[ Posted by Janka
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:51:34 GMT ]
The Guy said I should not skip the dagger stuff. While I do not actually believe him, I trust him enough that I will go against my better judgment here just because he said to (for nitpickers: and I do not see anything morally objectionable in reading this stuff).
Disclaimer: I have done very, very little of rapier and dagger stuff in my whole life - maybe 5-6 times total, ever. So this is going to be messy and probably more amusing to the experienced people than useful to anyone, including me.
Figures with sword and dagger, demonstrating a stringere of an adversary in high prima(1).
Note that if the sword of the enemy is aimed at your right shoulder, then you should find it on the outside, and also that you can adopt this same manner stringere in gaining the low guards.
I put this stringere stuff here because more plates on sword and dagger stuff will follow(2).
But it's really bothersome, because I cannot in one picture show every possible stringere, in or out, high or low. So figure it out yourself(3).
I'll just give these rules of thumb. If his point is aimed at your right shoulder, you should be on the outside. And if you stringere a low guard, your own sword should be on a downward sloping line(3).
(1) I know prima! That's the guy on the right, labeled A.
(2) Bugger.
(3) Yes, seriously. "Deferring in this to the discretion of the reader", but same difference.
(4) Presumably, it is implicit in the necessity of this rule of thumb that having a dagger in the other hand makes lower lines safer. How, is beyond me.
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[ Posted by Janka
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:30:48 GMT ]
The number on this plate looks like a 22 to me, but then there is another 22 and this looks like what's described in the text...
There's some footwork related to the parry I am confused of. Like the translators suggest, it probably relates to what is said in Terminology, #7, Of parries, but that does not much help me because I did not get it then either. I still don't have a copy of the original; I'll try and remember to check it out at the salle tomorrow.
After this one there will be some sword and dagger stuff. I don't like rapier and dagger, it feels like a completely different sport to me, and more combat than sport, which I am supposed as a member of a martial arts school to like, but I don't. Sue me. I am tempted to skip all that stuff on this pass through.
This picture shows a strike in the face in seconda with a pass and with a grip of the enemy's sword arm with the left hand(1).
Basic sequence: C closes in on the outside. D disengages to thrust. C parries in quarta with a beat of the right foot(2), and, all as one action(3), passing and turning the body as well, strikes D in seconda in the face while controlling his sword with his left hand (shown).
Variation: C can of course also strike D in quarta without passing, although in two actions(4).
Counter: Had D been an experienced fencer, on C's parry in quarta(5), D would have disengaged(6) to the outside and hit C in the face in seconda. Withdrawing to terza while controlling C's sword, D would have been safe and C hit instead.
(1) And indeed, so it does.
(2) This is the total WTF bit for me.
(3) Momentarily, it seems that this might suggest that the parry in quarta and riposte in seconda should be done as one tempo, but my brain suggests this is quite impossible, it is two motions no matter what you do. It is possible that he means that you need to do it "very quickly", as in, in the time it usually takes to achieve one lunge and strike (the other meaning of "tempo"). It can also be that the "all as one tempo" refers only to the pass and strike, but the "although" in the variation would speak against this.
(4) Since (obviously) the thrust is on such a range that you do not need to pass for it, and obviously passing takes you very close, the question arises if the first variation actually has some maneuvering in it to move the left foot back before passing, to gain range? The fact that this bit specifies "without passing" might support it. Or not.
(5) The translation actually has "when C disengaged to parry D", which the translators also point out is not consistent with the above. My guess is that this one is simply a mistake, either in translation or in the original. Try this paraphrasing stuff yourself and you will notice that making mistakes in describing who does what is very easy. And CF did not even have modern word processing software... the poor thing.
(6) Actually "counterdisengaged", but since I decided there is no cavazzione there cannot be a contra- either.
Posted in Plain English | Tags paraphrasing Capo Ferro | 6 comments
[ Posted by Janka
Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:47:16 GMT ]
Jatkukoon hyvinvointi
Olkoon mieli ja ruumis ravitut
Hallitkoon hallitsijat oikeudenmukaisesti
Vallitkoon kaikkialla maailmassa
rakkaus ja lempeys
tieto ja viisaus
onnellisuus ja hyvyys
Tulkoot vuodenajat ajallaan
Antakoon maa hyvän sadon
Varttukoon seuraavat sukupolvet
Karkottakoon oikeus ja vapaus pelon
Loppukoon köyhyys
Eläköön jokainen ihminen
sata tervettä vuotta
(Vanhaa intialaista rukousta mukaillen.)
