2.4 Hilt up / Hilt down
Discuss how this affects the way you take the pressure
Distance drills with pressures
- Exercise
- Student and instructor both on guard in terza facing each other at perfect distance. Instructor moves using simple steps, student must use simple steps to maintain the distance. Swords should be in contact. Instructor pressures the student's weapon (using low seconde or low quarte only) when instructor moves forward, student should turn their hand into seconde or quarte to close the line and maintain contact as they step off the line to void the blade.
- Instructor should turn hand into low seconde or low quarte to create a new line of threat when moving back to trigger student into moving their blade to close the new line while maintaining contact.
- Exercise
- As above, but this time instructor disengages when moving forward or back. Student should close the new line with a pressure when they feel the sword leaving their blade, maintaining contact as they step off the line.
Teaching Note:
Steps should be clean and not too wide or too long, torso should not bob up and down. Arm should be extended so student's forte is against instructor's debole, student's point a little below instructor's hand so as to maximise target in range - point too low leads to misses. Instructor's point about a hand's width below the student's hand, as this helps trigger the student to move correctly and place their blade properly. Ifthe Instructor's point is too low, the student can't easily make the pressure using the correct part of the blade.
- Exercise
- As above, but use high or low seconde and quarte to give the student practice in determining the correct response to all changing lines.
Teaching note:
In this last exercise, change lines from low to high slowly and clearly at first as this is the hardest for them to react to. Instructor's point must be no more than a hand's width above or below the student's hand to help the student to learn the correct form.
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