For defense, you need to pull and protect your wrist when an enemy blade can slide unto it. You need to lift your leg when blocking, parrying, or cutting in order to move it out of the way of a knee cut or tendon cut. Either leg, on almost any block or cut.
Evasive footwork. Change the angle you are facing a target by 30 degrees, 45 degrees, or 90 degrees on your second attack. So you should be able to pick one of the 9 cuts, then transition with your footwork to the side, and continue the combo with a second cut chosen. Some are more ideal than others in that context.
There are some club bell exercises that will increase the flexibility and strength of your grip and your shoulders. Check Sonnon's website at clubbell tv. A sword used one handed, functions just like one of those clubs if you swing it faster.
Some other exercises you can do is the wrist control. Point the tip of the sword at a point on the wall, with one hand, and then rotate your wrist in a circle such that the point does not deviate from where it touches the wall. Although with pointy swords, you should just use the air or a tree. This strengthens the wrist so that you can rotate through disarms or resets of your grip. Moving the sword up and down using the wrist or forearm can also condition it a bit, but it's very static compared to the more dynamic club bell swings.
What sparring are you going to be doing? Who is your instructor?
Based upon the little that I have read you don't have a qualified instructor. If you want to learn to use the sword correctly you need a qualified instructor. It is much more than making some of the basic cuts mentioned. There are so many details in using a sword and making cuts that you will never learn without a teachers.
Fancy tricks or not if you can use it it's not actually a trick anymore it's a technique. The techniques for the respective sword discipline depends on the individuals execution. I get "brilliant" people telling me that you can't use longsword techniques with a certain type of sword because whatever, whatever. Don't listen to them. You are an individual therefore you have your own ways of doing things. You can be wrong or right. It's up to you to experience and follow through with your conviction for deciding why you wanted to think that way.
I will only present 1 sword discipline to you and one technique. Fencing, the most obvious and the most used, the parry and riposte. Do keep in mind that you are not obligated to follow anything 100%. Be creative. The drill is to parry and riposte different areas. For more difficulty trying doing it while your moving or bouncing on the ball of your feet. If you have a tennis ball or a water bottle tie it up with some rope and use your reaction to parry and riposte. Good luck young padawan.
Hand position: Depending on the style it will differ. Assuming the use of straightsword. Each position will give you certain advantages. Easier leverage? Angles for striking? Faster execution of techniques accordingly. Ex. Parry 2 is good for attacks going downwards towards the legs.
https://s-media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736...
The parries: Learn to parry every area. Ex. Parry 4 is to defend against an on-coming attack to your left.
http://i.imgur.com/egy7c.png
Some things to keep in mind. You need to practice the 9 cuts. 4 diagonal. 2 vertical. 2 horizontal. One straight stab. You need to be able to transition from any one, to any other one. That's for conditioning attack movement muscles. The 9 strikes form a symbol. A cross superimposed upon a windmill.
Get instructor, blah blah, stay safe, blah blah, don't use real swords, blah blah, don't spar without protection and third party to call for help when there is double knock out, blah blah, and you don't care for any of this reasonable warnings.
Here's a instruction book on old school saber:http://www.thearma.org/pdf/ColdSteel.pdf
There's a section for knife and quarter staff in the back. And disarming knives too if you are into that.
Horizontal and vertical.
First, decide that you want to get better at sparring and stop wasting your time with show-off tricks. There is a limited amount you can do solo. The best is probably target practice. A fishing bobber on a string makes a good target, when you allow it to swing from side to side. You can also practice parries and ripostes, either with a dummy (like a bale of straw) or just imagining your target. There are a few moves that you can practice (inquartata, passato soto, or fleche). However, there is no substitute for a fencing class, with or without a partner.
Basically, I want to train to become better at sparring with swords. I'm already pretty good with the fantasy-type fighting (with fancy tricks like spinning the sword around a lot) but I want to get more into the historical aspect. The problem is, the only one of my friends who likes swords at all is only into the fantasy style. Is there anything I can on my own do to help myself get better until I can find a sparring partner?
Some things to keep in mind. You need to practice the 9 cuts. 4 diagonal. 2 vertical. 2 horizontal. One straight stab. You need to be able to transition from any one, to any other one. That's for conditioning attack movement muscles. The 9 strikes form a symbol. A cross superimposed upon a windmill.
Get instructor, blah blah, stay safe, blah blah, don't use real swords, blah blah, don't spar without protection and third party to call for help when there is double knock out, blah blah, and you don't care for any of this reasonable warnings.
Here's a instruction book on old school saber:http://www.thearma.org/pdf/ColdSteel.pdf
There's a section for knife and quarter staff in the back. And disarming knives too if you are into that.
Horizontal and vertical.
First, decide that you want to get better at sparring and stop wasting your time with show-off tricks. There is a limited amount you can do solo. The best is probably target practice. A fishing bobber on a string makes a good target, when you allow it to swing from side to side. You can also practice parries and ripostes, either with a dummy (like a bale of straw) or just imagining your target. There are a few moves that you can practice (inquartata, passato soto, or fleche). However, there is no substitute for a fencing class, with or without a partner.
Basically, I want to train to become better at sparring with swords. I'm already pretty good with the fantasy-type fighting (with fancy tricks like spinning the sword around a lot) but I want to get more into the historical aspect. The problem is, the only one of my friends who likes swords at all is only into the fantasy style. Is there anything I can on my own do to help myself get better until I can find a sparring partner?
