[Quintin]

What stood out to you?

Progression. I like how all the lessons and activities have lead from one to another. If this was just the first week, I am excited to see how much I learn after the entire course!

Did you have any big “aha moments” in your training?

A lot! But a surprising “aha moment” for me is whenever Devon makes references to German Longsword. I have friends who I train with who are from the German end of the spectrum, and we always compare notes. These things are always very interesting to me and I like discovering all the crossovers.

What was most challenging?

Physically, surprisingly it was the attempt to perfect the unarmed poste progression. Although I have done this before and I am very comfortable with unarmed martial arts, the more I tried to imitate to perfection Devon’s video of the unarmed progression, the more I noticed some small habits that I keep on doing, especially with my footwork.
Personally, it’s balancing work, family, and life, with training 😅

Did you meet your own objectives?

Yes. So far so good. I have found a working momentum and it has helped me greatly in reaching my objectives.

What do you think you might do differently next week?

I am still having a hard time sticking to a fixed weekly schedule. Next week, this will be one of my main goals.

[Quintin]

What helps you stay motivated in your training?

The endgame. Whether it be a short or long term goal, I always remind myself why I am doing what I do. And by remembering what benefit this will bring to my life and the lives of others, this gives me a drive to push through all the hardship and stay on track.

What do you most enjoy in practice?

I just genuinely enjoy swordplay. I like the learning aspect, the physicality of the movements, the endless fountain of knowledge, the feel of a sword in my hand. The medieval-fantasy geek within me is just very happy about everything swordplay.

What is a training activity or attitude that you dropped because you didn’t find it helpful?

Trying to fit too many things in one day. I like planning ahead, preparing a strict schedule and being my most productive everyday. But I realized that no matter how hard I try, there are things such as fatigue, hunger, distractions, other responsibilities and other human elements that come into play.

[Quintin]

Here’s my video for the Foundational Cuts Form.

A few things I like:

• I can observe proper order especially with my cuts passing forward
• I like how the body mechanics from my shoulder, to hip, to knee turned out. I appreciate it more now that I see it on video.
• Guards look good when resting the sword. I especially like the back weighted posta di donna

A few things I want to improve:

• My roverso sottano with the false edge has good order but looks like I’m hesitating with the reach.
• Might want to try a crisper rolling off the shoulder with my mezzano

Another thing I want to observe:

• I’m pretty sure that I don’t fully extend and lock my elbow. But in this video, there are a couple times where it looks like I did. Not sure if it was just because of my muscle flex and angle or if I really did lock it. Need to observe more in future practices.

PS: The original audio had some distracting background noise so I inserted some nice bard music

[Quintin]

https://youtu.be/1tlc55K1gzQ

[Quintin]

Here’s my video for the Unarmed Poste Progression.

A few things I like:

• Memorized the actions and form.
• There are a few things I want to try different with how I flow, but for now I am happy with the results.
• The order and general body mechanics felt comfortable, smooth, and connected

A few things I want to improve:

• My knee alignment and torque need more consistency especially when passing forward into posta longa and frontale.
• My tutta volta crossline step going into porta di ferro feels short. I will try a wider step next time to get a more solid posture.

PS: The original audio had some distracting background noise so I inserted some nice bard music

[Quintin]

https://youtu.be/uA6vJEwpZsw

[Quintin]

My blocks, planned solutions, and supporters:

Blocks:

Training Environment – Because of every area being a shared space at home, I find it difficult to get some quiet time. There is one small section in the house which I get to convert into my training area, which I only get to do on certain times (Which is usually past midnight or really early when people are asleep).

Solution: Consistently go to a park early and train there more often. Our local club also has a dedicated space to train. It is a bit far from where I live, but I will schedule time there more often.

Distraction – I like to multitask, but I often get distracted while jumping from one thing to another. This leads me to do some things without heart or not being able to finish a task at all. When it comes to swordfighting, I want to always do it whole-heartedly and reach my goals.

Solution: Prioritize and compartmentalize. Focus on quickly finishing important tasks first and schedule smaller tasks. This way, I get to completely be in the moment when I pickup my sword.

Self-pressure – I have high, long term goals in my swordplay journey. I know that I can reach them, but I often pressure myself when I fall short. My non-swordplay related activities sometimes also interfere with my consistency and I feel bad when this happens. Perfection also comes into play when I train, making me focus more on my errors than the things I do well.

Solution: Make every training opportunity count. Live in the moment and make the most of all the swordplay blessings received.

Supporters:

Academie Duello – Both the staff and students from Academie Duello have been very supportive and instrumental in my growth.

