The Guy

Guy Windsor (the dude in the center) took us for an incredibly intense 2-day weapons workshop last weekend. He's the head of our sister school SESH, and is the one who taught our instructors. He's also written the book on what I think is the definitive interpretation of Fiore's techniques.

Needless to say, we've learnt a lot from him. I'm not sure I can actually do his teaching full justice in this short blog post but I will try.

1. While Fiore's manual (the primary source of our art) focuses on describing forms and techniques, there are several internally consistent principles in the manual.
2. These principles can be applied to any weapon, as it involves the majority of cutting, thrusting and smashing, along with principles of wrestling, measure (effective range of the weapon), passing (or positioning), and grounding.
3. There are specific peculiarities for each weapon. A spear is the archetype for thrusting attacks, so the emphasis here should be on exchanging and breaking thrusts. It is not so good for smashing or swinging attacks, in contrast with a pollaxe or sword.
4. Each guard has permissible actions and defenses that are natural to that guard. By learning what is permissible and natural from that guard position, one can somewhat predict what is coming and how to counter it.

It was clear to me that I needed to do more reading. As such, I've endeavoured to start reading more into the actual source material, or at the very least, the translated versions of it. I've already started reading some of the notes Guy has published, though I'm not making much progress for it. Still, I endeavour to plough through it.

Some further training notes.

1. I need to get my core muscles working. Guy has showed us a couple of simple body resistance exercises to condition the back and abs. Once I get over this bout of illness I'll work it into my life schedule. I think those are incredibly useful.
2. I still need to work on my stress reflexes. I can execute the forms Guy taught okay, but I've noticed that in a stress situation I tend to panic and forget everything. This means more drilling for me.
3. Guy noticed that I tend to backweight my en guarde position, which is absolutely correct. I'll need to correct this. I need to find a comfortable spot to settle my hips.
   
4. On the bright side, I think my volta stabile has improved somewhat by keeping in mind not to turn with the shoulders, but the entire body. I can -feel- the improvement in smoothness.
   

My great thanks to Guy Windsor, who made time to come down and kick our asses out of complacency.