target practice*
Aug. 16th, 2009 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonTargets are all I've looked at all week, at least on the strip.
In my one-on-one lesson this was the product of my asking how to take the parry while retreating - for ages, it's been like my legs or my arms work, but not together. I lost my Nationals DE that way and it was frustrating to see the problem and not be able to address it effectively.
It was the overriding theme for both private and group lessons on Tuesday: just finding the target and concentrating on it. This is easier said than done, but V. has a talent for breaking things down into enough tiny pieces to make concepts clear even when they don't convey tidily in words.
I was told to pick out a single spot on my target/opponent - as much use as our equipment gets it wasn't hard to pick out a little ding or scuff. First part was just concentrating on that ding. Then extending at reach distance, while concentrating. Then lunging. Then while preparing (blade and footwork). Then, all of these against a moving opponent.
And you know what? This worked. Not because I hit that exact spot, but because I was so stuck on controlling my distance from that spot that I wasn't stressed about anything else - my feet, my blade, or those of my opponent. V. was right - control the distance, and my feet and arms would act on their own (though, the physical aspects of these can always use work - see my previous post about ow ow owie ow).
This is all I concentrated on for Friday and most of today. Today, indeed, I was almost in an altered state, the focus was strange and kind of nice, though mentally draining. I can retreat and parry at once if I'm not thinking about it - now I have something else to think about.
Mind, now I need to weave this into more aggressive actions - attacking/feinting and getting out when I miss. But hey, there's always something new to work on.
*I really, really struggled not to title this post "stay on target, stay on target". I figured one movie paraphrase per day was plenty :P
In my one-on-one lesson this was the product of my asking how to take the parry while retreating - for ages, it's been like my legs or my arms work, but not together. I lost my Nationals DE that way and it was frustrating to see the problem and not be able to address it effectively.
It was the overriding theme for both private and group lessons on Tuesday: just finding the target and concentrating on it. This is easier said than done, but V. has a talent for breaking things down into enough tiny pieces to make concepts clear even when they don't convey tidily in words.
I was told to pick out a single spot on my target/opponent - as much use as our equipment gets it wasn't hard to pick out a little ding or scuff. First part was just concentrating on that ding. Then extending at reach distance, while concentrating. Then lunging. Then while preparing (blade and footwork). Then, all of these against a moving opponent.
And you know what? This worked. Not because I hit that exact spot, but because I was so stuck on controlling my distance from that spot that I wasn't stressed about anything else - my feet, my blade, or those of my opponent. V. was right - control the distance, and my feet and arms would act on their own (though, the physical aspects of these can always use work - see my previous post about ow ow owie ow).
This is all I concentrated on for Friday and most of today. Today, indeed, I was almost in an altered state, the focus was strange and kind of nice, though mentally draining. I can retreat and parry at once if I'm not thinking about it - now I have something else to think about.
Mind, now I need to weave this into more aggressive actions - attacking/feinting and getting out when I miss. But hey, there's always something new to work on.
*I really, really struggled not to title this post "stay on target, stay on target". I figured one movie paraphrase per day was plenty :P