Local Community – We are lucky to have built a local swordfighting community that is allowed to train even throughout the pandemic. We meetup at least two days a week which is dedicated to training and sparring.

Family – My brother and his wife are the ones who introduced me to Academie Duello. They have always had my back. Aside from them, my entire family is supportive of my sword life.

[Quintin]

Here are a few things I would like to improve:

1. Exercise Routine – I have a difficulty balancing my weight training with my sword practice. I plan to fix that and up both.

2. Healthy Diet – Family bonding time plus holidays equals a wrecked diet. Need to get back on track. This and hydrate a lot.

3. Sleep Cycle – Sleep early, wake up early.

I’ll start this homework simple but consistent. Then improve and add specifics as I go. Need to gain momentum first. But will make sure to:

• Train with passion, intention and intensity.
• Be watchful and vigilant with my diet.
• Wake up on time, on the dot, without snoozing alarms.

[Quintin]

Went to the park today and did some flow work. I plan to incorporate this in my schedule as often as I can. The jog and outdoor flow feels great compared to training in my usual indoor setup.
Was not able to record specific times, but will do that next time to get some consistency.

[Quintin]

Hey there! Here’s a bit of my flow.
There was a bit of a background noise with the original audio so I put some bardcore music in.

https://youtu.be/GhSW1fSmokY

[Quintin]

My Tools:

• A physical notebook – Very useful especially if I’m in the middle of a physical activity like a class, training session or in between sparring.
• A digital Sword Journal – This is where I transfer all my organized notes from my physical notebook. Also useful for note taking while listening or watching recorded sessions.
• Habitica App – Great for forming habits and to do lists
• Sword display, movies, comics, video games, links to important resources – I included this because all this keeps me inspired, my brain active and reminds me why I got into this sword life in the first place 😁

[Quintin]

Writing this surprisingly took way longer than I expected. Probably because there is so much I want to do in my quest for swordplay mastery. As a practitioner, a student, an instructor, a competitor, there is just so much to learn and improve upon. But slowly and consistently, we will get there. But this is a good start:

1. Write down your short and long-term training goals.

Short Term: Forge the habit. Practice everyday for the duration of the Masterclass
<b style=”font-size: inherit;”>Long Term: Aim for mastery. Learn, train, asses, repeat until cord completion. Then shoot for the next rank.
<b style=”font-size: inherit;”>Longer Term (Post-Masterclass and further): I want to include this for me to visualize a specific direction in my journey. But right now, I just want to do too many sword related things in my life. (Will probably edit this part soon)

2. Write down your goals for the Swordplay Masterclass
Absorb as much as I can

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[Quintin]

I got some good starting options, but I know that I can’t resist adding to this as we progress through the Masterclass. But for now, here’s what I got:

Sword options:
1. Feder – Beautifully made by our blacksmith. Weathered by training and sparring. A hassle to swing indoors due to it’s length. Will probably use this for slow flow work and actions that the space permits
2. Unfinished blunt Viking Sword – Made by our blacksmith and gifted to me to play around with and customize further. Short, tip heavy, and obviously one-handed. But due to it’s length, will probably be my go-to trainer in my indoor training space. Though inaccurate, I still want to practice with a real sword so I will have to make do with the handle length. (But will also consider making a basic indoor trainer for more accurate handle length practice)
3. Son’s Foam Sword – Might come in handy especially when trying to ask or explain while needing a second sword for context.

Sword Dummy:
Attached an old monopod to a plastic clamp, then added an extending rod from an old tripod leg, and mounted on a chair. Easy to setup or take down, easy to adjust. Yes, this will serve me well.

[Quintin]

A part of me is so happy that the holidays are finally over so I can take back my indoor training space. Attached is a picture of my training area which was very recently unrecognizable and undetectable after being invaded by a Christmas tree, holiday knick knacks, and family furniture.

Space: Living room. Shared space, but there is enough room to swing a sword after some scheduling and quick furniture arrangement.

Gear:
1. Feder – Great trainer, but difficult to go 100% in my current space. Will only use if space permits
2. Unfinished Viking Sword – Blunt, short, tip heavy, was made for one hand, but can definitely swing around indoors. Will probably use this most of the time since I still want to get used to using a real sword in my hand.
3. Sword Dummy – Simple setup, but it works
4. Tech and Recording setup – Now this at least, I got all worked out and should not have a problem in this area.
5. Confucius Painting – Always inspiring me with his quotes. With this scenario he says, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop”.

I got a bit of catching up to do. And I knew from the start than an accessible and unbothered space was going to be one of my challenges due to our large family living in a cramped apartment. But this so far is a good start.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by  Quintin Tanseco.