by druminmychest » Thu May 17, 2007 2:16 pm
I am quite new here. My friend Physic is also an active participant in our Barony here locally. (SCA) I have played a little with your discipline with Physic, and have enjoyed the experience. Physic invited me to join your forum to freely share ideas, and glean understanding. To that end, I will share four seperate lessons that pertain to footwork that I teach new fighters (SCA) perhaps it will be of some use to you. If anything is useful, that's great! If not, that's great too. I am interested in discussing what differences and similarities there are in approach between the two arts.
Unit: The Four Foundations
Chapter: The Foundation of Poise
Lesson: Balance and Center
When we talk of “poise” as a fundamental for our Martial Art, what do we mean? We certainly do not mean the adult diaper! Why don’t we just use the word ‘Stance”? well, there is a good reason we use this specific word. As with all words, they can have many meanings, but for us, a specific definition will shed some light on our art. Here is the definition: “Poise: A state of being balanced in a stable equilibrium”. It is an amalgam of things that allows us to be ready, balanced, and stable, so we may act or react depending on the situation.. It is far more than “Stance”
When many people talk of “stance” or “guard”, they talk and think of it as a static, formulaic, and relatively rigid position. This should certainly not be! Firstly, for a martial artist to be static and committed to a fixed position, he must be ready to embrace defeat, as that is usually what happens right after the adoption of such posture. For another, to engrain yourself in one very static starting position to the point that you cannot execute anything until you adopt it is very limiting.
For us, we can break down “poise” into four distinct elements. (and these aren’t necessarily just physical elements) They are…
1. Balance
2. Center
3. Stance
4. Rotation
You want to know the secret to phenomenal martial skill? It all starts with balance, and that’s exactly where we will start as well. I will tell you up front that balance is not just a reference to the physical, but also has implications through all the realms of a Martial Art. (If you have forgotten from the introduction they are the Intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual)
But for now, we will focus on the Physical..
Balance is the most fundamental concept of any fighting art. Power, Speed, Stamina, and skill are useless, or cannot exist without balance.
Ready for some physics? An object of non-uniform shape and weight (like humans) has a balance point toward the heavier end. For many men, they have a larger amount of weight higher up in their chests, so their balance point will be higher. (unless you have eaten too many swiss cake rolls like me)
We, as humans, are odd creatures, being bipedal and all. Without getting into too much physics mumbo jumbo, we distribute our weight between our feet to balance our Center of gravity with the pull of the earth. With me so far?! Good!!
Now, if you distribute your weight widely (spreading your feet wide) you are pretty stable. (or, more specifically, you are stable from the side) the problem is, you cannot move easily. If you distribute your weight narrowly (your feet close) you can move, but you are easily knocked down. Now, Imagine you are walking down the road, all fine and dandy, when suddenly your head swells to enormous size and weight! Do you think you would still be walking as easily as you were? No, of course not. The distance of your center of gravity in relation to your weight distribution affects stability. Make sense? There are a lot of physics equations that explains this, but I don’t think we need to go too far in depth in that.. So, logic would tell us that if we LOWER our C.G. (center of gravity) we will be more stable! Seems pretty logical. Keep that in mind for later.
Now, what is this C.G. of which we speak?! Ready for another physics lesson? A “center of gravity” (or mass) is the point in any object around which all of its weight is equally distributed. Notice the words “around which”. Don’t think of this is just an up and down kind of thing. Even if you are lying on the ground you still have a C.G. in reference to the pull of the earth… it is just very wide. (well, some are wider than others.(smile))
Ok! Here’s the biggest point!! Ready!? Your center is the balance point in your body. When your center does not fall within the area of your foundation you WILL lose balance, NO EXCEPTIONS! (smile) Many fighters violate this fundamental principle. The only reason they do not fall down is they “catch” themselves by splaying feet out, or lunging around wildly. Of course, if you widen and splay your feet in an attempt to not hit the dirt (ergo, you adjust your weight distribution to compensate) you drastically affect your ability to move…. If you can’t move… you will be struck.
The biggest problem for many of us is we do not understand where our Center is. (and I don’t mean emotionally or spiritually…… yet…) Understanding where your center is, and how you can manipulate it is essential to the next fundamental……. Movement. So how do you find your center? Well, in class, you will/have seen some simple exercises to help you develop your understanding of center. If not… Check out the web site. I’ll have them posted there.
Unit: The Four Foundations
Chapter: The Foundation of Poise
Lesson: Rotation and Stance
Rotation: The act of rotating as if on an Axis. This sounds pretty self explanatory. “Something” rotates in a specific way around an axis of some sort. But how does this apply to our fighting art?!
