RMSG After Action Reports

Instructor: Douglas
Attendees: Tom, Cooper, Jake, Patrick (new guy)
Recorded by Cooper

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Medicine ball throwing, exchanging places with the guy to whom you threw.
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 at
double distance.
x50 push ups
x50 squats
x10 special burpees

Class:
x25 fendente from post di donna la destraza to posta dente di zenghiaro, with
falso sottano return
x25 fendente from posta di donna la sinestra to posta tutta porta di ferro, with
a falso sottano return.

Today was the day of the third remedy master of dagger, of which we worked the first three scholars.
For the first play (the diving throw) we started by making sure to clear the line (we played with starting with either foot forward, and stepping with either foot) and making sure the block was a strike. We really focused on turning the agent’s head (both across and up) and using the hips to power the throw (remembering to keep the back straight). Generating power from the hips was big point of the day.
For the second play we made a slight divergence from the canonical play. Fiore would have us throw by hooking the elbow under the throat (effectively a throw from a headlock) which would potentially snap the neck during the throw. Not wanting to kill one another, we opted to perform the play by grabbing the shoulder or collar bone (with the elbow across the agent’s chest). Again we stressed using the hips to perform the play. Also, if throwing a big guy, the patient can link hands (like he would do in the gambarola) to assist the throw.
Next we worked the third play of the third remedy master of dagger (the arm bar). We worked both the bent and straight arm bars. Points of note included blocking before the opponent has the chance to fully extend his arm (stuffing his attack), thus making the arm bar easier (and perfectly setting up the bent arm bar). Also using the ripping bone (Question, that term comes from Les Moore?) to roll the elbow into a straight arm bar and to keep pressure. We worked (again) with keeping upright, and bringing the right hand (holding the agent’s wrist) to our waist for control.
Very briefly at the end of class we touched on how the eighteenth play of the second remedy master of longsword (zoggo stretto) uses the same principles as the second play of the third remedy master of dagger.

Instructor: Douglas and Ben
Attendees: Cooper, Kieran, Jake, Alan
Recorded by Cooper

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 at
double distance.
Normal Hell drill
x10 special burpees

Class:
We went over the Fiore dance and worked everybody’s form, while Douglas worked
with Alan. We also worked a little with the “unofficial Fiore abrazare dance:
(something I have been playing with, each posta on either side).
We began with working the seventh play of the novice curriculum. We focused on how the traversing step effect the range of the attack (allowing an attack to the head, arms, or wrists), and how it needs to be timed to catch the agent in mid stroke as opposed to once we has finished his action. We touched on the variant of the play from posta tutta porta di ferro. The limit here is that while it is quick it can only target the wrists and the force mostly comes from the wrists and the arms (as opposed to the feet and hips) so the attack has far less force behind it (though from experience, it is enough to dent the splints in a wisby gauntlet).
We worked more on the third scholar of the first remedy master of dagger (the
ligadura mezana). Again making sure that the block is a real strike. We
touched on the counter before moving into the same play with longswords.
The ninth scholar of the second remedy master of longsword (called zoggo
stretto), is a use of the ligadura mezana while using swords. We introduced the
idea of coming to the cross and how things flow from there. During the play we
worked with the need to step in with the left foot (thus entering zoggo stretto)
behind the opponents leg. Getting on, or behind the agents elbows with the arm
wrap stressed (though the play still works at the wrists). We worked with
various things the patient might do from this position (throw, pommel strike,
stab).
We then worked the counter to the previous play, the fifteenth play of the second remedy master of longsword (which is canonically the counter to the fourteenth play, but work here). This is the same ‘bring a friend” counter used ligadura mezana in grappling, only this time we are doing it with swords. A main point is that with swords the ligadura work because we instinctually want to keep ahold of our swords, the counter is to let go with one hand. A main note here is that the agent doing the counter must wait a moment while the patient starts to perform the ligadura (mainly allowing the patient’s arms to get deep enough) before performing the counter. Otherwise the agents sword will not capture the patients shoulder.

Instructors: Douglas
Attendees: Thayne, Cooper, Derek, Jake
Recorded by Cooper

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 at
double distance.
Hell drill running the stairs

Class:
As a follow up to the pervious class, we covered the three ligadura using daggers. We worked the third scholar of the first remedy master of dagger (the ligadura mezana). Points of attention were the fact that the block still has to connect (the play works if you miss the block with the hand, but puts the patient in danger). We focused on keeping contact as the hand snakes around the arm to perform the lock. Also on the take down (volta stabile) keeping the back straight and your structure intact (not bending over like a dejected puppy) is extremely important.
We worked the ligadura sottana in the counter to the previous play (the forth play, a counter master, of the first remedy master of dagger), the “bring a friend play”. Here we worked on timing, finding that moment where the patient losses his strength as he snakes his had around. Again we worked on keeping structure during the take down, and noted that once the agent gets the lock he can let go with his left hand, take his dagger from his right, and use it at his leisure.
We worked the ligadura soprana from the third play of the second remedy master of dagger. We worked with both the second master (wrists crossed) and the first master to perform the action. Things we worked on included turning the shoulder out (instead of back, as you would with the elbow push). We also worked with going through the opponent (not stepping around), stepping behind his leg and taking him down.

