learning tool.

As soon as we finished the drill we went straight into sparring, taking full advantage of the extra space. Nice to see Robert attempting some of the disarms he learnt from Reinier in Delft, but special mention has to go to Fleur for changing her fight to di Grassi mid way through her bouts and using her left hand to some effect.

All in all a fantastic evening, thanks to all of you who made it.

What else this week?

Tuesday in Beckenham it's staff and spear.

Wednesday at the Blackfriars/Waterloo class it's sword buckler & shield.

Thursday is burn night, intense, aerobic drilling with multiple weapons.

Friday of course is the fantastic new longsword class in Highgate.

Hurt from the high ward.

Here is a little clip from di Grassi expliaining the attack from the high ward and the counter to that technique, taken from this wednesday's sword and buckler class.     It's tempting to go charging in with an overhand thrust from the high guard, but what is actually intended is a scooping screwing motion from high to low that gathers any incoming thrust and covers in the low ward itself. In this clip I go through a couple of the issues that make the counter technique work, namely the holder of the high ward actually trying to thrust at you and the ever present threat of a thrust from his opponent's right side. I hope you enjoy the clip and find it useful, if you want to see more clips like this, don't forget to like our facebook page

Happy Mondays.

I came back from Delft a little rough around the edges and of course feeling a little under the weather I felt it best to make us all sweat, so...
Monday's class consisted of little gems I borrowed from the other instructors in Delft.
A matched pacing warm up from Ton Puey, the beats and entries from Marcelli as shown by Francesco Lodà (very similar to Olympic fencing, a great way to warm the muscles learn timing and practice the footwork from di Grassi). Both were fantastic ways to warm up and blast through some core skills in a very short time.
Then it was time for a little bit of di Grassi, again working on the hurt from the high guard we looked at not only the footwork and thrust itself but also the psychology of the entry, dividing the opponent's mind between wishing to attack the obvious line and defending, while this schism is occurring entering in such a way that scoops up and crushes the counter before it (no doubt at this point there is some lamentation, then some milk based alcohol and a discussion about what is good in life).
We then looked at the counter to this from the low ward, applying a similar mind set. It is remarkable how much this style gives an almost Musashi five rings feel to your fencing, either overwhelming your opponent or flowing deceptively around them, one action and mind set made possible by the threat of the other.

We will have a few more weeks of di Grassi before going over some Cavendish and Thibault, but we will return to this often, it is simple, brutal and so much fun.

Dastardly doings in Delft.

Well it's been pretty damn busy at the school. Of course we have the new class starting at Jackson's Lane of the 25th of April, but that hasn't stopped me from rushing off to Holland to teach at the International Rapier Seminar, it was an honour to teach alongside such notables as Thibault Ghesquière, Francesco Lodà, Ton Puey and of course our gracious host and co-instructor Reinier van Noort. I taught Cavendish which is proving to be a pleasant experience with most people seeming to move through slight disbelief, gradual comprehension then utter joy at slapping swords out of people's hands with gay abandon. 

It is an unusual system but very effective and also very well informed, Cavendish it seems was a clever fellow. I will post a little more about it soon, but in the mean time thanks to everyone in this picture, it was an absolute pleasure to be there.

   

Class news. 
Barbican Mondays: Rapier for a few more lessons - we will work on di Grassi, then back to more Thibault and Cavendish.
Beckenham Tuesdays: Staff & spear from Mair.
Wednesday Blackfriars/Waterloo: sword and buckler/shield, again di Grassi then back to I.33.
Thursday Clapham: Burn night, the most intense way to drill. Several weapon sets, hi rep and very fun.

Friday: Class opening in Highgate on 25th April, contact me for details.

New class in Highgate and...

We are pleased to announce the opening of a new class at the fantastic Jackson's Lane starting on April 25th.
The hall is located right opposite Highgate tube station and will run from 7-8.30 pm every Friday.
For information on joining a class, call 0770 9639881 or email us at londonlongsword@gmail.com Please include a contact number. 

And

Burn night is back! The Clapham class (now on Thursdays) has become the place to really push yourself. Each week we choose 3 weapon sets, spend 30 minutes running through the drills we will practice, then straight into an hour of non stop drilling, first solo then partnered. 

No talking, just training.