Rotation of Joints: There are basically two kinds of “joints” in our bodies, Hinge joints, and ball joints. Can you think of examples? Sure you can, your smart! If we were being trained our art by a 14th century master, we would start with grappling and wrestling. Believe me, these activities will give you a very ACUTE understanding of which joints do what, and how far you can take one or the other. But, we can’t really start with grappling, so we have to use our heads and bodies to figure this out another way.
Hinge Joints are things like our knees, and elbows. These travel a specific direction, and stop at a specific range. Here is a VITAL clue…… Ready? IF YOU USE A JOINT IN THE WRONG WAY IT WILL BECOME DAMAGED!! Seems simple enough, right? Then why do people consistently try to rotate on their KNEES!? Shame on you! Hehe.
Ball Joints are things like our hips, wrists, neck, spine, etc. They can go in multiple directions and stop at a specific range. THESE are the joints we can use to rotate upon.. well, in a specific manner that is.
Not only does the nature of our joints dictate what is safe for us to do, but it also dictates the manner of our movement. That, along with balance, and C.G. will dictate our stance… more on that in a sec.
Rotation around our C.G: Ready for another physics lesson?! How bout THREE! I knew you would be!
1. The closer a technique (rotation) is to your own C.G., the more strength you will appear to have. Here’s a good example. Hold a heavy box arms length in front of you. Tough, eh? Now, hold the box close to you. You appear to have more strength, right?! There’s lots of physics reasons for this, just trust me right now….
2. The closer a technique (rotation) is to your own C.G. The faster the Acceleration.
3. The closer a technique (rotation) is to your own C.G. the greater the “perceived” speed.
Think of your C.G. as your Axis, your center of rotation. Every movement, technique, generation of power, twitch, flail, everything starts from here. (or at least should) For instance, if you use your WHOLE BODY in a movement, rotating around your C.G. you will be FAR stronger, faster, etc than if you just used your arm. (we’ll talk about that a lot later) Want to know how that Shot Putter can throw that cannon ball so far? He uses the exact same principles. How far do you think he could throw it if he tried it at arms length? How long do you think his elbow would last doing that kind of thing? Nuf’ said for now…
P.S. Don’t think of rotation around your center as just a horizontal type thing. There is also a vertical component to it. Want to triple the force of your technique? Time a slight sink of your C.G. the moment your sword contacts your opponent in a downward cut. (That’s a freebee for now. Chuckle)
Stance: A position you take physically.
Finally!! We had to go through all this just so I could tell you how to stand!? No, we had to go through all this so you would understand WHY we stand the way we do. If your brain KNOWS why, and your body FEELS why, you are on the first stage to mastering technique. (that’s for another lesson though) Below, you will see four steps of progression on why we construct a stance this way. You will see this format a lot moving forward. In another lesson, I will tell you the reasons behind the form, but for now……
1. Principle: We need a physical position which reflects the landscape of our engagement.
a. Landscape?! What does that mean? The bodies we have, the rules of the game we play, the armor and weapons we use all make up the “landscape” It is the reality, the physical requirements of our art.
2. Strategy: Our stance must be capable of power generation, and stability, and must allow us to move freely in all directions.
a. Ever seen a Strip fencer? Notice his stance? The strategy behind this stance is dictated by the principle of his landscape. Ours is the same. The strategy is different, but the principle remains the same.
3. Tactic: We will use the tools of our balance, Center, and Rotation to position ourselves in such a way to achieve our strategy.
a. These things dictate the tactic we will use. We cannot use a Wuji stance, for instance, or a strip fencer stance because they do not fit into our strategy.
4. Technique: The physical stance is dictated by the principles or “landscape” of our game, The strategies required to operate in that landscape, the tactics dictated by those strategies, and the tools we can bring to bear to execute our strategy. And here is the Technique:
i. One leg is presented forward, with the toes pointing toward one’s opponent.
ii. The other leg is held back, with that foot forming an approximately 45 degree angle with the leading foot.
iii. The feet should be close to shoulder width apart, or a hair wider, depending on body type.
iv. The back and neck must be straight with the body held upright, but relaxed. The C.G. should be in your belly, evenly distributed between your legs.
v. You are always on the balls of your feet.
Now, Here’s an exercise… Each one of these components of the stance has a reason. They are grounded in the realities of balance, Center, and Rotation. Can you figure out how each component relates to these other things? Try it!
Unit: The Four Foundations
Chapter: The Foundation of Movement
Lesson: The manner and technique of movement
Movement is the engine of success. Without the foundation of poise, movement is lost, but without movement, Poise can give us nothing. To put it succinctly, successful fighting depends on gaining a positional advantage. Do you think you can gain a positional advantage without moving? No, of course you can’t. Many fighters tend to gracelessly lumber into weapon range, plant themselves so fixedly that they cannot move, and begin flailing away ineffectually. Believe me, I still do this. I am constantly trying to break that habit. There is a VERY GOOD reason why swordsmanship is constantly being referred to as a “Dance”. Can you dance without movement? No.
