So Iteration – the repetition of a process, and when we are talking HEMA/ LARP combat it’s all about muscle memory and the feeling feedback loop that you create when weapons touch, and you want to be in the zone where you apply the right pressure/ resistance and angle to win the bind and be in the place where you can now strike the target without being struck yourself.
Reiteration. Practice until you can’t get it wrong!
Wonderful – except the quality of the information given in the bind is always varied. It’s not like a cricket drill where you can isolate a straight drive with a ball on a tea, then a low bouncing ball dropped from a set height to building up to using a bowling machine and then having a fast bowler deliver balls that you may drive or defend depending on the length and bounce. In the HEMA we can deliver a progressive set of drills that get harder to carry out i.e. at first it’s a stationary blade, then responding to an attack with out foot movement, then a linear drill then a circular drill. Sure we can and do do that!
But the pressure signals in the bind always vary. Our training partner is always and only human, and if new to the training going to deliver blows/ strikes with variable pressure in their grip, they will have differing tip speeds, they will pass through almost the same space each time, they will invariably vary their distance and space between the students and weapons. And if that is not hard enough – after a few repetitions they will think they have it and start to try to win the drill!
Then they get creative and make up some really impractical solutions to winning the drill which do not work in true force and speed.
Drills are for muscle memory – muscle memory allows you to respond to a situation without having to make decisions that take longer than you have in space and time. At the very worse you want to be able to recognize one pattern of attack and respond accordingly – and if it’s not that do the other thing.
In the case of George Silver there are two triggers. The blow/ strike is coming off your enemies upper left or upper right quarter. When circling in True gardant fight you see a small portion of your enemy circling to your right. If they attack and you aren’t seeing the blade because they are still circling into the blind spot created by your right elbow then its a medium ward, compass step clockwise and strike at their extended arm. If the suddenly are in full view they changed their direction or halted their traverse to make a good down right blow and you slip a little right while defending with gardant ward.
Two techniques for all occasions that are not point on variable fight (discussed in upcoming book 2 of A Scholar’s Guide to George Silver).
So it’s very important as an instructor to 1) Keep students on task 2) check technique regularly – demonstrate again if necessary 3) Keep the drills progressive so they don’t have time to start making stuff up!
Reiteration – coming back to basics every few weeks or months to check they haven’t fallen into bad habits – it’s hard to unlearn what you have learned.
And the quality of the drills will increase with each reiteration.
garethpr.org 