Rapier realisations

Thought #1:

It brings me great satisfaction that I am by now able to bring some tactics into a rapier sparring bout. I sometimes win passes against people who are technically superior (that is, have better technique) and are perhaps faster than I am, but are shorter and/or choose to use shorter swords. A shorter rapier is quicker and I suspect could be very dangerous at misura stretta, but it has the very obvious disadvantage of being, well, shorter, and reducing the fencer’s range.

I may be slower, I may not be any better once in range, but I unless the skill gap is large I can use those four inches of range advantage: I simply take half a step back, try to keep the distance just inside my own misura larga but outside my opponent’s, where only I can strike; or just outside my misura larga so that they will be forced to pass through my kill zone before they can attack.

Thought #2:

I really need to figure out how to deal with the guard of a bigger, taller, stronger opponent. It’s difficult: I may be able to win the crossing and gain all three advantages (true edge to opponent’s sword, cross the line, forte on debole), but a taller opponent can push through fairly easily (if he’s taller that means that I can’t cross the line very well without raising my sword hand dangerously high); if he’s also generally bigger and bulkier, well…

There’s one guy in particular I have in mind; I briefly hated sparring him because I couldn’t figure out why he beat me; now I consider it frustrating but at least I know what’s going on, and play with ways to attempt to bring his sword down so I can deal with it. (Nothing against the guy, he’s not being an arse in training or anything; he just has a build and style that stymie me very effectively. Good for him; frustrating for me.)

Thought #3:

Occasional tactical victories and particular frustration notwithstanding, I’m noticing that I am getting better…and that my improvement is almost entirely down to returning to the basics I learned in my first month. When I first started learning things like cuts or off-hand work, passing steps, and so forth, I would occasionally try to use those. I played with feints for a while. But now I have returned to simply working three priorities:

1. Gain the sword.
2. When I have the advantage, push forward. (Need to attack more.)
3. When I do not have the advantage, work to regain it. (Need to move back more.)

I am better than I was a few months. I’m no better at cuts and not not significantly better with my off hand, but I gain more strongly, I maintain control better, and I am getting somewhat better at pushing forward when I have it. The rest, thus far, is largely irrelevant.

In any worthwhile martial art (which often correlates closely with martial art with a competitive element in sparring), the fundamental, basic techniques tend to be the first things you learn not because they are the simplest, but because they are the foundation that the whole edifice rests upon. It’s a good idea to remind yourself of this from time to time.