Some more sparring videos

[Roland Demox]

Hey guys I wanted to get in on the sparring videos party. Heres some clips from Saturdays practice. Let me know what you guys think.



Demox vs. Chimera



Demox vs. Melannen



Demox vs. Sir Borric

[Ramius]

My thoughts, in no particular order:

--Your shield is dipping way low, and mostly when you move forward. Counter this by either training yourself to hold the shield higher or moving the straps on the shield lower. Chi in particular was getting a lot of easy shield-side shoulder kills.

--Your pommel fighting is giving you bad shot mechanics. You are winding up more on the start of the shot (to start the initial "whip"), letting the sword whip into the target (instead of applying force from hips and shoulders), and letting the sword rest on the target after the shot (instead of retracting into a guard). Your shot selection of short wraps and chops seems like it would benefit more from using a standard or choked up grip.

--You are matching the intensity and fighting style of your opponents and letting them dictate the pace of the fight. For instance, in your fight versus Chi you threw rapid, long reaching shots and versus Mel you fought more reserved with shorter, choppy shots; you mimicked each fighter. Try to find your "groove" and stick with it. Most succesful gameplans come down to three basic attempts: Playing your game, defending/countering their game, or using their game against them. You were playing their game and al they had to do was play theirs because they were better at it.

--I am not that good on commenting on footwork (mostyl because I have none) but your stance looks strong and you don't really cross your feet, both of which are good things. You seem to be a good intuitive fighter, meaning that you have a feel for what the other person is doing even if on a subconcious level (shown by the mimicking phenomenon explained earlier). If you sharpen this intuitiveness, I think you would develop a good game plan of countering and block-strike style fighting.

I hope this helps! Keep fighting and posting vids!

-Ramius

[Roland Demox]

First off thank you Ramius,

I didnt notice how low my shield was dipping. Mostly because im usually critiquing my footwork. But that explains alot. I like to fight in close range situations but for some reason was having trouble closing the gap which is reason for the unnatural pommel fighting. And it looks like the shield dip is the reason for that

I never realized that I mimic. Hmmmmm I must closely examine that now.

Thanks for the input

[Slagar]

Alright, I'll bite.

Your footwork is solid, enough so that I can't really critique it.

Your biggest flaw in these vids, and it's a biggie, is your shieldwork. You move that sucker around like a tennis racket. Get in a stance, sword-block your sword side, move your feet, and quit jumping your shield around. Chimera's doing the righty version of the same shot I kill you with. Fake low to pull your shield down, and then when you go to block your hips with it, crank your shoulder. If you really want to stop getting killed with it, spar a lot, and just call yourself dead every time you shield block anywhere that isn't the left half of your torso. If you could break that habit, and keep your shield where it ought to be, you'd be amazed at the results.

Also, your guard is horribly out of place for sword-blocking, which maybe is why you don't seem to do it much. Tighten up that A-frame a little, and you'll have the high and short crosses pre-blocked, which'll let you keep your stance more solid.

Hope this helps, man, and I'll be seeing you!

[Roland Demox]

What do you mean when you say tighten up the A-Frame?

[bo1]

first of all, your foot work is terrible, slagar i am sorry but you are wrong.

there are countless times your back foot is 12 inches in the air and all your wieght is on your front foot, kind of hopping and throwing high cross. stop this first. then move on to other things. next your feet are flat on the ground and your knees are not bent enough. your feet are also square to your opponent lots and lots. this is ok for breif moments, but seems as though you stay here too long.

center line, the line to the center of the opponent. you should practice moving off the center line and seeing what becomes available. there are strengths and weaknesses there. know them and be aware of them. it forces the opponent into predictable shots and opens some interesting offencive oppertunities.

on to range, you are fighting with a 36ish blue, held by pommel, along weapon. why on gods green earth would you ever step forward? unless you are going to wrap shot the **** out of the opponent, which you could do if you didn't throw high crosses like my grandma eats M&M's.

shield work, you have a strap shield, use the edge to hold the opponents shield breifly while you throw your wrap, also step to your right about 45 degrees off center. shoudl seem pretty easy from there. use it to check the opponents weapon/hand, or just shove it into their armpit.you will open some for this but if you do it with foot work, getting a good position first it should make for a safe entry and exit from this.

base shield position, ok so you open your shield with great regularity when you throw shots. that arm goes forward and you show your shoulder almost everytime. practice slow work, learn the movements slow. you can work with anyone for this, just slowly move your body while holding perfect form. straight spine, bent knees, on balls of feet, wieght on back foot.

shield blocking, try to move your hips to block a shot, do it slow, have a friend help. dont move your arms, just your hips. then practice with moving your hips and a bit with the shoulders. the block movement should be really short now. also fast and strong. to block legs, lunge or egress/ leave.

weapon block, lower your weapon in stance by about 6 to 12 inches. fight single blue for a few months until your weapon blocks get solid. ya you will die alot, yep you will suffer. so what you will improve. that what this is for, right? also try to remove the gap between your weapon and shield. it makes for an easy arm swipe once there is like 3 inches in there.

shots, a+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B doom loop, doom loop A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B+A+B doom loop. a= a high cross, b equals the side hack thing, successfully hitting the opponets shield everytime. doom loop, is a swirl of your sword in the air to act as a fient, but really just a bs move.

