Working on Fiore's Ligadure - more in my series of classroom blogs.

Fiore offers us 3 primary "Ligadure", and a handful or variations on the theme. Most of these occur in the dagger section, but they are also found in the sword sections.

Personally, I like to follow Fiore's advice in terms of his order of operations for close range fighting which he lays out in the Ghetty manuscript, before he introduces the guards of grappling.

They are as follows:
- Have strength
- Have speed
- Know how to grab the target
- Know how to break his limbs
- Know how to bind (ligadure) his limbs
- Know how to make you hits count (strike dangerous places)
- Know throws
- Know dislocations

Now, since breaks are higher on the list, I take that to mean We are looking to do that where ever possible, and IF we tie him up, we are looking for throws and dislocations. I use a good slug to soften the target, or buy time for a more permanent solution (but a knock out would be sweet gravy).

So, that should give you perspective as you watch me teach some of these binds.
Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/TuGfYvFZIh0

Spine Locks: Wringing out a towel. AKA more class notes.

Still in a wrestling chapter.

The Plate in question. 

Looking a the plays of Abrazare, today, we are on the spine lock,

Now, I included one of my famous warm ups as well, to help with context. Since the class room is a laboratory environment, it is easy to lose sight of when these actions can occur in a fight, and what the goals are.

The drill will speak for itself in the class room clip. Drills like this one are part of my abrazare (Close-in fighting for non-Italian speakers) classes to help the student learn the timing of these techniques, as well as to prepare them for a little bit of contact.

Now, I feel strongly that such things are important, and that with out such basic contact drills, students will require a much longer learning period.

In short, and to quote the master, you must know how to come to and advantageous grip.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/IkISctJd-tU

Follow on plays from the first remedy of Abrazare.

Here is a brief clip of this weeks close quarters class. A bit more technical than last weeks, but I think the lesson of context has been retained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAU5wUpmz-s

A brief classroom look at abrazare, base remedy and followup throw.

https://youtu.be/IkPUzI5QS7s

This a classroom shot, which I thought turned out OK. shows an entry into the first remedy, and give basic advice. As always, feed back helps make me a better teacher, so feel free to comment.

I like the remedy, but context can be tough. This is just one of many ways you can find this throw useful.

Fiore's Dagger - What are we dealing with?

There is a lot of talk about knife fighting. As traditional martial artists (we are following old-tyme martial arts) we often get captivated by the techniques. I know I do. But lets not lose the forest for the trees.

Knives are dangerous. We all say that, but do we know it? Do you know what it is to be cut, and see yours, or some one else's blood? I hope you do not. That knowledge is never gained in a positive way.

So, we are dealing with a knife. what do those look like. Well, Fiore used a pretty big knife,  but a wide variety of other forms existed at that point in history, as well as now. We need to be prepared against all of them.

Rondel Daggers

     

Modern Problem Knife

So, how do knives hurt us? They cut or stab. In Medieval times, the thrust was considered more dangerous, as it entered into the body and damaged bits they had no technology to heal. Also, cuts can be superficial, and are less likely to penetrate clothing. As such, they can be less reliable.

Target color: Red from overhand,
Blue from underhand, and purple
for overlapping zone

Cuts are most effective with large blades, or to relatively unprotected areas. I would not write them off as nothing, but they offer less impact as well, so a glancing hit may not be felt by the target.

So,
     - Cuts to unprotected areas.
     - Stabs/Thrusts to any where.
     - (Pommel strikes with big knives may also be a factor, but you        deal with them them same, so let's not worry over them).

So, what do these attacks look like?
I have watched many, many hours of CCTV knife attacks in order to study this. It seems that stabbing attacks are still more common than slashing attacks. Both tend to originate from a draw or a place of concealment. Cuts tend to be pretty big and a little wild.  Thrusts will come hard and repeatedly. Also, most attacks are accompanied by the attacker attaching to the target with his free hand.

It turns out that this is not very different from Fiore's day. Fiore suggests that overhand attacks will land some where in the lower head / upper chest of the victim, and that under handed attacks will land some where between the groin and the heart. His advice seems to hold true even to this day. (see chart)

The final thing to consider, both then and now, is that the knife is gonna be coming in pretty hard. This will not be a duel. In the medieval times, the knife was prohibited from friendly deeds or arms, but not the duel to the death. This will not be a cold and dispassionate attack, it will be an amped-up, last ditch attack from a desperate swordsman who's first lines of defense are down. Modern assailants are more likely on the predatory end of things but they still are emotionally charged, and their thrust(s)will come in with as much power as they can muster.

