[Devon]

Hey David I know that you already got through to us but you can always reach us at info@swordplaymasterclass.com that goes just to me and Greg.

[Devon]

Great experiment and I love the contraption! If you could put in a video that shows you from head to toe that would be a bit easier to see as far as posture is concerned.

You are right about keeping your spine straight. Work on keeping the shoulders back and chest forward as well.

[Devon]

@GregR

[Devon]

If you’re having trouble on the connection to the words. A couple useful english words that have the same roots:

mezza – mezzanine = a half circle – a half floor

tutta – total = a complete circle

[Devon]

I like this mnemonic. I also think of the mezza volta as a tear drop shape and the tutta volta as a circle or disc.

[Devon]

Hey Thomas, here is my extra picky feedback on this form in addition to Greg’s comments.

1. In the deflection in finestra from donna. Make it a triangle step instead of a gather. To make this deflection succeed you pretty much always have to step “under” the blow to get the appropriate angle for the deflection, so it’s worth practice that way. It will also help your hips turn further and faster which helps with the blade angle needed.

2. When moving from frontale into the thrust – You’re currently doing it in three parts 1. frontale, 2. finestra chambered, 3. thrust. Blend 2 and 3 together. From frontale, use the left hand to drop your tip while your right arm extends, so that as soon as the point is on line its hitting something. If you’re too close to someone to hit with the point it’s almost always better to do the same move and deliver the false edge cut from the same position (that you follow on with a second blow)

3. When exchanging the thrust (last two moves of the form), make sure you’re bringing the point across the centreline, then turning the edge and fully extending. You’re coming in from the side. In counter-thrusts crossing needs to come before edge and leverage to make your sword harder to bind with. Try it with your dummy and refer to my vids both from the live sessions and from the course material to see this in action. It’s going to require more pommel work.

Challenge goal:

1. Bring your riposts into tighter connection with your parries without losing the crispness of the actions. You want to build toward lightning fast parry ripost pairs without losing the quality of each individual action.

You’re doing great work Thomas and I think you’re ready for this kind of refinement and challenge.

Devon

[Devon]

An additional note here Bob for the thrusts form. When going forward remember to make the thrusts from finestra in two parts. Shift your weight and keep the sword high (descending thrust) for the first part. Then roll to longa and step. I talk about that in the Q&A at the end of week 2. Worth reviewing.

[Devon]

Hey Jeremy I am going to get picky on the order here. You want to send your sword further ahead of you. The first motion should be from your hand pulling on the pommel, then the extension of the lead hand and the turn of the shoulders together, then the hips, then foot.

When you look in this vid (you can see it even in the very first cut) the first thing I recognize is moving is your back foot/back hip. So I can perceive the cut is about to be thrown before the point has even begun to move.

Try shooting a vid of yourself on the other side (for donna on the right) so you can see your hands in their starting position more clearly. Then really focus on having the pommel be the start while everything else stays still. Exagerate the cascading through the body. Let the sword pull you into the step.

The more cleanly you can separate this order the faster your cut will extend before your opponent is able to perceive it. Movements of the body are far easier to see because they’re larger. So we want those to come later.

[Devon]

If you want to jump off the deep end I use Davinci Resolve. It’s free but pro level. I did some youtube tutorials and got there though.

[Devon]

Karen this is a really nice resubmit. Really good order and smoothness. These are the most vital parts.

A couple little but important tweaks to bring in to your focus:

1. Keep focusing on not lifting your hands higher than your shoulders when you start your cut. The lead hand should extend straight out and then fall. The point is already high enough to strike down into your target by making its arc. When you lift your hands it makes your cut take longer to get to your opponent and makes the cut itself more visible while exposing the hands.

2. In the crossline pass, try turning on the ball of your front foot before you step diagonally across in from of it with your back foot. You’ll find it makes stepping through this space less constrained.

Keep doing the form. You’re doing so much right stuff it’s just going to get better with reps.

Kudos

Devon

[Devon]

I like keeping the temperature low when I’m training too.

[Devon]

I was hoping someone would do this!! 10 awesome points Thomas. 🙂

[Devon]

Hey @bob.randolph

An additional thing to watch for in your form is your order in the half cuts.

Your order is great in the full cuts, weapon extends, and then your body follows really beautifully. I’m inmpressed with how much your fluidity has increased.

In the half cuts and thrust, you’ll notice that you’re stepping forward while you prepare and then cutting after you’ve already arrived in measure. Stay still while you prepare (wind-up), then send the sword into the half cut and let that pull you into the step. This is vital for your safety and control of the centre before you step into that space.

Devon

[Devon]

Hey @thomas.belloma , further to the comments from @bendavis on this form and your own

Your fluidity of sword work has really come up. Your order is great. Efficiency is good. And generally good timing of hand and foot. Nicely done.

Getting lower is a good idea on Ben’s part and it might tackle the rocking to some degree.

I think what you need to do (as I mentioned in your cuts form) is start challenging yourself to do the form without pauses, then quicker.

Rocking is often a type of mental readjustment/measurement. You need to force yourself to take that time away. You may have to let go of some other aspects of precision at first, make your focus just going for it, then come back to the precision.

Devon

[Devon]

Brilliant! Thanks Thomas! Now I’ll expect you to do week 4 and 5 as well! 🙂