If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a line/lane or a box, go ahead and take 5 minutes to look up what that means in the context of fighting. (I've also written about it here) The extremely simplified version is that a box is the area bounded by your shoulders and your hips (the 1-shot kill zone) and a line is the plane on which your static guard protects. The basic gist of winning a fight is a matter of breaking another person’s line to either kill the hand that guards them or to get that line off center so that it no longer protects a person’s box, which in turn gives you a kill shot. You’ll find that this idea is super important in the amtgard (been spelling that wrong for years…) and is starting to become more of a thing in other versions of the sport. Peter the quick has lots of good tutorials on working and controlling those lines if that’s something you want to learn more about.
Step Diagrams
In addition to the 4 steps that were taught in the first training manual there’s an additional 4 steps that I’ll go into here. The previous steps were all versions of moving or responding to combat in 90 degree increments. Having a good sense of those is important but none of those maneuvers will help you break your opponent's line, or deal with an opponent breaking your lines. To do that you need to know the 45 degree angle steps.
The basic 4 steps look something like this:
And you can look them up in the training manual. Now we’ll talk about the next 4 steps which look something like this:
45 degree angle steps
In an effort to make my life easier I’ve labelled the steps 1 through 4 so I’ll rotate through them in that order. All of these scenarios assume a right handed fighter fighting another right handed fighter, typically as a florentine fighter against sword and board. If you find that you are a lefty fighting a righty or vice versa, simply switch your feet and hands so that your offhand matches their sword arm while your dominant hand matches your back foot.
Offense
The first step is designed to bypass the line created by their sword arm. Generally speaking this is a risky engage because you put your entire body close to harm in order to get into this position. Against a sword and board fighter however this often puts you at a significant advantage. If they don’t move you can easily bypass their sword’s guard with your left hand while defending your swinging arm with your right hand. If they see the opening that you’ve created by breaking this line you can instead block with your left hand and then throw a counterblow to their arm with your right hand. The step mechanics are pretty straightforward. From neutral footwork take your front (left) foot and step it 45 degrees out and forward in front of you. This will briefly put you into an awkward position as your feet are overextended. This first step is the stagger step, typically it’s done as a half step because a full step would set you completely off balance. Then, simply allow your back foot to slide back into a neutral stance.
The second step is the one that I generally prefer when fighting sword and board fighters as it takes me closer to the outside of their swing arc, thereby reducing the effectiveness of their swings, while simultaneously using their own shield to guard me from some of the shots they might otherwise have access to. This step is typically done with the intention of throwing a wrap shot with your back (right) hand. In this case your back foot takes a straight step along the 45 degree angle it’s already lined up with. Once your foot has landed you’ll want to allow it to turn so that it faces the same direction as your opponent while allowing your back foot to rotate so that it is now pointed at a 45 degree angle to the left instead of straight at your opponent. This one step should be sufficient to keep you lined up without throwing you off balance.
Defense
The third and fourth steps are defensive steps designed to react to an opponent who is closing on you, often by doing either the first or second step. The third step counters the second step by unbreaking the lane from your left arm. As a counter move for a person moving in towards you it’s often done with a wrap shot for your right arm at the same time you throw a block with your left arm. The wrap shot will shift your shoulders (per the arm exercise earlier) which will get your front hand back so that it’s in a better position to absorb an incoming wrap shot. The step is done mechanically so that you take your front foot and pull it back and out at a 45 degree angle. Once you’ve taken a full step back you allow your front foot to rotate so that it is now facing your opponent.
The fourth step counters the first step and similarly involves throwing a right handed wrap against a sword and board fighter. This step is also a stagger step in which you take a half step backwards at a 45 degree angle. You can generate the speed for the step by pushing off with your front foot. Once you’ve repositioned your back foot you’ll want to allow your front foot to be pulled back into a neutral stance closer to your body. Typically when a person engages with the first step they’re trying to break the line on your left arm. By stepping back into line with the opponent (or close to it) you close that lane back off. Your opponent meanwhile has stepped their body closer to you which leaves them susceptible to wrap shots. If they were the one to engage then they probably also intending to swing at you meaning that once you see the shot coming and can block it you have the freedom to swing as well without having to worry about losing your arm in the process.
No comments:
Post a Comment