Slow Work – Practice

Immediate Practice

20 minutes – Practice slow work with your partner (with protective gear).

• A good hit is made when:
  • The point of your sword meets your opponent’s body with forward pressure.
  • Strikes a target that would disable or kill with a sharp sword.
  • There is more on striking and valid hits later in this section.
• You can use a timer and fight in a series of one minute rounds. Use these rounds to take rests or alternate between partners in a larger group.
• To help you stay slow:
  • Go extremely slow.
  • Breath at the speed of your fencing.
  • Put on slow music.
  • Be curious, not competitive.
• Remember your priorities in this order:
  • Posture and movement.
  • Keeping good measure.
  • Finding and keeping control of the opponent’s weapon.
  • Striking in tempo.

Ongoing Practice

• The tools given in this first course are essentially all of the primary tools of Italian Rapier. Through regular practice and exploration you can become a very good fencer.
• Further courses on Duello.TV offer more information on strategy and tactical training.
• Slow sparring is an excellent way to learn the flow of combat without the chaos of higher speed fighting, especially at the beginning.
• Long-term you will need to practice both slow and fast sparring, along with a good drilling regimen, to become an effective sword fighter.
• Remember to have fun.