Let us be well
Let my body and soul be nourished
Let those who rule do it justly
Let there be in all the world
Love and kindness
Knowledge and wisdom
Happiness and virtue
Let the seasons come and go on time
Let the harvests be bountiful
Let new generations be born and grow
Let justice and freedom end fear
Let poverty vanish
Let every human being
live a hundred healthy years.
(Freely translated from a Finnish translation of a traditional Indian prayer.)
Posted in Plain English, Sama suomeksi | 1 comment
[ Posted by Janka
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:03:45 GMT ]
Note that this figure also shows the ending of the counter on Plate 18, even though we arrive to it more directly.
This figure shows the strike in quarta with the crossing of the left leg behind [that was discussed just previously].
Basic sequence: C closes in on the outside. D disengages to thrust C in the face. C turns to quarta, passes his left leg behind his right, off the line, and strikes D in the face (shown).
Counter: Had D been an experienced fencer, she would have disengaged first to gain his sword on the inside(1), and then passed immediately forward with her left leg and given C a thrust in his chest.
Variation: Alternatively, she could disengage and beat his sword and then attack with a riverso to his face. Retreating in terza, she would be very safe.
(1) The scanzo of the basic sequence can work against a proper disengage to gain the sword before attack, but it makes the timing much trickier. The pass with the strike makes it even more so.
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[ Posted by Janka
Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:29:39 GMT ]
The Guy today at a private lesson: "Think of it as going so slow that you can AAR in the middle of combat". No, he does not play EVE with me. He reads my blog. It sort of helped, though the idea is bizarre.
To be honest I thought we did this plate already but I am too lazy to go back to see what the difference was. I should really go through CF and tabulate all the sequences according to lines, steps, and timings used to see what the pattern is there. I assume there must be one, and he is not just putting together sequences as they occur to him. Call me naive. But for now, it is enough that I practice "seeing" sequences in my head as I read them, I think.
This picture shows a thrust to the throat with a pass of the left foot.
Basic sequence: C closes in on the outside. B disengages to thrust C in the face. During B's disengage, C turns to quarta and strikes her in the face or the throat with a pass.
Counter: Had B been an experienced fencer, she would have disengaged to a feint, her body held back a bit. When C comes confidently forward with his strike, B passes her left leg behind her right, turning 90 degrees off the line, and strikes him in the chest.
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[ Posted by Janka
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:46:37 GMT ]
Bored now.
Fancy talk about how training makes me feel would go here, if not being allowed to train had not made me (uncharacteristically) feel all "LESS TALK MORE FENCING" instead.
Now experimenting with "close" for stringere. I did not promise that the language will stay consistent. If I ever do a rewrite of all this stuff with actually reading the original and all that jazz, I will settle on one translation, but for now, I am just toying around.
This picture shows a strike near the ear with a step off the line with the right foot(1).
Basic sequence: C closes in on the outside. B disengages to strike in quarta. C steps off the line as shown, and strikes B in the head, near his ear.
Counter: had B been a sharper person, he would have disengaged with a feint, holding his body back for a bit. When C comes confidently forward with her strike, B would meet her sword on the outside, lower his point to seconda and pass with the left leg, all in the same time, striking her in the side and controlling her blade with his left hand(2).
(1) No kidding? We have eyes, Mr CF.
(2) See scannatura, Plate 13.
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[ Posted by Janka
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:32:29 GMT ]
Joo, nyt se sitten on alkanut.
Tässä paras kuulemani vihje (käsien pesemisen ja sairaana kotiinjäämisen kaltaisten toivottavasti tässä vaiheessa itsestäänselvyyksien lisäksi) possuflunssan seurausten vähentämiseksi jokaisen omalla kohdalla:
Mitä tahansa aikataulutattekin just nyt, laatikaa suunnitelmat sillä oletuksella, että seuraavan parin kuukauden aikana jokainen asiaan millään lailla liittyvä ihminen on ilman ennakkoilmoitusta poissa kuvioista kaksi viikkoa.
Tekemättä jäävien töiden aiheuttama stressi ei liene epidemian kansanterveydellisistä vaikutuksista pienimpiä.
Posted in Sama suomeksi | Tags sikainfluenssa, terveys, unsolicited advice | 1 comment
[ Posted by Janka
Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:49:09 GMT ]
Note that we had a similar plate on an attack on the outside before. Here the counter has a beat, not a feint and a change of line, but both in fact work on both sides, though I do feel that a beat is easier in a quarta and a counterattack in seconda. Seconda might be just me being a mutant, but I think the beat being easier in quarta is some body mechanics stuff I cannot at this point explicate very well. (I need more basic body movement work. Crap. I hate that stuff.)
