Monday, February 23, 2009
Swing like you mean it. This isn’t a sport.
(from guest blogger Barry Gauntt)
When I watch YouTube videos of stick/blade fighters and so called weapon experts I see a lot of soft swings. This is great to keep up speed and generate snap from the wrist but it doesn’t work in an impact situation like combat. The wrist must be firm in order to “control” the shock or recoil if you will from the stick impacting with your target. If your wrist was loose and the grip soft the then stick will leave the hand upon impact or the wrist would be injured in some way. Just try hitting something with a loose wrist, generate snap from the wrist and execute a diagonal cut from top to bottom using any comfortable positioning you like. It’s like casting a fishing pole, you flick the tip forward.
Now try the same cut but keep the wrist tight and the grip rigid. Swing down for the cut and put your back into it. Extend yourself slightly forward to meet the target and allow the force of the blow to continue through the target (don’t pull back after impact). Also as you move forward allow your shoulders to rotate and get every bit of power out of your movement. This may bring you forward a step more than you had anticipated, if so then all the better because that shows how your body’s momentum is being added to the force of your strike. Now you can see the difference, the wrist generated power is minimal and only good for speed with light movement such as a parry from a fencing weapon. By sacrificing a strong grip you gain speed but loose your stability. The tight grip and rigid wrist however created easily 50% more power, probably much more. If you are swinging a stick at 80mph you need a strong grip with a tight wrist or you will injure yourself instead of you target. Now imagine if that stick were actually a blade. You could cut your own damn hand off if you aren’t careful. In combat fine motor takes a dump and all you have is your gross motor ape-man movements to save your life so hold on tight and swing for all your worth.
You can’t really parry an 80mph swing from an impact or bladed weapon. You can’t really do anything except either be somewhere else or meet its force with equal and/or greater force. Basically it’s bad, you don’t want to be they guy dealing with that swing. You want to be the guy who is dishing out that swing. 75% of the time that power stroke will brush aside any defense and give you a chance to thump the target. If you can’t batter their defense aside in one blow don’t sweat it, you can hit them many more times, each time building speed and momentum. The odds are very unlikely that your opponent has trained “blow for blow” and he is not ready to meet the awesome force of your repeated full body rotation strikes. The key is overwhelming the opponent, it isn’t a sporting event and there won’t be a referee there to help you when he cheats.
If a weapon is involved you must escalate your force and hit your target as hard as humanly possible with as much explosive power as your body can generate. Anything else is reserved for the most elite of swordsmen who have studied the blade their entire lives. Also most of those elite swordsmen use weapons that are so useless in the modern world that they are now simply cultural symbols of power or tools used for sport. An actual weapon of war tends to be small, simple, very durable and easy to maintain like a machete or short sword. It also tends to be featureless and undecorated. Nobody carries an extravagant double bladed two-handed sword made for siege warfare. Today’s elite soldier carries a war blade less than 2 feet in length doubling as a machete with knives coming in at about 7inches for the blade. The key is conceal-ability, ease of carry and responsiveness. The modern melee weapon needs to deploy fast and be useable in small confined spaces. Try using a rapier in a space the size of a freight elevator and see what happens. The short blade is superior for guerilla combat because it is versatile and easy to carry; the low weight and slight profile make it an ideal backup for anyone expecting close quarter resistance. This is even more correct for those who must carry 75-150lbs of gear in the field. Every extra ounce matters when your exhausted and dehydrated, it really makes you appreciate the simplicity and minimal nature of the blade.
When I watch YouTube videos of stick/blade fighters and so called weapon experts I see a lot of soft swings. This is great to keep up speed and generate snap from the wrist but it doesn’t work in an impact situation like combat. The wrist must be firm in order to “control” the shock or recoil if you will from the stick impacting with your target. If your wrist was loose and the grip soft the then stick will leave the hand upon impact or the wrist would be injured in some way. Just try hitting something with a loose wrist, generate snap from the wrist and execute a diagonal cut from top to bottom using any comfortable positioning you like. It’s like casting a fishing pole, you flick the tip forward.
Now try the same cut but keep the wrist tight and the grip rigid. Swing down for the cut and put your back into it. Extend yourself slightly forward to meet the target and allow the force of the blow to continue through the target (don’t pull back after impact). Also as you move forward allow your shoulders to rotate and get every bit of power out of your movement. This may bring you forward a step more than you had anticipated, if so then all the better because that shows how your body’s momentum is being added to the force of your strike. Now you can see the difference, the wrist generated power is minimal and only good for speed with light movement such as a parry from a fencing weapon. By sacrificing a strong grip you gain speed but loose your stability. The tight grip and rigid wrist however created easily 50% more power, probably much more. If you are swinging a stick at 80mph you need a strong grip with a tight wrist or you will injure yourself instead of you target. Now imagine if that stick were actually a blade. You could cut your own damn hand off if you aren’t careful. In combat fine motor takes a dump and all you have is your gross motor ape-man movements to save your life so hold on tight and swing for all your worth.
You can’t really parry an 80mph swing from an impact or bladed weapon. You can’t really do anything except either be somewhere else or meet its force with equal and/or greater force. Basically it’s bad, you don’t want to be they guy dealing with that swing. You want to be the guy who is dishing out that swing. 75% of the time that power stroke will brush aside any defense and give you a chance to thump the target. If you can’t batter their defense aside in one blow don’t sweat it, you can hit them many more times, each time building speed and momentum. The odds are very unlikely that your opponent has trained “blow for blow” and he is not ready to meet the awesome force of your repeated full body rotation strikes. The key is overwhelming the opponent, it isn’t a sporting event and there won’t be a referee there to help you when he cheats.
If a weapon is involved you must escalate your force and hit your target as hard as humanly possible with as much explosive power as your body can generate. Anything else is reserved for the most elite of swordsmen who have studied the blade their entire lives. Also most of those elite swordsmen use weapons that are so useless in the modern world that they are now simply cultural symbols of power or tools used for sport. An actual weapon of war tends to be small, simple, very durable and easy to maintain like a machete or short sword. It also tends to be featureless and undecorated. Nobody carries an extravagant double bladed two-handed sword made for siege warfare. Today’s elite soldier carries a war blade less than 2 feet in length doubling as a machete with knives coming in at about 7inches for the blade. The key is conceal-ability, ease of carry and responsiveness. The modern melee weapon needs to deploy fast and be useable in small confined spaces. Try using a rapier in a space the size of a freight elevator and see what happens. The short blade is superior for guerilla combat because it is versatile and easy to carry; the low weight and slight profile make it an ideal backup for anyone expecting close quarter resistance. This is even more correct for those who must carry 75-150lbs of gear in the field. Every extra ounce matters when your exhausted and dehydrated, it really makes you appreciate the simplicity and minimal nature of the blade.
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