Strength building exercises and warm up:
Arm rotations, forearm rotations, wrist rotations, hand clenches.
Next some cutting drills, particularly fendente, for which I’ve decided to adopt largely Roland’s mechanic, but done with a pass. It is terribly difficult to describe, but centers around dropping the hand to chest level to get the sword moving, then casting the point forward around the balance point. I find this does a few things: covers the line nicely, while covering your hand; requires very little actually force from the wrist and elbow; is fast and while less powerful than a swinging blow, is tactically superior. Yes, for those of you who’ve done this with me, it is a departure from before, where I was advocating more swinging blows to save your elbows and wrists, done properly, this cutting mechanic is superior – at least until I change my mind again.
Next up:
Inside and outside moulinets. (aka moulinet and strammazone or simply inside and outside tutta volte)
Rolling cut drill:
- Begin in di donna on the right, cut to center
- Strammazone to a roverso to longa
- Raise hand, inverting sword pommel up, cutting around mandritto ending in cinghiale
- Cut falso to di donna
A second cutting drill:
- Di donna to center,
- Moulinet to a roverso down to porta di ferro
- Cut sottano dritto to left finestra
- Quickly invert the sword to cut sottano roverso to finestra
- Return to di donna.
- Begin in coda lunga in back-weighted stance.
- Slip the right foot offline to the right and begin cutting with a rising true edge mezzano/sottano. Follow the cut with a pass of the left foot, finishing in posta di finestra.
- Drop the elbow into the vera finestra variation of posta di donna la destraza.
- Rotate the hand back into posta di donna la destraza.
- Pass forward with the right foot while cutting fendente mandritto, finishing in dente di zenghiaro.
- Make a volta stabile backwards, and lift the sword to a left posta di donna la sinestra.
- Pass forward and cut riverso fendente, finishing in porta di ferro mezzana.
- Lift the sword’s point into posta breve.
- Thrust into posta longa with a pass.
- Volta stabile to a back weighted stance and assume coda lunga. Repeat.
- Straight thrust from di donna, recover to porta di ferro
- Rising thrust to longa, recover to cinghiale
- Rising thrust to longa, recover to di donna
- Descending thrust to longa, recover to di donna la sinestra
- Thrust roverso from di donna sinestra, recover to di donna destra.
- Thrust from di donna to longa, wind to a descending thrust, strammazone to porta di ferro
- Rising thrust from PdF, volta to a roverso thrust, moulinet and retreat into cinghiale.
- From cinghiale, rising thrust to center, strammazone to fendente mandritto, retreat to di donna sinestra
- Thrust roverso from sinestra to longa, raise pommel and strammazone to cut mandritto, push a true edge slice, return to di donna.
- Methods of breaking measure: wait for him to break measure or enter under cover to provoke an attack.
- Entering with a thrust to draw him wide. If he responds, bind and work from there, if not, kill him.
- Enter with a cut to center line, claiming the center.
- Cut to center, continue cut and retreat.
- Cut to center, parried, cut around.
- Cut to center, soft parry, slice through or thrust.
- Fendente to opponent, opponent parries true edge inside, moulinet and tutta volta to other side
- Opponent parries true edge from outside, yield and strammazone to other side
- opponent parries falso inside, yield and cut to head
- opponent parries falso outside, yield and cut to hand
- True edge parry, volta to outside
- Universal parry (rising true edge), volta to inside
- Falso from PdF, yield and cut to outside
- Falso from cinghiale, yield and cut to inside
- Fendente to opponent, opponent parries true edge inside, moulinet and tutta volta to other side with a pass, controlling the arm.
- opponent parries true edge from outside, yield and strammazone to other side, wrapping arm while entering
- opponent parries falso inside, yield and cut to hand, enter and control arm (wrap and throw, disarm)
- opponent parries falso outside, yield and cut to arm