Question 2, what are the main principles of Stav?
Published: Thu, 02/05/15
The second question Dan put on his list is: What would you say are the main principles of your art?
Ivar has always said that Stav is not about techniques, rather about principles so I should be able to answer this one, but it does need some thought.
The first principle of Stav is to learn to see and work in harmony with the web of orlog. Meaning, to see the reality of things and work with them. In its most basic form seeing the lines of the web in a piece of wood means that you can cut through in one blow, not see the line and the axe or sax will just bind. Cutting runes means seeing those lines. So in every situation there will be a line which is effective, efficient and appropriate in terms of creating, destroying, moving or waiting. Very simple in concept, very hard to see in reality.
The second principle is making appropriate choices when acting according to the web. What I mean is that the seeing the lines of the web means that one can act with great effectiveness but the web does not tell you why you should act in a particular way. Or to put it another way seeing the web also means that you can see likely outcomes or results from a certain action and a different outcome from a different action or even the same action at a different time. So we have what we call the five principles or strategies which go under the names of Trel, Karl, Herse, Jarl and Konge. Each strategy provides a different context in which to act, or choose not to act according to your status and role in a situation. If you are not familiar with the five principles and what they imply I will be dealing with these in my series of teachings on the runes, more on that below.
Thirdly there is the embodiment of the web through training. This means practising the stances, cutting/striking practice and partner work.
This is backwards of course since the first experience of training in Stav is learning the stances, then practising two person drills which are true to the five principles and finally seeing the web becomes inate, but only after many years of training and personal practice.
I am not quite sure how I am going to put that into an answer for Dan but you can see why it is difficult to put up a poster telling people why they should do Stav, fitness, fun and self-defence doesn’t really cover it although these are side benefits certainly.
Anyway, chances to train in the next couple of weeks. Self-defence training this Saturday, 7th February http://www.somersetstav.co.uk/sd.html and I am teaching a 4 hour course in Salisbury on the 14th of February which will focus on the cudgel for personal training and for self-defence, more on that later.
You can learn a lot at a Stav course/seminar, especially if you are prepared to come to a longer one and then practice what you have learned, I can tailor individual training drills to just a couple of exercises so there is no real problem remembering what to do and practicing regularly, if you actually want to learn to see the web for yourself, most people seem to bimble through life never seeing much beyond the ends of their noses, so this kind of training certainly isn’t for everyone.
regards
Graham
PS Next rune web page here http://www.iceandfire.org/runes/4.html and I will complete the first Aett this evening