Training Journal- Day 21

June 15, 2012
Took a couple Weeks off of formal training after the rank exam. Between a move, two jobs, and archery, life has been a goddamn mad house.
The week following the exam was spent settling in to the new house, losing my keys, and adventuring as a borderline hobo for a couple days.
The week after was spent in merciful decompression.
The next several weeks are going to be an aggressive training schedule. All focus classes.
Life carries on, training makes it all worth while. The goal is near, next time I will be strong and ready.
Warm Up- dynamic warm up
Solo Drills- footwork in a mirror, emphasis on good posture and alignment
Partner Drills- tessatura, defense against cuts in contra tempo, off hand covers
Slow Work- N/A
Full Speed- N/A
What Worked- hips stayed back in solo work, learned how to defend against cuts in contra tempo (retreat, collect the sword, strike; I almost take 2 actions in the space of their single action)
What Needs Improvement- body needs to be positioned better, I'm leaning towards my right leg, should be directly in line with my left
Follow-up for Next Time- footwork and body alignment corrections with a mirror
Other Notes- none today

Rank Exam 1

June 2, 2012

Today was my first rank exam.  The first time I was called on to demonstrate a measure of proficiency with the weapon as a whole.  It was an important lesson and learning experience, but I'll get into that below.  The exams make me realize just how damn special that the school and it's students are: we all/as many as are able, come together to test and help each other grow.  There's a high standard for success, and fortunately for those of us who aren't quite ready, a large network of superior swordsmen/women who will help train the areas where we are deficient.  Anyways, a breakdown, and an AAR.

Warm Up- Standard mastery warm up, with movement added to the medicine ball tosses.
Solo Drills- N/A
Partner Drills- demonstrating techniques for gaining control, maintaining control, and regaining control; defending against cuts in mezzo, contra, and dui tempo; covers and stringere with the offhand.
Slow Work- lots of slow work.  must have been at least 10 straight minutes
Full Speed- Two ten minute rounds of sparring, with a 5 minute break in between.
What Worked- I controlled the measure of the fight well, controlled my opponents' swords well when preparing for a strike, and moved in good tempo.  Demonstrated well with my off hand.
What Needs Improvement- my grappling needs more intention, my footwork needs to improve (keep a consistent distance between my feet, don't let them gather, don't use so many passing steps) need to brush up on defenses against cuts in contra tempo, and I need to adjust my posture so that my weight is resting over my rear leg instead of in a more central position.
Follow-up for Next Time- Movement drills and body alignment in a mirror.  Follow up with Clint and Greg for ways to construct effective drills for the points I need to improve on.
Other Notes- From a non technical perspective, I felt rather unprepared for the exam.  Physically, I was gearing myself up for a test in August.  I had only managed to get one night of conditioning in during the four sessions that got lumped into a single post.  My arm was ready to quit on me at the end of the slow work section.  I'm going to need to start strength training in addition to the technical training that I've been focusing on.  And mentally, I was grossly unprepared.  The exam was stressful.  I had to stop and center myself on several different occasions so that I would stop rattling.  Now that I know what I'm in for I can train up my deficiencies, and prepare myself mentally and physically.

Training Journal - Day 20 - pt. 2

June 1st, 2012

Why are you posting twice in a day?  That is a silly thing to do, and you should feel silly.  PISS ON THAT, THERE'S A DEMO TEAM PRACTICE!

Warm Up- Similar to the mastery warm up, except tossing the medicine ball around also involves moving around through the room, and some more awareness and agility focus.
Solo Drills-  N/A
Partner Drills- Basic rapier choreography up to 3 plays with Radge and Kat.
Slow Work- Expanding the choreography into a combative looking set
Full Speed- N/A  A full speed version of this choreography will be expanded and developed over the coming weeks.
What Worked- I can play the agente reasonably well in any given drill.  I felt solid in my findings, and control.
What Needs Improvement- As passiente, I need to receive my hits better, and establish the speed of the plays.  Too often the plays were speeding up, and leading to messy disengages.
Follow-up for Next Time- Practice practice practice.  Also involve a camera.  In fact, do that last bit for as much training as possible.
Other Notes- As usual, I had to leave early for work.  The affair saddened me more than slightly.

Training Journal- Day 20

June 1, 2012

Right, the training is moving to another stage, so I think the blog should reflect that.  I'm fairly comfortable with the information section so I'm going to preface my posts.  I love having a preamble.  Here we go.

So I rolled into class a little bummed because the assessment is tomorrow, and I wasn't signed off on all of my points yet.  Apparently I was mistaken.  Clint stopped me as I was walking in and told me that I was testing at the end of class.  And that he expected me to pass.   Oh goody.  Class was useful, if uneventful, though the assessment yielded a few surprises.  Read on, and as always thanks for reading.

Warm Up- Standard Mastery Warm up.  10 minutes of dynamic stretching, medicine ball tossing.
Solo Drills- Lunges and guards with the off hand, with a focus on properly aligning my body.
Partner Drills- Control drills; variants on tessitura (still not sure if I'm spelling that right)
Slow Work- N/A
Full Speed- N/A
What Worked- Alignment, and mental state for off hand worked nicely.  The tip Adam gave me about engaging the side of the sword that I can see helped immensely.
What Needs Improvement- In addition to the standard required areas of improvement, my mental state in general when assessing needs work.  I had to stop and re-focus several times.  I need to find a way to maintain my focus in the face of difficult tasks.
Follow-up for Next Time- Sports psychology, and possibly meditation.
Other Notes- Passed the off-hand assessment, and cleared to test on Saturday.  Excellent.