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Exercise: Evade then Thrust – Practice
Immediate Practice
5-10 minutes – Practice the Evade then Thrust exercise in one direction.
- Start slow. Your goal is to evade your opponent’s half-cut and then make a very efficient thrust to them in return.
- Your goal is to exit sufficiently to not get hit, and then to immediately gain control of their sword with your own, without pausing.
- Build fluidity. Blend your evasion and your move to control into a fluid whole, while never losing the order of what happens first and second.
- Add speed as you gain comfort.
5-10 minutes – Practice the Evade then Thrust exercise in two directions.
- Practice the exercise and alternate roles back and forth with your partner. I.e. they cut at you, while you evade and re-enter with a thrust. Then reset, and this time you make the half-cut toward them, forcing them to evade and re-enter with a thrust.
- The partner who receives the thrust should periodically try to push their partner’s sword aside or make their own thrust. Do not do this as a parry, but simply to test your partner’s ability to find the three advantages.