Freeplay: Thayne and Jake worked a Sean Hayes style drill with Thayne attacking an d Jake responding with one of the drills we had worked on while Cooper and Derek played at longswords.

Instructor: Douglas
Visiting Scholar: Theresa
Attendees: Tom, Cooper, Kieran, Jake, Alan
Recorded by Cooper

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball, moving clockwise and counterclockwise
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 at
double distance.
Nice new version of the Hell Drill – sprint from the head of the line with a 10 pound medicine ball, throw it back to the head of the line, have it thrown back to you, squat, jump up with the ball above your head, throw it back to the head of the line, and run out the door, down the stairs and back up the stairs.
Squats x50

Class:
We went back to the basics, and spent class focusing on the first three plays of the remedy master of abrazare.
We started by going over the masters (posta) of abrazare, and how each connect to the others.

Next we spent a good long time covering the remedy master of abrazare. It turns out a lot of us needed a refresher course, and Jake and Alan had not yet seen this. Big point is that you need to roll the agent’s elbow and shoulder up. Depending of where you start in the clinch the patient may need to start by aggressively rolling the agent’s elbow up (in some cases using the hand). While we did not go over it as a play, we touched on the fact that if the agent is refusing the elbow by bringing it closer to his centerline, or by pressing it into the patient’s chest, the patient can use his right hand to push it across his body, and initiate a throw.

After getting the motion of the remedy master down, we moved forward to the second play of abrazare (the completion of the remedy master). After shifting the elbow and shoulder up, the patient wraps over the top of the arm and grabs his own wrist with his left hand and performs a volta (either stabile or tutta on the back foot) to throw the agent while maintaing an arm bar. Many people commented on the fact the the arm bar does not give the same tactile feedback as a traditional arm bar (one hand on the wrist, the other on the elbow), however it works just as well. Big note, we regularly encountered the problem of the patient coming in too deep with the remedy master by not engaging the elbow, but trying to just shift the shoulder (before shifting the elbow). The problem here is that by doing this the patient is going in so deep that the agent can easily wrap his elbow around the back of the patient’s neck and initiate a head lock or a princess grab (what is the technical name for that move?).

We stopped here to do a quick overview of the spiral, wave, and triangle point concepts, demonstrating how each technique used them.

Next we worked of the third play of abrazare. Whether because the agent tries to withdraw, to the patient is unable to shift the shoulder or is simply not strong enough, the patient can follow up with a driving throw. We focused on shifting the agent’s head up and over (spiral) by controlling his chin, starting with the palm toward the agent’s face and rolling to the back of the hand while extending the hand.

Quotes of the Day:
“There will be no substandard or mediocre pain here, for we at the RMSG are connoisseurs and accept of only the finest and most exquisite of pain.”
(paraphrasing a conversation between Douglas and Cooper)
“mmmm, that’s good pain.” -remember, working out is your friend, though it may not feel like it.

Instructors: Douglas
Attendees: Cooper, Thayne, Derek, Jake
Recorded by Cooper

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 at
double distance.
Squats x50
Push ups x50

Class:
x30 fendente from post di donna la destraza to posta dente di zenghiaro, with
falso sottano return
x30 fendente from posta di donna la sinestra to posta tutta porta di ferro, with
a falso sottano return.

We again spent class working on the new play five of the longsword curriculum. Now that most of us have the basics of it down we were really able to get into the meat of the play. We focused on the agent choosing to bind hard, medium, or soft and making the patient react accordingly or get hit. A lot of attention was paid to making sure that the patient was fully coming to posta di finestra, as the proto hanging perry is not really functional.

After getting the drill down solid, we spent most of class focusing on the counters to the play. We worked the use of play three by the agent after he blows through the tip to counter the fendente mandritto. We discovered, however, that if the patient instead uses a fendente riverso, play three fails (the best outcome is a double kill, with the agent catching the agent on the right arm). We also worked the counter the thrust from finestra (after the agent binds softly). Here we used a hand to grab, or swat away, the tip of the patient’s sword, right as he begins to thrust (Derek was able to get the move in freeplay later). There is a moment as the patient realizes that his point is online and then commits to the thrust that leaves the tip hanging in the air, and just crying out to be grabbed. There is a little bit of a decision tree here. If the point is on line with the agent’s right shoulder it is quicker to bat the point off line to the right and come in with a pommel strike (using the turn in the wrist to use his blade to protect against the patient’s blade). However, if the point is on center, aimed at the head, or at the left shoulder, it is far safer to grab the point, twist and and it to the agent’s hip (while cutting, thrusting or doing something else evil with your own blade). By the end of class we were working the various options based on initial contact.

Freeplay: While Douglas worked with Jake on his form, Derek and Thayne fought a very nice bout with longswords, followed by Cooper and Derek fighting with longswords.

Instructors: Douglas, Ben
Attendees: Cooper, Kieran, Jake, Alan
Recorded by Cooper

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball, switching places with the person to whom you threw.
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 at double distance.
Squats x50
Push ups x50

Class:
x25 fendente from post di donna la destraza to posta dente di zenghiaro, with
falso sottano return
x25 fendente from posta di donna la sinestra to posta tutta porta di ferro, with
a falso sottano return.

