It gets worse before it gets better
Published: Mon, 02/17/14
I have updated the website for the Stav Centre, there is a new
picture showing what we have been doing to the front of the place,
sorry it was bound to get worse before it got better. In the
picture taken last October the sign above the windows was still in
quite reasonable condition but after all the rain we have had this
winter the plywood backing was starting to disintegrate and it was
looking very ropey (apart from advertising the "Affordable
furniture Company" which hasn't existed for about five
years now. The sign underneath was for "Pheonix
Fireplaces" and I am reliably informed that at some point
before that it was a bicycle shop.
On Saturday we had the first full day course there. It went
surprisingly well considering the problems with traveling from
Wiltshire and Dorset. During the morning we had a good session on
Axe training and in the afternoon staff and a look at how the spear
is used as well. This evening I was teaching spear as well and I
realised it has been a long time since I have taught this
particular weapon properly. I guess it has been a long time since
I have had students who have done enough foundation training with
the staff to be able to appreciate the spear. If you know what you
are doing with it the spear has to be the ultimate hand to hand
weapon. In the mythology Odin has a spear called Gungnir which was
made for him by the Dwarves known as the Sons of Ivaldi. I will be
writing more about the As rune and its associations in the next
edition of the Ice and Fire Member's news letter.
I have also offered to teach pole weapon skills at Fightcamp this
year. You can reduce staff training to nine strikes and thrusts
and nine guards. Once you have mastered these and understand the
differences between a staff and a spear you should be able to use
any pole weapon effectively. Of course at Fightcamp I will only
have about 90 minutes to try and get the ideas across. That is a
bit hopeful but a full weekend at the Stav Centre this spring, or
day courses or the evening classes and you might be surprised what
you could learn.
If you want to see what the Stav Centre looks like at the moment
check out http://somersetstav.co.uk/sc.html
regards
Graham