Quite Simply, if you are not moving, you are waiting to die. Does this mean we are constantly twitching about, with no purpose? Absolutely not. Weaving and bobbing about with no purpose is wasteful of energy. Now, of course, if there is a PURPOSE to bobbing about, that’s different, but we will get into that later.
So, fine, you get it. We have to move. Firstly, in what manner do we move, and secondarily, How do we move? The manner in which we move should reflect a couple things. They are…
Moving with Grace: Bruce Lee once said; “Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an Echo”. We will revisit this quote later, but the first part is important to us. Graceful movement is the byproduct of two groups of things; The proper application of the Foundation of Poise, Economy of motion, And the three aspects of Combative Conditioning (Flexibility, Endurance, Strength) We will talk about each of these in greater detail later. For us, this can all be summed up in a single Italian word. “Sprezzatura”. (yeah, yet another teaser. That single word contains a lifetime of lessons) The important point for this particular lesson though, is, when you move, do not “Throw” your weight, and Catch yourself before you fall (this is exactly how many of us walk) Rather, Think of pouring your weight from one foot to another, similar to pouring water from one glass to another. Oh, one more thing. If you are not on the balls of your feet, all the movement techniques that follow will be AWKWARD, to say the least.
Moving with purpose:
A fighter without movement is like a woodworker with his tools nailed to the workbench. When we move, it should be for a purpose; to create a positional advantage, to begin an attack using a specific technique, to close or open distance, to misdirect our intent with evasive actions, etc. With so many reasons to move, for heaven’s sake, don’t just move into somebody’s attack for no purpose.
Now, we get down to HOW we move…. WOOHOO! There are basically two different techniques of movement used in swordsmanship. (lots of variations, but these are the basic techniques) Oh, Incidentally, remember when we talked about rotating your movements around your C.G (center of Gravity) in previous lessons? That’s exactly what you should do here. When you are moving, remember to concentrate on rotating the movements around your center. This will help your grace and control.
Steps: There are Four steps.
• Forward (Cressere “growing larger”): Shift your center forward, (NOT leaning forward), lifting the front foot at the same time and pushing forward with the back foot. The front foot is carried forward around 12 inches. Place the foot down on the ball. Then lift the rear foot, carry it forward the same distance and place it down ball first.
• Reverse ( DeCressere “growing smaller”): Shift your center back, lifting the rear foot off the ground, pushing backwards by straightening the front leg. The foot is carried about 12 inches, and is placed down, on the ball. The front foot is then lifted and carried back the same distance.
• Passing (Passare): This is similar to walking. Shift your center forward, un-weighting your back foot. The ball of our forward foot will essentially become a pivot. Open your hip joint, allowing your back foot to pass your forward foot. Your pivot foot will wind up at an angle as it becomes the “new” back foot. Place the “new” forward foot down on the ball, and center your weight. Note: Your shoulders and upper body DO NOT change orientation. You should feel taught and ready to strike. This may feel strange to begin with, but it is very important to not allow your shoulders to rotate and change orientation. When you are done, you should feel the kinetic energy available if you rotate your center and shoulders. This step can have great tactical and positional advantage.
• Backward Passing (Tornare): Essentially the same as the passing step, using the same body manipulations merely moving backward.
Turns: (Volta): There are Three Turns. In Italian, Volta may also mean time. As we have touched on in other lessons, Time, distance, poise and movement are inseparably intertwined. These turns take different amounts of time to complete. They are arranged from the fastest to the slowest.
• Stable Turn (Volta Stabile): The Key to power Generation. Note this ONLY works if you are on the balls of your feet. It also allows you to fight in multiple directions, as is necessary in melee, etc. Simply rotate around your center, pivoting on both balls of your feet. You will wind up facing a different direction. It is this rotation that powers your strikes. This is actually what is happening when you are admonished to “rotate with your hips” Note: if you are NOT on the balls of your feet, you are twisting your knees, this is damaging, and not efficient.
• Half Turn (Mezzo Volta): Essentially the same as a passing step, but you are allowing your center to rotate with your feet. You wind up turned in a different direction. This is usually used in conjunction with a strike, but not always.
• Full Turn (Tutta Volta): move your C.G. onto your back foot, and pivot on the ball. Rotate your center, and place your front foot in the direction you desire. This is used if you are “crossing” your opponent’s attack. It is the slowest turn.
Note: Now, How about direction of movement?! This will be discussed a lot later, but for now, remember there are basically eight directions you can move. Think of your front foot being on a clock face. You can move to 12:00, 2:00, 6:00….. You get the idea. every step and every turn can move toward, or terminate in all eight directions. Try to remember that the rule of thumb is to move the foot closest to your desired direction/intent first.
Unfortunately, some of the format is a little off from cutting and pasting. I hope it is not too annoying.
Thank you!
Rob