Adiantum Fight Practice.
Jan. 17th, 2013 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zzambrosius_02Last week at Adiantum Practice I did very poorly. I had been writing off and on all day, and on the drive over to Maple Elementary I was going over stuff from the fiction in my head, relating it to modern economic ‘theory’ and arguing with my inner voices about the cultural consequences of collective economic decisions in the novels. As a result, I was NOT preparing myself mentally or emotionally for swordplay. No visualization, no keyword training, nothing. Stunk the place up good, too.
This week, I deliberately put the implications of what I had been writing out of my mind and concentrated on preparation.
It didn’t work at first: I blame this on the fact that it was so cold I couldn’t feel my fingers, my gauntlets were therefore not secure, and that does tend to distract a guy. I got my hands warmed up eventually and then things got better. I was able to take the fight to my opponents at a higher level than recently. Coming back to greatsword after all these years, I am not concerned with win/lose ratio: a good practice is one where I am (mostly) doing what I want to do in terms of good technique, aggressiveness, footwork, etc. Ended the practice with an extended series of bouts with Thane Durin, which were revealing to me. I can feel my analytical sense of greatsword play coming back, that subconscious knowledge of ‘where to be’ and ‘where to step’ when an opponent moves.
Thane Durin was kind enough to notice that my skill set was returning, and point out to me several ways in which I have recently improved. All in all, a C+ practice.
This week, I deliberately put the implications of what I had been writing out of my mind and concentrated on preparation.
It didn’t work at first: I blame this on the fact that it was so cold I couldn’t feel my fingers, my gauntlets were therefore not secure, and that does tend to distract a guy. I got my hands warmed up eventually and then things got better. I was able to take the fight to my opponents at a higher level than recently. Coming back to greatsword after all these years, I am not concerned with win/lose ratio: a good practice is one where I am (mostly) doing what I want to do in terms of good technique, aggressiveness, footwork, etc. Ended the practice with an extended series of bouts with Thane Durin, which were revealing to me. I can feel my analytical sense of greatsword play coming back, that subconscious knowledge of ‘where to be’ and ‘where to step’ when an opponent moves.
Thane Durin was kind enough to notice that my skill set was returning, and point out to me several ways in which I have recently improved. All in all, a C+ practice.