So, to recap:
1. We know the attack will come from close range, and with little warning.
2. We can Roughly judge, based on grip, where the strike will come (assuming we see the knife before the strike)
3. It will hit us HARD, and often repeatedly. The Agent wants us DEAD.

Keep these things in your mind while you train.

To that end, train at multiple power output levels, and train against good attacks.
     - Aim for your target.
     - Use well formed, direct attacks.
     - Have attacker begin from both a ready position and the draw. you need to understand both.


OK, so next week we'll start looking the various rememdies, and how we can train them to work well for us.

Cheers,
J

Tossing folks.

I am starting off the next module of our program with our basic Abrazare Materiel. Part of my project to improve my self is to watch a few minutes each week of my own teaching. I like this clip, though, i need to be a little better about my feet, they are frequently too flat. Enjoy, feel free to comment, as always. 

This is after our warm up of striking with hammer strikes and knees, just the thrown portion of the lesson.

https://youtu.be/5SDujR02b7U

J

Pressing the point and Double kills.

The point of the sword is arguably the most lethal part of the weapon. It penetrates clothing more easily and enters deep into the body. In the case of the dagger, it hits harder than a cut, and is in many ways more reliable.

Often, however, the thrust leads to a double kill. It does not close lines the same way that cuts do and worse, it can be hard to sell your intention. In other words, some foes do not react defensively to them.  Let's take a look at this for a moment and see if we can learn a little bit about where this beast lets us down, and how we can make it work a little better for us. 

Now, before you read on, bear in mind that we are looking at some specific issues here; we are not getting into a technique pairing clinic. So before you think to yourself, "Well, if Jesse does this, then I'd just do that and kill him," stop and look at the bigger picture for a second.  That is not the discussion here. If you want that, ask me some specifics, and we can play 'what if' in a later blog.

So, in no particular order, here are my observations on the topic of double kills that occur when the first mover is throwing a thrust to begin an encounter.

1. Weak prosecution does not garner respect. (Battle ain't no fishin' trip)

I see a lot of new to mid-level students "go fishing" for a response from their foe from out of effective measure. They throw a half-assed attack that is not fully formed. It's hard enough for a foe to see you launch a thrust, but if it is weak or you move with no confidence, good luck getting a reaction from a seasoned fighter.

Worst still is fishing: making a thrust that is out of measure, yet still carries the agent forward in vain hopes that the foe will waste a tempo in response to the non-threat. Good foes will not; they will instead capitalize on the new, closer range you have offered them and kill you directly.

Now, it is very dangerous to use a thrust as a probe in general, as thrusts do not close lines very well. Add in weak prosecution, or probe out of measure, and you are handing your foe your life on a silver platter.

So if you are gonna feel out your opponent do it like you mean it; no one likes a weak probe. You must use a genuine, in measure action. 

2. Stop thrusts don't (stop the target most of the time.)  

   
The stop thrust is an awesome move. To arrest the target at distance is good, but does not always go as planned. To insure only one party bleeds, make sure you do three things while trying to stop the target.

First, don't miss. Put your point on their face or their sternum. The hips work OK if you have a lance, but I would not risk it at long sword range without good cause.

Secondly, MOVE YOUR ASS. The cut you were trying to arrest? There's a good chance it's still coming. With training swords the target may not notice you put in your point and abort their cut, or they may not care. They'll notice the hit if you put in a genuine thrust, but often too late.

With a sharp blade it'll just sink in and keep on going. A thrust penetrates soft tissue without slowing down the sword, or said tissue. So unless you plug their skull or sternum, the enemy's cut is still coming your way.

So please, move your ass out of harm's way. Plan on it every time.

Lastly, remove your sword from the target right away. Pull your sword free, shifting your weight and slicing a big ol' exit wound. If at all possible, try to cover any lines the enemy might use against you in the process. If the target ain't dead, the next attack is coming, so get your weapon up to deal with it.

3. Close the door against the rain. 

Speaking of closing the line, whenever possible do that. Even as secondary actions, many of us will press in the point, but not worry about closing the line. Remember, while thrusts are mortal in the long run, they lack stopping power unless you hit the face or sternum. So, keep the line closed and be sure to move your ass the moment your thrust is done.

I have here a few videoed examples that may help you see what I am talking about. I know we all love our visual aids.

https://youtu.be/xP81bz_v3h4

I hope this is useful for your training. Feel free to comment or ask me for topics.
Look forward to more,

Jesse Kulla