How To Begin Training?

[Guest]

Howdy all,

I hate to start off with the 'I'm new here but...', but I am new here and would really like to start off right. My wife and I are both interested in learning Medievil swordsmanship (Longsword and Dagger primarily). For me it comes from the fact that I've always been interested in that time era, especially the combat and war history. For my wife, I think it also has to do with the fact she likes Viggo and Orlando. Plus it gives us both an excuse to smack each other with wooden sticks and not get in trouble.

I've been looking at Swords Online and Wooden Weapons to find the right type of Longsword and Dagger wasters to purchase. So I think I've got that part down right. However, I'm not exactly sure what material I should read up on (I've been browsing through the website but it is freakin' huge). Also, I haven't had much luck in finding videos or the like. I don't have Internet connection at home yet (new home and all) so it would be easier for video tapes or dvds.

My location I think might count against me as well. Decorah is in Northeastern Iowa, up near the Minnesota/Wisconsin borders (Rochester and Madison/LaCrosse are the nearest big cities). Anyone up in that area that might be able to assist?

Thanks much.

matt

[Randall Pleasant]

Welcome Matt

I would suggest that you and your wife start by getting a pair of wasters (wooden swords) if you don't already have some and by reading The Basic Guards of Medieval Longsword. Practicing moving from guard to guard (always with movment of the feet). I would also suggest that you get a copy of Medieval Swordsmanship by John Clements, the director of ARMA.

[Tim Merritt]

I’ve been at this a big 2 weeks. Three things I’ve found helpful so far:
- What Ran mentioned—the book. Just finished it and it’s a good reference. I’ll be packing that and my waster traveling tonight for Christmas.
- Someone to move your waster around/with—you got that covered.
- Something to strike waster against (besides wife)—a pell.

[Jake_Norwood]

I would add to that "a teacher."

You don't need someone full time, but even getting out to a larger event or getting a senior ARMA member (or, better yet, John himself) to come out and train with, either privately or in a hosted seminar. Also, ask lots and lots and lots of questions right here. We'll do what we can to help.

Jake

[Tony_Indurante]

I'll also add, contact John directly and see if there are any nearby ARMA members that he can put you in touch with.

[Stuart McDermid]

Hi There,

I would say don't even look at techniques past the basic cuts sword until you have mastered movement. The best drill in the world for beginners is for one person to armour up and the other to have a padded sword or a shinai. The attacker is to try and hit the defender and the defender is to try and get just out of distance to be hit. Start slowly, stay disciplined and this drill works wonders.
Cheers,
Stu.

[Jared L. Cass]

Hi Matt,

As others have mentioned, your best bet would be to contact John for an updated list of training partners that may be near you.

I'm currently located in central Wisconsin and can sympathize with you in reguards to finding others near by who are also interested in HEMA. My best advice would be to try and get to a seminar. This will most likely mean you'll have to travel to get to one, but it's well worth the time, money, and effort. Also, if you do like I have done when attending seminars a long way from home, give yourself an extra couple of days and make a vacaion out of it. I'm sure the wife would appreciate that <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

Other than those couple of things, I'm positive there are two other ARMA members from Wisconsin: one over near Lake Geniva, and another located in Millwaukee...still a distance from you, but worth checking out.

Best of luck,

Jared L. Cass, ARMA Associate, Wisconsin

[Gene Tausk]

Hi Matt:

Welcome to the forum. My own 2cents its to advise learning basic movements before letting someone try to hit you and you trying to avoid it. The reason being is that without the correct movement, you are only reinforcing bad habits. These bad habits, if they are continually reinforced, only make them that much harder to break in the future.

Fortunately, the basic movements are extremely easy to learn and can usually be acquired in about 2 hours. Attend a workshop if you can - as you know, Southern Knights is coming up and it would be a good time to learn these basics.

Good luck

[Guest]

Was gone for the holidays but thanks for all the advice! I'm going to read through it, visit a few book stores, and see what I can do. I've got my wasters coming to me in a week or two and then I should be able to devote some time to this. Thanks again!

Thanks all for the advicce. Going to read through it, maybe visit a few books stores and see what I can do:)

[leam hall]

This is my main thought at the moment; how do I learn more and how do I break it down so that I can actually make progress? Hope you don't mind if I kinda spew out what i have so far, it may either help you out or get "fixed" by those who know more. To keep things in perspective, I'm new as well, so don't take this as gospel.

0. Begin with the end in mind. (From Stephen Covey). Check out NTP 1.0 at (http://thearma.org/houston/NTP.htm). List each bit for NTP 1.0 and study it until you know it. This gives you a "I should know this" list as well as "I'll save that for later" one. One big failing of people new to anything is trying to get everything at once. They say about 12-18 months for this, so take your time and don't guilt yourself if it doesn't come immediately.

1. Seminar/Teacher. Yes. Best way to get feedback on what you're misunderstanding from the books/website. My closest is a couple hours away and when I make the trip I know the effort will be worth it.

2. Book. Yes. Biggest lack, for me, is a detailed index/table of contents to reference the stuff listed for the NTP requirements. Great book though; breaks things down well enough to start and when you do get with a skilled teacher you'll be able to translate it back to the book.

3. "Know thyself". Not sure who said that, but it certainly fits. I've done some martial arts before and I know some of my own weaknesses. For example, I have a really bad habit of executing a technique and then forgetting to recover and defend in case my opponent wasn't so overwhelmed by my skill that they just fall over and gave up. So my practice includes routines of guard - move/defend - move/attack - move/recover. I also forget to move enough, can you tell?

Figure out what you're good at and develop that as a strength. Find your weaknesses and train them to not be so vulnerable.

4. "Stick with the basics" Probably said by every teacher I've ever heard. Going back to the book and NTP comment, there are 14 "guards" listed in the book. Start with the first 5 and get them down. Actually, my favorite is the middle (pflug in german or corona in italian). Absolute favorite! It has so many offensive and defensive options that as beginner I think I 70-80% of my techinques begin and/or end here. Even the overhead strike from the back guard goes through here because you have the last moment opportunity to pick another angle of attack or defend if your opponent tries a counter-attack. You also have easy transitions to many other guards.

Though I've never done ARMA free-play I really think success will come more from well practiced basic techniques than a less skilled but wider variety. At least that's what I'm working on. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Rob Lovett]

Leam,

Go back to your books, Pflug and Corona are two different guards.
In fact, Corona, is refered to by Fiore as Posta Frontale, which is also known as Corona - which translates to Crown, or Kron, and guess what it has the same functionality as Kron from the German systems <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />, as far a I can tell.
The closest guard from Fiore to match Pflug is Posta Breve, but there are major differences such as Breve is held in the center of the body, while Kron is cased to one side.

Regards
Rob

[leam hall]

Heh, I sit corrected. I was using "Medieval Swordsmanship" without looking at the website updates.

Pflug it is!

[John_Clements]

Oh yeah, you don't want to do that. The book was researched with what was available 8 and 9 years ago now, and even then pointed out its tentativness. It's still a very good primer, but has to be ammedned with what we else we've learned. Constant revisison and refinement is surely one of the hallmarks of our subject at present. It's sometimes frustrating, but it also adds an excitement of exploration and discovery (and even allows everyone to make a difference in contributing something).

JC

[GaryGrzybek]

Hi Leam,

As I mentioned in our email coversation, your more than welcome to train with ARMA Northern NJ anytime.

One of my study partners is trying to get permission to use the new gym at his church in Sparta for our training. I'm excited that this may help increase members as well as allow a warm dry place for practice .

Let me know.