Raglan Fair 2: the training

At Raglan, my Knight and I continued certain ongoing projects we had more or less started at another event in the early summer. He has been concentrating on really deconstructing elements of fighting and how to train it to logical parts of a functioning system, and I have been leading on efforts to incorporate mental wellbeing and mental training into the sphere of the practice of fighting. There's a lot to be said about that, and I will most likely write several posts about it in the future. Enough to note for now that so far we have run two discussion classes at events, one at Raglan, and they have been well received.

In terms of physical training, we met on four mornings during the event, with me running a short pilates-style core workout, followed by my Knight spending some time talking about the principles of training. We had a couple of people who turned up to every session, but mostly the participants varied. Essentially, this set of sessions was a short series of linked classes on how to train smart in the context of deconstructed fighting. We hope that at some point a version of this series will make its way online in video format.

My endurance and strength have increased considerably over the past year. Not uncoincidentally, I suspect, a little over a year ago my Knight started me on a systematic training programme, which moves on in c. 6 week periods. As mentioned in the previous post, my power generation has also gone up in the past couple of months, although it's not yet consistent enough to my liking.

Main principles of training: cardio & strength

I don't do crossfit or powerlifting (despite the fact that I like lifting very much). Our principle is moderation: doing a moderate amount of training means that you're less likely to be sore the following day, and thus you're able and willing to do another training session. This leads to you training on most days of the week.

For endurance and cardio fitness, I run. I have gone through several 6-week cycles with differing emphases, but as a rule a week's programme includes one short run, one session of sprints, and one long or two longish runs. I am not fast by any manner of means, but I can do 10K in reasonable comfort. We focus on consistency, rather than speed.

For strength, rather than working with an Olympic bar (which I otherwise am very fond of), I do one session a week with dumbbells at the gym, and, if I have time and the relevant machines are free, some further upper body -focused exercises. Because I'm working on gaining strength, I alternate between a heavy set and a light set of weights. At my most recent session I used 2 x 9kg and 2 x 3 kg weights. I do three exercises, 3 reps of heavy weights and 20 reps of light weights each, 3 sets of each.

I also have a set of TRX straps, which I use for bodyweight exercises once a week.

Main principles of training: core

The first thing everyone starting SCA armoured combat is that power comes from the hips, but it seems to me that we should be actually talking about our core: the area of deep muscles around your lower abdomen, and, yes, hips. Engaging the core, activating the muscles of that area as though you were zipping up jeans that are slightly too small, substantially aids with strength and balance. When you engage your core, your hips will tilt slightly forward. Apparently Musashi mentions something very similar. I have found that engaging my core while training & fighting leads to much better footwork and better striking power. A strong core also protects from back and hip injuries.

I do at least one core workout a week. Pilates is fantastic, but due to their cost I don't attend classes at the moment. I strongly recommend it to any fighter, all the same.

To make a mistake

At Double Wars I spoke briefly with a young female squire, who is fairly fresh at fighting, and she mentioned an issue that has plagued me as well: that in melee scenarios, she finds herself hanging back, afraid that she might do something wrong.

It hasn't really left me since, and I wonder whether this is an inherent issue in minority fighters, or whether it is more widespread but doesn't get acknowledged. Further, I wonder whether this translates into one-to-one fighting, as well, and whether it is a factor in holding us back.

I suspect that this issue becomes more sensitive with people who have been socialised to avoid making any kind of fuss, to strive for perfectionism in all areas of life. Some people say "Sorry" excessively, apologising for any minor real and imagined trespass. Many people are socialised to feel accountable to (patriarchal) authority figures. SCA fighting is full of patriarchal authority figures, and those who are not but feel that they ought to be. Many people are also socialised to be afraid of male anger and its unpredictable consequences. I can see a situation where a less experienced fighter makes a mistake, and some others on the same side lose it a bit in the heat of the moment and adrenaline and say things they don't necessarily mean in tones and volume they don't necessarily mean at all.

They're your mates. But you've accidentally made them angry. You did that. Holy shit.

And you've disappointed them.

And they're going to go away thinking, wow, Agnes is such a noobass, never going to want to play with her again.

And what if they're not going to like you again?

My best fights have happened when I have not been emotionally invested in the outcome, or I have been in the very fine zone just before exhaustion, when I move in what to me feels like exaggerated patterns. I get into the flow when I let go. Imagine if you could just let go in all your fights, one to one and melee alike. Not be afraid to throw yourself into it, go full on Leeroy Jenkins with the knowledge that even if it doesn't work out, at least it'll be awesome, in some direction.

I don't know how to address this issue. Some of it seems to get a bit better simply with experience. Maybe we should all talk about our fuckups more. Maybe the commanders of melee teams need to explicitly say in the beginning of a melee tourney that making mistakes is okay (and if it was me, I'd say they'll be welcome, because a mistake means that something was done, so at least there was activity). And maybe those of us who are affected by this issue need to have a deep extended look at ourselves, and see what we can do for ourselves. Listen to the usual encouragement in the beginning of any tourney to have fun, and be aware that those words in themselves contain the permission to make mistakes. And each fighter everywhere can keep an eye out for others. Don't let anyone get away with losing their temper in the field. If someone makes a mistake, let them know that it's okay - because it has to be okay.