Points of change
Published: Fri, 08/02/13
On Wednesday evening we had a full class with six people training.
I used the opportunity to practice the drills I intend to use for
my session at Fightcamp, which starts in two weeks time. Since
September we have been drilling the five two person basic exercises
to very good effect. So on Wednesday we explored the Trel, Karl and
Herse principles using the more advanced drills from the nine
guards. It worked really well although when we do the same drills
at Fightcamp I will recommend participants wear their fencing
masks. Six months of Stav training will develop a high degree of
awareness and control. Most people who practice Historical
European Martial Arts rely on protective equipment. It is a
different approach.
The Staff exercises promote accuracy and focus, the two person
drills develop sensitivity and awareness which leaves timing and
intuitive coordination. All training in Stav is about developing
an awareness of the Web of Orlog and how to work with it. So
first we cut on the line, then judging where a partner is within
the web, then we need to be able to see the lines of the web and
where the lines meet.
These points on the web are very important because it is at these
points that change is possible. This can be explored very simply
by striking or thrusting with a staff against an unarmed partner.
The partner blends with the attack and simply takes the weapon from
the attacker. It is a disarming exercise but that is not really
the point. The point is to develop an intuitive awareness of the
point at which the attacker has completed the initial move but not
yet recovered for their next move. At that exact point the weapon
will pass effortlessly into your hands. A fraction of a second
later and you have to pull hard to take the weapon off the
attacker, a fraction more and you probably won't be able to
grab it at all. You can see a demonstration here
http://iceandfire.org/dbil/harmonise.html
In life we are either on a line going somewhere and at that moment
it is quite hard to change anything, not impossible, but hard.
However when we reach a transition point or chaos point as I
sometimes call it then a change of direction is relatively easy.
There is of course a tendency to continue in the same direction
because we didn't notice the transition point or were too lazy
to try something new but the opportunity was there. In martial
arts terms it is essential that we are aware of our own chaos
points and if you can learn to see them in others then you will be
aware of the opportunities to take an opponent off balance quite
effortlessly. I don't just mean physically either, violence
requires mental and emotional commitment to particular lines too
which will reach a transition point which will provide an
opportunity to disarm them. This is the stuff you learn from
training in a sophisticated system for a couple of decades under an
instructor who actually knows what he is talking about.
So, still a place on Stav camp and there we can show you how this
stuff works, http://www.stavcamp.org/