Wanted : Sparring Video

[Alfred Wong]

An,

Watched some of your video, thou shall beat that disrmed guy not.

[JeanryChandler]

I had to wonder for a second if we were talking about the same video... you'll have to ask Mike Cartier (the fighter on the right, and a ranked ARMA scholar) to be sure, but he appears to me to be executing a nearly perfect parry from a hanging guard right on the forte of his blade, and then executing a very quick counter.

If you listen to the sound, you can hear the swords striking each other with a loud 'crack', if that were his hands, gloves or no, I would imagine you would have a different rection and probably a different sound too <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />.

J

[JeanryChandler]

What video is that, pray tell?

J

[Anthony Boyd]

I believe he is talking about a short video I sent to Lance of me making use of RSW katanas with a friend.

In one surprisingly forceful exhange my blade was knocked from my hands. The other fighter was so surprised that I had an opportunity to step in and disarm him, taking the weapon for myself. I then lightly sliced him up. It was pretty amusing. He was totally fixated on the falling weapon and didn't see my intent to seize his. By the time he was mounting s struggle to retain his weapon I had the advantage.

Like yourself, I like the action to continue until a person has been incontrovertibly incapacitated. Both of us train in unarmed techniques so the mere fact of suddenly being swordless should not have ended the bout.

[Mike Cartier]

Parrying swords with my hands ? I should hope not, thats too easy i would use my feet and sip tea with my hands kung fu style. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smirk.gif" alt="" />

[Alfred Wong]

Dear Anthony,

You were doing a false edge(hitting with the back of the katana), while your opponent is doing a true edge, your force is impossible to match his and it is normal for you to be disarmed, or at least shocked. Just the last time when I was sparring with Lance, this happened, I nearly got disarmed but I managed to hold it, barely. Of coz I was killed after the shock.

[Anthony Boyd]

Alfred,

Yes, an attempt to clear the opponent's blade in this fashion can result in a surprising amount of force should you encounter a strike travelling in the same plane but opposite direction.
I'm not sure it works to apply the terms true/false edge to a sabre, but I understand where you are coming from. I do not find that a disarm or loss of control is the norm when doing a cross-body clear with the back of a two-handed sabre, but it does happen. It's nice to have this instance on record so that I can watch what contributes to it happening.
This is only the third time, out of I don't know how many times, that this has happened to me. Each time it annoyed me greatly!
You may notice that I frequently start from this lower guard position, requiring use of the back of the blade. I don't particularly like this tactic, but due to the nature of combat with this type of sabre, I have recognize that I will end up there fairly often. That being the case, I have been practicing attacking from there.

[Anthony Boyd]

Mike:

In slow motion, it really looks like the strike lands on either your hands or between them on the guard, rather than the forte of the blade. There is enough room for doubt, though that I thought I'd ask.
I find that this happens often enought that I look carefully for it.

[Ryan Ricks]

i end up warding with the grip between my hands on occasion, not on purpose, but because i didn't get into pflug fast enough. luckily my hands are small enough that it usually happens without them being hit.

once again, this isn't something i try for, but since we've been looking at warding for a few weeks it happens every now and then

ryan

[Mike Cartier]

Yeah Anthony now that i look at that in slow motion it does look like it hits my hands, must be a trick of the video and the eye or something. I remember that particular bout well and I am fairly certain that hengen took his blade on my strong, just where i usually take it, i try to lead the path of my hengen with the hilt rather then the point for efficiency in using the guard.
As I recall it I hit the other guy in the video right after with a zornhauw, the second hengen i do in that is a reflex reaction to him still striking.

One thing i do notice is that my feet do not follow my strike fast enough, although that strike was a pretty quick counter strike and i think it would have been hard to bring the foot along with it any more than i did.

[Anthony Boyd]

I have posted a short clip of highlights from my experimentation with Lance's RSW equipment. I realize it's not Western Martial Art, but I thought some might find these "getting to know you" tidbits interesting regardless. I'd put up a clip of me using an RSW claymore, but it doesn't fit the theme of my site.

Feel free to offer advice, but please make any ridicule amusing - I've had a hard week and it's only Tuesday. <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

My hosting service will not allow me to link to the clip directly so the closest I can do is provide a link to the specific page. The clip in question is at the very bottom of the page under the image of sparring armour. The clip is listed as 'Non-Competitive Sparring with RSW'. The url to the page is:

http://www.stormpages.com/haidonggumdo/hdgdarmour.html

If you care to know who is who, I am the one in the black helmet.

Oh, if you watch the competitive clip which is also on this page, there are a variety of people featured of which I am only two. I appear as the taller of the two fighters in the first two exchanges. Jason, the other Canadian mentioned on this forum who has squared off against Lance [and been crushed for their trouble] is in the next two exchanges, spinning.

[Lance Chan]

I have problem getting the asf files. If you can send me through email, I can host them for you. ;D

[Anthony Boyd]

Don't worry, Lance, you already have the file in question.

[Alfred Wong]

Dear Anthony,

Still waiting your claymore rulez video... hee hee...

BTW, how are you getting with your claymore?

[Anthony Boyd]

I have only used the claymore for two matches, both on the same night, both against an RSW Katana. Due to the force of impact I was much more reserved in the second match. This did not stop us from cracking a rib, though.

My opponent charged and I shuffled back while thrusting. I am very glad I did that backstep now.

As a result, and due to the awkwardness of transporting it, I don't expect to be using the claymore too often - even though it was incredibly fun to use and each technique brought a lot of what I've been reading in Ringeck into focus.

It was pure joy to have a useful cross guard, although it was hard to get used to the wards they create.