The ancient and secret Stav training manual revealed

Published: Mon, 04/28/14

Hi
Is there a manual for Stav? A lot of HEMA (Historical European
Martial Arts) is based on the various manuals which have survived
from the late medieval and Renaissance periods. These were compiled
by masters such as Talhoffer and Fiore and these are most
fascinating resources. When I go to Fightcamp or similar events it
is amazing to see what modern HEMA enthusiasts have managed to
uncover from these works. So is there a manual for Stav? Not in
the sense of an illustrated instruction manual that is 1000 years
old. However we do have two resources, one, Ivar is still with us
and will be teaching at the Stav camp in August, so if you want to
learn directly from the master book on the camp now, see link at
the end of the message. Secondly everything you really need to
know is in the runes, web and five principles of Stav. All the
runes have something to teach but the key one is the Hagl rune,
just three intersecting lines (think snowflake if you don't
know what I mean) and you have the basis for training. I try to
encourage students of Stav to do solo practice, you really
can't make much progress without it. The problem seems to be
remembering what to practice (assuming you can be bothered to find
the time and energy at all). Well, if you can remember what the
Hagl rune looks like you have instructions on how to practice three
strikes and one thrust. By practicing you will get fitter and
stronger, you will develop balance and coordination, eventually you
learn how to see the lines of the web.

If you want to see what I mean there is a video on
http://www.iceandfire.org/wetraining.html scroll down to the video
and you will see how I use the Hagl rune as a basis for staff
practice. Nothing Ivar or myself practices on a regular basis is
really any more complicated than what you see in the video, but
there is a secret factor which makes the difference, I wonder if
you can work out what it is?

regards

Graham




P S Stav Camp, Somerset 22nd to 25th August http://www.stavcamp.org