practice throwing a more defencive shot. basic shoulder pop, short cross( elbow stays below wrist). learn the hip wrap, shoulder wrap, inside leg snipe. look to kenny for these he has the shots, borric too.

ok so i have been a *, sorry about that. you are a decent fighter, and i think you are a good kid. i will post my vid and you can rip me apart too, it is all for the good of the fighters. nothing personal, it is just what i see. i hope you use this as a tool, because that is what will make us all better.

on the upside, you took all your hits, good job. you threw a wrap shot i saw, first vid, looked pretty good. just polish it up a bit and bingo you are home. you are closer than it seems, once the foot work gets fixed the rest will fall into place with practice. also good to see you trying with a sword/round. way to do the work. get rid of the down sword, it jsut covers foot work weakness. practice with out it helps lots faster. you also bait that leg once or twice and get it out of there, swiping at the opponets arm. if you would throw a short cross instead of a high cross, this would be a solid technique.

chi, you are guilty of many of the same problems as i stated above. make sure he gets this too.

[Roland Demox]

he will get it...no worries bout being a *. Thats why I put it up here, to get critiqued. Thanks for the input.

[Physic]

Great break down Bo.

[Winfang]

Do you fight with a flail or have you fought mostly with a flail? Most of your shots look like fishing pole flail fighting. You don't have to generate power for a shot by spinning, tying into what Bo said.

You're using the shield as a counter-balance while you pivot on your foot. Also you get into your comfort range and plant. Like Bo said, I get rid of the down weapon behind your shield.

Also, work on your stance. You're trying to use the A-Frame, but you're hardly in it.

[Remdawg Killionaire]

Query: why use a down-stick in your shield-hand(see video 1) if you aren't using that sword as a weapon as well? If it is a must to help block your shins, well, see all the above advice.

[bo1]

the down sword can be used to stab the opponent. also adds, as you say to your leg defence.

some fighters have learned to get power on a swing with it as well. kenny and peter being the 2 that come to mind on this.

[Sir_Mel]

Ooh, my turn. How did seriously did I **** up?

[Roland Demox]

Do you fight with a flail or have you fought mostly with a flail? Most of your shots look like fishing pole flail fighting.

I had been using a punch and a flail pretty much all winter. I only recently got some people to convince me to pick up the round and sword

You're using the shield as a counter-balance while you pivot on your foot

What do you mean by this? Why is it Bad? and how would I fix it?

[bo1]

mel: your feet are flat, but other than being light on your feet, you are looking ok. i realize that light on your feet is relative since you are 300+, but jumping rope will help this. you get a real nice lunge in the middle. good to see. basically it looks like your feet are in mud when fighting. you try to bait the leg, then get hit in it cause you only get it a bit half way out. ladder drills and jumping rope my man, it is your freind.

your timing is pretty bad. it is a short vid, but it seems like you are racing to see who gets to swing first. you should block then strike, or if the opponent wont swing, swing safe and short, then block then strike.

your stance is good, should lower that weapon, just a bit to help with stab protection. being a lefty i am sure it is different, so i may be wrong here.

you are stabbing some, that is good. but when you do you stab low, if you miss your arm is available. this might not be a problem, but something to think about. remember the 6 targets for stabs. you stab to the stomach. try that armpit, or pocket. hip pocket as well.

your sword side defence is a bit high. also you miss the stab defence, get your sword on the inside of his weapon everytiume. force him to the out side. the inside lane is your friend, especially when lefty.

you are using a small shield and short sword for your size, it is going to be hard when 3 inches of you sticks out of both sides. also you have to move through your opponents threat range, with moving slower, the danger is great . cover the gap between you with a single stride, that way it will happen faster.

baiting, you bait the leg a few times. but i didn't see the arm bait. that is a lefties dream. show the forearm, roll shoulders to the left when they swing, counter with either a pocket stab, or arm hack.


on a side note, why did you switch to lefty is the thumb still bothering you.

[Roland Demox]

Mel actually got the jump on me when I tryed for the one stab in that video. He caught my bicep with a down hack to intercept.

He had a pretty big blister that popped and was bothering him thus the switch.

[Sir_Mel]

Yeah, it's a pretty epic looking blister. That's what I get for not fighting with my thumb up for some six months or so and then running a whole practice like that.

[Remdawg Killionaire]

the down sword can be used to stab the opponent. also adds, as you say to your leg defence.

some fighters have learned to get power on a swing with it as well. kenny and peter being the 2 that come to mind on this.

Yeah, aleksii has taught me some sweet throws with a downstick. I use it when my right arm gets taken. It's a different motion of the hands, tho for sure it's hard to get power with it, tho a stabby makes up for it a lot.

[Roland Demox]

the down sword can be used to stab the opponent. also adds, as you say to your leg defence.

some fighters have learned to get power on a swing with it as well. kenny and peter being the 2 that come to mind on this.

Yeah, aleksii has taught me some sweet throws with a downstick. I use it when my right arm gets taken. It's a different motion of the hands, tho for sure it's hard to get power with it, tho a stabby makes up for it a lot.

as long as you make sure your accuracy is there, nothing is worse than getting stabbed in the face with a downsword

[Remdawg Killionaire]

Besides getting stabbed in the face with a regularly-held sword.
p.s. give it a try, be different, and all that jazz. it's super-fun when someone takes your arm, rushes in for the kill, but you shield kick and drop a downstick into their kidneys. heheheheheheh