Sword Floor (Circulus)

[STEENIE]

Hello,

This is my first post, so I have no idea if this has been covered before but lets see

Many years ago, I found that I needed more support when reading the old manuals of the C16th and C17th, namely a ‘Sword Floor’. In all of the engravings of the time were these strange symbols on the floor like a witch’s pentangle which were covered in footprints and numbers (Fig 1). I soon realised, if I was to progress further, it would help if I had a floor like this.

So where to start... Obviously the sword floor was too large to leave up in my sitting room. For that matter, what were its dimensions for me to assume it was too large. I needed a floor I could put down and take up as and when I needed it. I then stumbled upon the very thing with a man laid out on i,t a circulus viewed in plan, so you could work out the dimensions (Fig II).

I bought myself some vinyl lino with a traditional tiled pattern on it, and set to with a marker pen a big piece of wood for straight lines and a piece of string to describe a circle. Within no time, I had produced my sword floor (circulus). I then used heavy duty black tape to finish off the effect and make it more durable.

I now had something that would really take me forward, literally allowing me to stand in the footsteps of the great masters of sword play.

This is a great winter project and I commend it to all.

I would love to post the pictures, but I haven't worked out how to stick up an attachment on this site. Sorry![/img]

[Aaron Pynenberg]

Steenie,

Welcome to ARMA's forum! Thanks for your post, please log in with your real first and last name per our forum rules.

Thanks again, and that's an interesting idea, which source are you using?- AP

[STEENIE]

To be honest, when I joined this site, I didn't see the rules, so I put my user name down as I have it on all sites and as I am known on the streets. How could I read your rules before I joined?? Now you are asking me to re-join or what?? I found it hard enough to try and get through the spam blocker which required me to have the mathematic brain capacity of Einstein, when all I am, is a happy horseman with a serious interest in the use of the Rapier and Mangauche.

I have no idea how to change the name which I am known by to confrom to the rules, so I think it best if I don't post anymore. Save me the headache. That way I will conform to the club rules by default

[Webmaster]

You don't have to sign up again to change your username, just click on the Profile link in the forum menu at the top and you can change your username there.

The forum rules are on the entry page and that particular rule is in large bold type, which I'm about to make even larger and bolder so people won't keep missing it:

http://www.thearma.org/forum/

[Gene Tausk]

To be honest, when I joined this site, I didn't see the rules, so I put my user name down as I have it on all sites and as I am known on the streets. How could I read your rules before I joined?? Now you are asking me to re-join or what?? I found it hard enough to try and get through the spam blocker which required me to have the mathematic brain capacity of Einstein, when all I am, is a happy horseman with a serious interest in the use of the Rapier and Mangauche.

I have no idea how to change the name which I am known by to confrom to the rules, so I think it best if I don't post anymore. Save me the headache. That way I will conform to the club rules by default

Dear "Steenie:"

Thousands of people use our forums and they do so by posting their first and last names. And, somehow, they are also able to work through the spam blocker without having an IQ of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Since you obviously cannot follow these simple steps, and since by your own admission you will not be posting here anymore, you won't have to go through the trouble of signing out and posting again with your real name, first and last, which once again thousands, repeat THOUSANDS of people are able to do with very little effort.

Incidentally, the ARMA forum is not a "club." It is a forum which is made available to the world at large because of the goodwill of the ARMA organization for the discussions of Medieval and Renaissance fighting arts. Since we are kind enough to offer this service to the world, with no charge, it is reasonable that we should also be able to have our own rules concerning the use of this forum. I don't think asking people to reveal their true identity is that much of a hardship, although it does deprive us of some good laughs at the pseudonyms that people seem to apply while trolling the internet.

Also, although you claim not to have seen the rules, did you happen to notice that every other person on this forum was using their real name, first and last? Just wondering.

In any case, this little episode has one extremely positive effect. Our webmaster has taken the time to enlarge the part of our sign-in rules which clearly mandates that real names, first and last, are to be used. Hopefully, this will avoid such confusion in the future because we certainly would not want to create too many barriers to signing in, which once again, THOUSANDS of people seem to do with very little effort.

This therefore gives me the opportunity to thank our webmaster once again for his tireless efforts on this website. So - thank you for all of your hard work!

[Tom Reynolds]

"Steenie" wrote:

To be honest, when I joined this site, I didn't see the rules, so I put my user name down as I have it on all sites and as I am known on the streets. How could I read your rules before I joined?? Now you are asking me to re-join or what?? I found it hard enough to try and get through the spam blocker which required me to have the mathematic brain capacity of Einstein, when all I am, is a happy horseman with a serious interest in the use of the Rapier and Mangauche.

I have no idea how to change the name which I am known by to confrom to the rules, so I think it best if I don't post anymore. Save me the headache. That way I will conform to the club rules by default


Tom Reynolds wrote:

To use your words, Steenie, to be honest I doubt if anyone here particularly minds what name you choose to go by. There's nothing personal about it at all. Contrary to what seems to be widely held opinion, like the attached, the purpose of rules like stating your full legal name is NOT to viciously violate peoples' civil rights, or to further inflate the already swollen egos of ARMA members.

Instead, the purpose of the ARMA is to promote the study and practice of our art as a serious martial art and scholarly discipline. Consequently, the purpose of this forum is to promote relaxed, and friendly, but still serious scholarly discussion. In that sense, I doubt that the Journal of the American Medical Association would allow you to publish by your street name, either.