This and the next pictures demonstrate things you can do on the inside line. We always start with a stringere on the outside by one party, and a disengage to strike by the other.
Basic sequence: C stringeres on the outside. D disengages to strike. C turns to quarta and thrusts. Depending on the distance, the thrust can be with a fixed or advancing foot.
Counter: Had D been a sharper person, he would have disengaged with a beat, attacked, and withdrawn in terza.
Variation: Instead of a thrust, after the beat, D can also attack with a riverso cut.
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[ Posted by Janka
Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:18:59 GMT ]
"Stringere" or "gaining the sword" is one of the most difficult concepts to explain in swordsmanship, yet they are the very basic thing that the whole idea of defending yourself is based on.
In my never-ending search for a good word for "stringere" I have more or less arrived to "constrain" (for now). After all, by gaining his sword, you constrain his movements, and thus gain advantage. It also allows me to translate "stretta" in the sense of "closed" as "constrained", which is nice.
CF uses here and in a couple of other places "to stringere and gain" in a way that suggest he does not think of them as the same thing. I do think there seems to be a subtle difference for me too, stringere referring more to the intent of constraining his movements in order to limit the possibilities of play, and gaining his sword to the intent of gaining blade contact advantage in order to be able to know and to some extent control him while I am say preparing to attack. These are not separate concepts, but not quite the same either..
I will next explain the two-step way of gaining the enemy's sword, because I know from experience it is very useful and I don't want to proceed without explaining it(1).
If you wish to constrain his sword, be it on the inside or the outside, you must begin by constraining it at its debole, about a palm's length from the point. If you are on his inside, you must point your sword to his right shoulder. If you are on his outside, you must point it to his left shoulder.(2)
Having first done this, you can advance, keeping control of his sword.(3)
Should he disengage, you will immediately counter-disengage and regain your advantage. Alternatively, you can counter-disengage and thrust, but if you do, the attack must come at the time of his disengage.
If the adversary comes to constrain your sword, and it is on the straight line and your arm extended, you must immediately disengage, find his sword, and step forward.(4)
If you have to disengage in order to gain his sword on the inside, carry your right foot forward, hold your left hand close to your right, and bend your body slightly to the right while you do it. Then pass with your left foot and strike him in the chest with a quarta.
And similarly, if you have to disengage in order to gain his sword on the outside, carry your right foot forward and bend your body to the left, and you can pass with your left foot and strike him in the chest in seconda.(5)
When you look at the following figures, they demonstrate a constraining of the sword on the outside in terza. However, bear in mind that this is not really where the play starts: the control must first be gained as described above.
(1) Nevermind that he got this far without doing so, regardless of past 10 plates or so beginning with the action.
(2) This constrains his movements, because you have now closed the line from his point to your body: he cannot strike you without going around your sword somehow. Should you not point the sword towards "his" side, the line is not closed, and so he is not constrained in his choices.
(3) Translation says "walk towards his sword" which does not sound right at all. I don't have the original. This is pure guesswork from what makes sense to me.
(4) There's two steps to constraining: one where the deboles cross, and the other when you step closer and gain full control. The point here seems to be: if he does the first, you can immediately do the second, if you are in the position to do so. The extended arm confuses me, though.
(5) One of these days I will go through all this and see in which situations he says to pass rather than lunge. I have a hunch there is a connection there, but what exactly I cannot yet say.
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[ Posted by Janka
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:18:26 GMT ]
I am experimenting here with using "he" and "she" for the two participants, to make it clearer who is doing what. This option was not available for CF due to cultural reasons, but it should not stop me. Apologies for the anatomical incorrectness of the pictures that follows.
This figure shows a strike to the right flank with a pass while the adversary disengages to strike. This sort of attack is called "scannatura", butchering.
Basic sequence: C gains D's sword on the outside. D disengages to thrust C in the face. C lowers his point to seconda, and meets D's sword on the outside, stepping forward and placing his hand on her hilt, and thrusting her in the flank (shown).
This picture shows a counter-attack without any sort of parry component, only with a lowering of the body below the enemy's sword.
Basic sequence: D gains C's sword on the inside. C disengages to strike D in the face. D steps forward and lowers her body as shown, and strikes C in "contra tempo", that is, at the time of his attack. (Shown.)
Variation: D could also first parry in terza, and then lower the point to seconda, and pass to strike C in the chest, using her left hand to control his sword.
Counters: Had C been a sharper person, he could have withdrawn his right foot when D comes forward to strike. He could then meet her on the outside, to strike with a scannatura. He could also, while withdrawing, parry with his left hand, coming from above to downwards. Line is then open for an attack with a high seconda.
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