Technique Question - Live Steel Observation...

[Rod-Thornton]

I was practicing tonight at the pell with a sharp and had coated the pell with old mattress foam from our boat cushions (That stuff is tough to hack through but it cuts nicely enough), and I stumbled upon something that brings a question of technique to mind.

Specifically, I noticed that during (ormore correctly, right after) a thrust technique into the pell, when I pass a foot (recover) and return to a vom tag, I was not pulling the sword right out, but was actually lifting up some as I withdrew in the recovery.....the result of which was a discernable INCREASE in the cut into the "flesh"....i.e., instead of being a sword's width hole, it was now like a 6-8 inch slice to the "chest" cavity after the stab. I only began to notice this when I thrust at speed and was attempting to recover at a realistic sparring speed.

The question is whether or not anyone knows of any historical reference to that sort of lifting (or for that matter, pushing down) to increase the wound channel, as it certainly seems to me that such lateral pressure along the edge while recovering from thrust seems to do significantly more damage?

(The boat cushions were quickly dispatched when I thought they might last considerably longer)

[Bill Tsafa]

Interesting... try to wet an area of the pell with water so the mattress underneath is wet. You may have to use a squirt bottle to get deep in the mattress. This is an attempt to simulate the moistier that is in the body. See how that effects things. It is my guess that the moistier will make the blade stick somewhat. In that case it might be safer for you to pull the blade straight out to a deffensive position. Ratherthen find yourself stuck in your target. Oil your sword afterwards.

[Justin Lompado]

That upward movement might simply be a result of your motion. As you move into Vom-Tag you bring your sword's tip up, so you might just be pulling up or starting that motion before the sword is out of the pell. Actually I think this makes a lot of sense. When you're praticing (I assume at respectable pace), the motions of pulling out the sword and moving back into Vom-Tag are one and continuous, and I think that this will naturally be the case unless you intentionally put thought into doing something different and change some aspect of your movement.

[jeremy pace]

I think what you have experienced is a very common occurence with blade weapons. In learning dagger we practice stab/twist/withdraw to help increase the ammount of damage being inflicted. Its only logical that on the withdraw (especially pulling into another guard thats not plow or ox) you would serrate more flesh. I guess its kind of like a post draw cut..... Good observation and something i would like to test with real meat!