For that matter, on a purely practical level I'm sure you really are known as "Steenie" on the streets of London. But remember that this is a world wide forum, and is frequented by lots of people who are not familiar with the streets of London.

Finally, I respect your decision and will not try to change your mind. But it's a shame you feel this way. Your idea about the floor is a good one, that I have not heard before. As far as I know you may very well be the first, and it would be a shame if you did not get credit for it because you refused to give your real name.

The rules of this forum are designed to help and protect EVERYONE, Steenie. Including you.

[Vincent Le Chevalier]

Thanks again, and that's an interesting idea, which source are you using?- AP

I'm fairly sure he is using the "magic circle" of Girard Thibault (Though I think Marozzo also has a floor pattern).
Big picture here.
It compares farily well to the diagram on the floor of Leyden fencing academy shown here (once you rotate and adjust the lines properly ).

However, in my opinion to use this diagram to its full potential you need the explanations of Thibault. In particular, if you change the length of the weapons the stepping patterns must be adjusted to reflect the change in measure. All the footsteps have a particular significance with respect to the position of the adversary and the angle you create, which are hard to guess purely from the geometrical pattern.

Otherwise there are so many lines on this diagram that you can step pretty much just like you want (and Thibault steps out of it, too!)

Regards,

[nathan featherstone]

since this post has lost its owner can i ask to everyone if you were setting up your own training room in your house what would it be like and try to be realistic in your descriptions

[Sal Bertucci]

Heavy bag hanging pell, light bag hanging pell, standing pell. multple thrusting targets. Lots of room, several different pad lays to put down. an a weapon rack that took up the entire wall.

[Andrew F Ulrich]

Hmm, what would it be like if I could set up my own training room? Wow, where to start... to keep it realistic, I'll try to stick to only things that I hope to have some day.

I'd have hanging tires with a pole stuck through it horizontally, protruding maybe 3 feet, a body opponent bag (Bob) wrapped in something like duct-tape for extra protection and mounted on a board with stoppable wheels on the bottom, foldable mats for grappling, a bowflex machine (may have to put this in a separate room for space), one of those detachable doorway pullup bars at the door, some stackable platforms/stumps for plyometrics, some cones for agility drills, a 3 foot square in duct tape/paint on the floor with an X in the middle for jumping/agility drills, a line in duct tape/paint for footwork/agility drills, good ventilation, and hopefully at least one wall made of concrete so I can throw a medicine ball or tire against it, and the rest of the walls and ceiling would be covered in printouts of the fechtbuchen (I thought I heard they have this at IDS, or maybe it was John's place...).

Eventually, I might lay down a floor diagram in duct tape too, measured according to my own steps while using a cut-n-thrust sword; I don't really consider it very useful at this point, but who knows, maybe it will come in handy, and besides it would certainly look cool.

Man, I can't wait to buy a house...

[Roy Robinson Stewart]

It's only an assumption that all people here are posting using their legal names.

Isn't it the case that any name which sounds like a legal name will pass ?

Just wondering.

.

[Randall Pleasant]

Yes, we do realize that a person might not be using their legal name. However, we do assume that each individual has enough honor to respect the rules.

[Gene Tausk]

It's only an assumption that all people here are posting using their legal names.

Isn't it the case that any name which sounds like a legal name will pass ?

Just wondering.

.

Roy - if someone has nothing better to do with their time then make up a fake name to post on our forums, then such losers are welcome to their fantasies of power tripping.

Also, if such losers don't have the courage to use their real names when making a post to support their positions, then they are also cowards.

[Tom Reynolds]

To demonstrate my "keen grasp of the obvious" , the ARMA approach to this art is based on the axiom that it was originally intended as a practical art, with real world consequences, in very much the same way as modern military combatives training. Peoples' lives depended on getting it right, just like lives depend today on getting modern military combatives training right. Modern practitioners of our art need to at least be aware of that, even if mastering the longsword is no longer such an urgent matter of personal survival.

It follows from this axiom, then, that this is a serious art that deserves respect and responsibility and patience and dedication like any other serious combative art. Or like firearms training, for that matter. Mastery in all of those areas is earned by lots, likely years of study and practice, not to mention bumps and bruises. As opposed to simply proclaiming yourself a master, and really really REALLY meaning it. Surely we would all agree that there is no way to master a musical instrument like a violin without years of patient study and practice!

My point in all of this is that I suspect that anyone who even refuses to give their full, real name on an internet forum probably doesn't share the same approach to this art as I have described above. If they insist on going by a street or on-line name, then that seems to suggest an interest in fantasy role playing. On the other hand, if they see even a rule requiring their full name as a vicious violation of their personal freedom, then that seems to suggest that they may not have the discipline and humility to take instruction from a teacher of any sort. If no-one EVER tells you what to do, then you probably aren't going to even listen to a teacher!

In other words, their personal attitude toward and approach to this art does not seem to suggest that they will be successful at it as it is practiced here. Which is a shame, because there are a lot of people here (and elsewhere) who stand ready to help anyone who is willing to put in their share of the effort. Anyone willing to "do their homework," if you will. Anyone not willing to do so should probably just seek somewhere else for an approach that is more consistent with their own.

For me, then, this is where the personal character and honor of such people is an issue. Nothing further. In the end they are only hurting themselves, and that is a shame.