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Juniper Wynd wrote:For timid people in our group we have actually been pretty lucky. If you have people who will help work with a person it makes things much easier.
With new people we will take them aside to make sure they have a grasp of how it works and I will stand aside, watching them fight one of or more experienced guys...when they are being too timid I will tell them so and then I start barking at them I just yell "get 'em...attack attack attack! move in...kill him!" or something along those lines. When they are standing face to face with someone and they have another person standing behind them yelling for them to kill their enemy...it makes it a little easier.
I'm not yelling in a mean way...just trying to encourage a little courage.
One on one training does ~wonders~ for people when they have this kind of problem. So does praise...if you see someone who is normally timid do something not timid...praise them on it. That will help boost them in a lot of ways.
I tend to herald a lot but I razz the guys hard core. If encouragement doesn't work them shaming them usually does it. We have both sorts of people and now they are all less timid for sure.
Thomas MacFinn wrote:.... I think far fewer people are inherently timid than I originally guessed. What I originally saw as timidity is related to the “here's a sword, lets fight” mentality. With a little talking and a few exercises showing what works and what doesn't, “timid” behavior disappears.
As an example, a week or so ago I went to a practice in Indiana and there was a lady there who was not exactly timid but was easily distracted by feints and other big showy moves designed to get her to react in a certain way. So one time when she approached, I stomped my foot loudly and obviously. I did it a couple more times in later bouts than asked her, “Do you know why I'm stomping my foot? It's to get you to stop your advance where I want you to. It lets me pick where we fight and the range we fight from.” Knowing why I did it, she soon ignored those silly foot stomps (especially when I did it far enough away that I had time to stop and grin at her for falling for it) and she also ignored a few other similar moves I threw her way.
On a similar vein, a little 3 man spear exercise I've been working on has done more to show effective ranges between allies than any amount of talking. After practicing it even only a single day, I have yet to see anyone who has done it leave an ally fighting solo by backing two steps farther away than they should be.
In short, people do what they think works. Showing them that a particular tactic doesn't work (and you often have to both say it and show them) eliminates the ineffective tactic. Caution is good. Timidity is just ineffective caution.
Keberos wrote:The two most common problems I've see when fighters are being too timid is, They are afraid of the sword, or they do not trust their own ability to fight.
Many fighters are afraid to be swatted with those scary foam swords. There really is only one way to break that. Hit them with it. Fighters should not flinch or cower when being swung at with a foam weapon. Even if hit in the head (it comes with the sport). Its kind of like how my dad taught me how to stop being afraid of a baseball in little league, (i was catcher on my team), he padded me up in my gear and started throwing pitches at me until i could catch every one. Was scary at first (bing 12 y.o an all) but eventually i could do it naturally.
The second reason more involves the fighters own self confidence on the field. That can only be overcome by fighting more, and more training. Get this fighter in 1v1 situations and have them how off their ability. Many people are good fighters, they just don't know it because they do not release their full power. Once fighters are more accustomed to the blade however this comes more easily.
these are the two big one's i see in my group.
~Keberos
Ethereal wrote:I picked up Belegarth very recently, and I developed this kind of habit so quickly. I think the ideas that have been given so far will help me shrug it off just as fast.
Just to kind of reinforce this idea, the only reason I ever run is because I want to live longer. I die, then wait for who knows how long until I can fight again. I spend more time on the ground than on my feet. If I was fighting more often I guarantee running would be a much less favorable option.
Graavish wrote:it's not the weight of the weapon that makes for a solid hit, it's how much i don't like you when i'm swinging.
Arrakis wrote:Set two fighters up in Block-Strike configuration, but with their preferred style and have them run duels like that. Back foot can move, front can't. Bad for teaching people NOT to move while fighting (a sure way to die quick), but if you don't have the ability to mark off a 10x10 foot area, it works.
And yeah, I spend a lot of time on small fields with new fighters standing and saying "I'm not gonna chase you. If you run, you'll just die tired..."
When they finally quit running and just start fighting, it gets good and I actually start enjoying practice.
Ethereal wrote:Just to kind of reinforce this idea, the only reason I ever run is because I want to live longer.
so you're saying battles where you respawn quickly would cause you to fight harder rather than running?
Atilano wrote:... you will be back fighting in a few seconds.
You dont have to wait for everyone to die, which depending on the battle could last 20 minutes. It is no fun to sit on the sidelines for that long.
Michael wrote: Running away from a better fighter and to teammates who can help you should seldom be encouraged. The running instinct in fast newbies can also be harnessed to turn flanks and project threat (albeit limited threat from a new player) from better angles.
Azgarehta wrote:With a spear, running is my only defense. I like to call it "tactical distance"
Azgarehta wrote:With a spear, running is my only defense. I like to call it "tactical distance"
Thomas MacFinn wrote:1) Move the spear point a couple inches off target and charge four steps in a strait line.
As a spearman, here are some things you might want to try to keep my fighting experiance from being ideal:
Arrakis wrote:Atilano wrote:... you will be back fighting in a few seconds.
You dont have to wait for everyone to die, which depending on the battle could last 20 minutes. It is no fun to sit on the sidelines for that long.
Just a point of order: If any field battle with less than 50 people on each side lasts longer than 3 minutes from Lay On, someone, or many someones, on your field is doing it wrong.
Running away is for cowards.
I guess that res battles might be a solution if fear of having to sit on the ground for ~1 minute is the big issue for your newbs, but I know that res battles straight reduce the enjoyment I get from fighting. Either make the fight about winning (Non-res team battles) or make the fight about learning (Res battles with none of the usual backhacking, two v. one kill-sniping, javelin backshotting, etc. that usually goes on in a Res; just a bunch of people squaring off in small one-on-one or two-on-one duels over and over and switching partners all the time), but don't run a Res battle and then make it a "Who can run around backstabbing and javelin-killing people the most lolz" fight.
Luinmir wrote:Arrakis wrote:Atilano wrote:... you will be back fighting in a few seconds.
You dont have to wait for everyone to die, which depending on the battle could last 20 minutes. It is no fun to sit on the sidelines for that long.
Just a point of order: If any field battle with less than 50 people on each side lasts longer than 3 minutes from Lay On, someone, or many someones, on your field is doing it wrong.
Running away is for cowards.
I guess that res battles might be a solution if fear of having to sit on the ground for ~1 minute is the big issue for your newbs, but I know that res battles straight reduce the enjoyment I get from fighting. Either make the fight about winning (Non-res team battles) or make the fight about learning (Res battles with none of the usual backhacking, two v. one kill-sniping, javelin backshotting, etc. that usually goes on in a Res; just a bunch of people squaring off in small one-on-one or two-on-one duels over and over and switching partners all the time), but don't run a Res battle and then make it a "Who can run around backstabbing and javelin-killing people the most lolz" fight.
I was watching a 15-minute one-on-one match, granted it wasn't Bel, it was a different form of foam fighting. The thing was, they weren't running, they were both really skilled with their defense. They were both doing flourintine. Unfortunately, the ending was less epic than the rest of the match. One of them managed to disarm one of his opponent's swords, and got the bright idea to kick the weapon away...and promptly got killed while his focus was in the wrong place.
Luinmir wrote:I was watching a 15-minute one-on-one match, granted it wasn't Bel, it was a different form of foam fighting. The thing was, they weren't running, they were both really skilled with their defense.
Brennon EH wrote:They are running because the only goal is to stay alive. Change the goal to an objective-based situation and they will try and accomplish that.
There are no staffs in Belegarth. Because of how they are constructed, they are really Pugil Sticks.
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