Karen
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12 poste progression:
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This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by Karen Meijer-Kline.
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This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by
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Tonight I finished Fundamentals 2. I’m keeping up with my training plan so far, and am actually spending much more time than budgeted originally (3 hrs instead of 1). My wrists, arms, shoulders, and back are all feeling it, and when I close my eyes I see sword drills. That means I’m doing it right, right? 😆
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What stood out to you?
The incredible detail and finesse possible in this art, but also how much it all comes together when you “get it”. It is slow going but at some point it does make more sense!
Did you have any big “aha moments” in your training?
Yes, I think at the end when I was being really hard on myself when shooting the foundational cut form, and Daniel asked “how long have you been doing this? (as, in, longsword) and I had to answer “since Tuesday…”. It made me realize how much progress I’ve already made, and that the time I’m putting in is definitely making a difference.
Also, the moment Daniel held a sword out in front of me and had me do the cuts towards/engaging his sword. That made such a difference in understanding how they worked!
What was most challenging?
Remembering and doing all the little things that the body needs to do. Sword AND arms AND hips AND feet, etc etc etc. Not getting overwhelmed at the sheer immensity of everything that we have to/can do in this course.
Did you meet your own objectives?
Yes
What do you think you might do differently next week?
I’m trying not to get to hung up on where I am at and where everyone else is, and also how Daniel is doing things, and also not to have to do everything perfect but just try it. One of my course objectives as “try everything with honest effort”, and I need to remember that. Maybe I didn’t get to 300 reps of something in the weeks, but I tried everything and I did my best when I did it.
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I worked through the Thrusting portion of Fundamentals 2 yesterday, and will continue with the Blade Control and Footwork sections tonight. We also worked on the 5 thrust progression, and today on the 12 poste progression.
I’m also repeating the foundational cuts progression before bed every night.
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Self-assessment:
Doing well: I completed all of the cuts in order without prompting, whereas they were all new to me this week. On some of the cuts I’m sending the sword forward first.
Improvements: I need to move my foot over before I turn, not just turn on my feet. I need to remember the purpose of the cuts, and imagine a target instead of just flinging the sword around.
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Foundational Cuts:
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What helps you stay motivated in your training?
Thinking about all the ways in which I have changed, in which my practice, sport or art has changed from the moment I started. On the hard days: remembering how good it feels to have done the training. On the harder days: mind off, buck up, and do it. I try to be aware of days that really need to be rest days though, self care is important too.One of the virtues I’m trying to cultivate in my life is resilience, and so remembering that is also helpful. And there is a joy in being/feeling badass, don’t you think?
What do you most enjoy in practice?
The sense of satisfaction when it works out, the feeling of accomplishment when you’ve done it even if it didn’t go well. The dopamine and adrenaline rushes of intense exercise (I run a lot), the way it shuts down your brain and emotions and takes you out of yourself and in the moment.
What is a training activity or attitude that you dropped because you didn’t find it helpful at all?
I find I cycle through and reintegrate things I dropped. As a child I was extremely harsh about having to buck up and do things, move through the pain etc. Then as an adult I became very soft and lenient, which was necessary. The last couple years I’ve reintegrated discipline and a degree of hardness.
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Self-assessment:
Doing well: I did it and it has all 4 forms in the correct order. I can see a difference between the non-flow and flow part.
Improvements: body more upright, don’t look down, don’t lean.
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Unarmed Poste Progression video:
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I finished the cut section of the Fundamentals, except the 60 second video of Downward X cutting. I did record the 6 cut progression taught there, to get something on camera as a base point:
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And then I got stuck and flustered on the unarmed poste progression so had to stop for a while. I’ll get back to it tonight.
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I love how deliberate you are about your hip movements, and I can really see the intention in many of your cuts. It looks really good! Also kudos on the snowy outside work, totally badass 😀
One small thing I noticed is that your fenestre cuts seem to end with the sword quite a bit in front of your face, held outward instead of more drawn back. (This may be a camera angle)
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I really like how well balanced you are with your shoulders over your hips, your stance and weight distribution looks really solid. It makes the progression look very strong and certain.
The one small thing I notice is that you sometimes seem to roll a little back/forth at the end of a cut before the next, and since your balance is so solid maybe that isn’t necessary?
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I think he just used his phone or computer voice recorder for that one. It’s really easy to do, most devices will have one. 🙂
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That’s a really cool video 😀