We spent class working on the new play five of the novice curriculum. Major points of attention were paid to the patient taking a small step back using a volta stabile to bring himself out of distance. The patient must also fully come to posta di finestra, isntead of a sort of proto hanging perry. The big reason behind this is if the agent binds softly the patient wants to be in position to thrust. Interesting points that were raised included that the play works regardless of how hard the agent binds. Should he bind soft the patient thrusts. If the bind is hard, it blows through the guard, but misses the patient, and the patient fendente mandrittos to agent’s head (the mandritto is for speed and closing the line of the agent’s sword). If the bind is medium, not blowing through but clearing the point of the patient’s blade offline, the patient is able to grab the agent’s hands or blade and enter close play (a pommel strike is nice here). By the end of the drill we were working with the agent binding hard or soft to make sure the patient was reacting appropriately. We worked this drill until the whole class was performing is nicely.
We then shifted to the counter. Using play three the agent, after blowing through, immediately throws a falso sottano with a volta stabile, to deflect the agent’s fendente, and follows up with a fendente of his own. This requires very quick reactions, and some courage not to to flinch away during the action, but everybody was starting to get the flow.

Freeplay: We finished with Ben and Kieran playing at longsword while Cooper and Jake fought with daggers. Douglas and Jake fought with daggers. Then Jake and Ben wrestled while Cooper and Douglas played at longsword.

Instructors: Douglas
Attendees: Cooper, Derek, Kieran, Jake
Recorded by Douglas

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 close,
Push ups x50
Squats x50
8 minutes of “Medicine Ball Sprints”
(throw the medicine ball, get it thrown back,
do a squat and jump, sprint to the back of the line)

Class:
x25 fendente from post di donna la destraza to posta dente di zenghiaro, with falso sottano return
x25 fendente from posta di donna la sinestra to posta tutta porta di ferro, with
a falso sottano return.

We worked more on the Fiore dance, letting most attendees lead the group at one point, focusing on the transitions, looking before turning, and checking the accuracy of the guards.

The last section of class we worked on the 6th play of the novice longsword curriculum in two variations: the canonical version with the montante strike to the hands, and the alternate at slightly longer distance with the falso parry against the agent’s blade.

In both cases we looked at the initial traversing step as crucial for moving off line. In rethinking my presentation, I realized that I may have demonstrated this with a following gathering step of the left foot. This clogs the timing. The traverse right and montante (upward) cut to posta di falcone should be followed immediately with the compass step and fendente mandritto cut. This may also help to avoid crossed feet as we sometimes saw.

The falso deflection version of the drill was included to present possible following actions to the canonical drill – attempting to break wrote habits of drilling, and to see where the drill might fit into an actual fight phrase. Derek noticed that unless the montante falso deflection is done at an angle to the patient’s right (at minimum somewhere between a true vertical cut and a sottano roverso), the agent’s sword may still hit the patient’s elbow. This makes the following posta di falcone slightly angled as well, but it does largely maintain its tactical effects. Because of the increased distance footwork here became a little tricky, but a sloping step forward right instead of a simple traverse helped to close the range.

Using this version of the drill, I decided to see whether there wasn’t some simple way for the agent to turn the tables here, and win the exchange. So, from (and using) the patient’s (angled) montante deflection, the agent drew back his blade into something short of posta di donna la sinestra and quickly rotated into a fendente mandrito – meeting the patient’s descending fendente cut at the cross.

This set up all of Fiore’s sword in two hands plays from the crossing of the middle of the blades. In this case I opted to have the agent enter close play, try the elbow push to turn the patient, then cut him from behind. While the crossing of the blades actually makes the players equal in terms of advantage, it certainly improves things for the agent, who of course loses when the sixth play is done canonically.

No Class this weekend. There will be no practice at Andean’s Health Club until Ben returns for Tuesday’s class on April 12th.

Instructors: Ben, Douglas
Attendees: Cooper, Alan
Recorded by Cooper

Warm-up:
Medicine ball throwing with 10 pound ball
Paired sit ups with 8 pound medicine ball x33 close, x33 at distance, x34 close,
Push ups x50 (or as close as some of us, ie me, could get)
Squats x50
Do we have an official name for the throw the medicine ball, get it thrown back, do a squat and jump, sprint to the back of the line drill?

Class:
x25 fendente from post di donna to posta dente di zenghiaro, with falso sottano return
x25 fendente from posta di donna la sinestra to posta tutta porta di ferro, with a falso sottano return.
x25 falso sottano from posta tutta porto di ferro to posta longa, withdraw the blade to posta di finestra sinestra, fendente back to posta tutta porta di ferro.
x25 falso sottano from posta tutta porto di ferro to posta di donna la sinestra, fendente return.
There might have been more cuts in there, but it has all melded together for me.
We worked more on the Fiore dance, focusing on the transitions, keeping the foot work good, and looking before turning.
The last section of class we focused on the first and second plays of the novice.