(no subject)

[learnedax]

Coronation. Long long day. Saw a bit of interesting court, got thoroughly stomped fighting, did a moderate amount of cooking, didn't really do any chirurgeoning, ate a great feast, and stayed quite late doing cleanup. At least it had mostly stopped pouring when we were cleaning up this time...

Despite being tired enough to collapse immediately, I was also grimy enough that I had to shower before I could happily do so. I think I'll be getting to that pleasant comatose state soon now...

Comments

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

I got to watch quite a fair bit of your fighting. You were just way too tentative - more concerned with not striking than with striking. Particularly in melee, but really all the time, your first concern ought to be to hit your opponent.

One result is that your body needs to be ready to strike. When someone says that a fighter needs to be "relaxed", what they really mean is able to start any movement without having to untense a muscle. (They might mean something about the mind being a peace, but that is a whole different topic.)

Here's an experiment you might try, in two parts. First hold your hand out in front of you, as if you had a sword in it. Keep your wrist loose, and put your other hand on your swordarm's bicep and feel. Now tighten your swordarm grip quickly and hard. You should feel your bicep contract.

For part 2, straighten your arm out quickly, both with a tight grip and a loose one. Most people find the loose grip should both be easier and faster to do.

What this is meant to show you is what "relaxed" means in this context: enough effort to keep yourself in a good position, but not so much that your muscles have all tightened up.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all your help with "stuff" and for so many pleasant conversations.