Curriculum: Class 2

I am having the luxury problem that there is too much heavy stuff happening for me to actually keep up with it here. I will have to condense the Curriculum classes 2 and 3 somewhat.

We had a third new person start at my Class 2.  It was relatively straightforward to integrate her along the other two, as I wanted to do substantial revision of the first class in the beginning of the second one anyway. Revision is something I want to keep carrying on through the curriculum, as I want to keep working on the structured framework of building new lessons on the previous ones, so that everything works together and makes sense together as much as possible.

1. Recovery - the concept

Having finished revision, I pointed out that a shot is not finished until you have recovered it to a position where you are able to strike again. For a beginner, this will mean returning to your base stance. We practiced striking with the hip, and using the hip to recover the arm back into the starting position. I asked them to keep the concept in mind as we moved on, since we'd need to come back to it in a bit.

2. Second shot: the off-side

Time to introduce the second basic shot of the three: the off-side. Start exactly as you would your on-side shot. Hip brings the sword forward, pommel-first, until the momentum forces the rest of the sword to move. Turn your wrist to a backhand so that the sword edge hits your opponent's right side (your left side) and your palm ends up pointing downward.

Once you have got the hang of this shot, practice completing the shot by recovering from the off-side to the basic stance.

3. Introduction to transitions

So we have worked out two different shots, and talked about the concept of recovery, so we are now ready to think about how we might move from one shot to another. Efficient recovery is the key here. A minimal recovery can be performed by allowing the sword tip to fall back, while your hand and arm still stay out front. Practicing the very simple on-side/off-side transition/combo allows you to instinctively get a better grasp of the mechanics of the two shots, pay attention to how your hips move to enable the exercise, and likewise intuitively let you perform the transition.

4. Game: Statues

I strongly believe in incorporating an element of fun and a bit of lightheartedness into training. Last week we played tag using footwork, this time we did another footwork exercise in the guise of another children's game. With a sword and shield, the players line up at one end of the hall, while one person takes their place at the far end, without any equipment, facing away from them. The players must proceed through the hall, but the person at the other end - the watcher - will periodically turn around, and if they see anyone move, they will send that person back to the end of the hall. Kind of like Doctor Who's Weeping Angels. The object is to touch the watcher GENTLY with a sword tip, and take the watcher's place. We played a few rounds of this.

5. Slow work

The concept of slow work was introduced to the new person, and the learners were set at each other under a careful eye.