Training Journal- Day 11

April 27, 2012
Warm Up- N/A
Solo Drills-N/A
Partner Drills-N/A
Slow Work-N/A
Full Speed- 30 minutes with various partners (Anton, Kieran, and Kat)
What Worked- stringere from out of measure worked rather well; there was good use of disengages, counter disengages, and Volta stabile of the blade to gain and maintain control of the sword in each measure; successfully played with the off hand in a few plays
What Needs Improvement- body alignment, footwork, and posture need to be focused on in full speed. As always, further drilling is required.
Follow-up for Next Time- posture drills against a wall, footwork drills (specifically watch the passing step- straight steps, not arced steps) and lunges in front of a mirror. Lunges in each measure against a pell are well advised.
Other Notes- good combat at fight night.  Read more into the sports psychology that Jaimie was showing.

Training Journal- Day 10

April 26, 2012
Warm Up- Fun with the 6kg medicine ball! 5 minutes: wall tosses, 5 minutes: pushups w/ ball, 5 min situps and twist sit ups w/ ball
Solo Drills- measure drills (10 lunges from each measure with each hand.  80 lunges total)
Partner Drills- Collar and elbow key exercises, cutting defense drills (defense in mezza tempo, and dui tempi)
Slow Work- N/A
Full Speed- N/A
What Worked- Arm didn't quit on me.  Strength is improving.
What Needs Improvement- body mechanics during lunges.  need to focus on order more in future drills (shoulders first shoulders first shoulders first shoulders first shoulders first) my passing steps need to go in a straight line instead of in an arc.
Follow-up for Next Time- footwork drills and slow lunges in front of a mirror
Other Notes- passed the theory portion of the measure and control assessment.  Combat test next week.  Tablet comes back today, will be asking Devon if I can make a ghetto e-book from the Fabris translation.

Archery Journal- Day 1

April 22, 2012
Warm Up- N/A
Open Range- 0.75 hours shooting.  Finished my bracer.
Class- Reading about the muscles engaged in the lower body during archery. Another 0.75 hours of shooting.
Cool Down- N/A
What Worked- Ring finger is getting stronger, so is the engagement of my core for stabilizing.
What Needs Improvement- Focus on breathing and torso alignment
Follow-up for Next Time- breathing exercises through the week, have Jaimie watch my alignment during open range next week.
Other Notes- Staff meeting on Sunday.  Won't discuss contents, but as a corollary to the topics presented, what kind of professional development can I look forward to?  Perhaps something worth chattering about in the future.

Bonus Archery Sundays

Oh shit, what have I gotten myself into now?  It all started reasonably and innocently.  An archery lesson for $2 and a can of non perishable food for a charity event.  I took the event with a bunch of friends and had a really good time.  Apparently I made an impression on the archery instructor, because a couple weeks later I was playing model for the textbook and being bent into unpleasant shapes.  And that too must have went well, because shortly after that, I was laying in bed when my phone went off.

"WAFFLES!  I'm teaching a class of children and all of my apprentices are MIA!  Can you come in and help?"
"Buh?  Huh??  Wha???  I... hardly know anything about archery."
"You don't need to know anything.  You just have to keep the children in line."
"... when do you need me in?"
"Now."
I groaned audibly.
"Gimme an hour."

Soon I was at Duello trying to herd children, force them to stay in good stance and form, and make sure they didn't injure themselves or act in a perilous manner.  And I did it without administering pushups.

Shortly after I was offered an apprenticeship.

Shoot arrows, log hours, teach and refine, ?????, profit.

Anyways, training logs to follow.

Training Journal - Day 9

April 19, 2012 (the wee hours of the goddamn morning)
Solo Drills- Longsword guard progression (10 mins) Poleaxe cuts (10 mins)
Partner Drills- N/A
Slow Work- N/A
Full Speed- N/A
What Worked- N/A
What Needs Improvement- I need to focus more on my footwork when I'm doing longsword.  I think I'm moving like I'm doing rapier still (strictly forward, no sideways movement)
Follow-up for Next Time- Focus on footwork before picking a sword up.  And not just in longsword.
Other Notes- Continue to get money (more?) and chase that dream.  Apply halberds to the situation as necessary.

Quiet Times

Breakfast television is coming in to Duello in a few short hours, and I can't sleep.  I'm here in the salle typing away and whiling away my time until the film crew shows up at 5:30.

The archery range is set up.  There are people in the next room asleep and awaiting the show.  It's a demo like any other.  I won't be swinging my sword about today.  There's shooting to be done.

It's a curious thing to be here when there's nothing happening.  The place is silent.  It's a good night to appreciate what's available.  I've taken time to handle my weapons, string the bows, and practice a few other things that interest me.  I've taken time to feel the floor; where it's smooth and where it's rough.  Time to smell the faint odor of sweat, leather, oil, and dust.  Time to see where the stone in the walls is losing some mortar.  To examine the archery butts, complain about the bows not being put away properly, and have a pleasant evening with one of the archery apprentices.

There's magic and power in this place.  It pleases me to be a part of it, and is a good reminder of that (im?)possible dream.

Training Journal - Day 8

April 10, 2012
Warm Up- Stretches and light medicine ball work (20 minutes)
Solo Drills- Lunges (lots) lunges with off hand positioning (not as many, but still lots) cutting homework (exactly what was listed on the board - 30 cuts with various footwork)  Lunges at a pell from stretissima, stretta, and larga (legs threatened to rebel at largissima)
Partner Drills- N/A
Slow Work- N/A
Full Speed- N/A
What Worked- Body alignment and arm positioning in off hand drills was improved.
What Needs Improvement- Finding my measure in short order, still not able to consistently place the sword where I want to get the right amount of flex with the right amount of footwork (maybe going to far forawrd over the knee?)
Follow-up for Next Time- More body alignment and basics.  Sparring and combative drills.
Other Notes-Must procure tripod and adapter for tablet when it gets returned to me.  Must also see if I have magical talent, because technology keeps goddamn breaking on me.

Training Journal - Day 7

April 9, 2012
Warm Up- Archery Yoga with Rish and Jamie. (1 hr)
Solo Drills- N/A
Partner Drills- N/A
Slow Work- 45 mins w/ Jordan
Full Speed- N/A
What Worked- Body was slow to fatigue.  I'm willing to chalk it up to yoga and stretching beforehand.
What Needs Improvement- It's back to basics, so my control of measure, and the sword itself was very weak. Measure control drills will be paramount over the coming weeks.
Follow-up for Next Time-  Body mechanics, and measure drills
Other Notes- First day back in a while.  This whole running out of money thing is troublesome as hell.