So BAT was a great practice today. It was mostly melee practice for the unbelted fighters. We put them through some drills. We did triad drills, attack and repulse, etc. As is common for melee drills we limited the targets for some of the fighters. Shieldmen were only allowed to attack heads while poles could attack any target. This is to simulate line combat, where shield don't normally get any other target and if they do attack legs or bodies often open themselves up too much. The goal of most of the exercises is not killing but gaining awareness and sticking together. I know Gui didn't like that aspect of it. His baskethilt got hit by a polearm driven into his thumb. It didn't appear to be a big deal, just sore, but Gui felt that it was because he wasn't allowed to attack the way he normally would. In lieu of that it's worth discussing whether or not these types of drills are a good idea.
I was there for singles so I worked with Sir Diablu to run the melee drills and then fought some single combats. I fought Jabril, Oscad and Roger. Gui and Lou got out of armor right after the melee drills and I didn't get a chance to fight them.
Gainst Jabril I did good. Testing my in fighting I found that I can't use an A-Frame defense very well. He (and Roger too) took my leg at will if I did so. I had some good fights against him. I am still figuring out how I want to fight with the heater, and I am finding that I don't do as well goofy foot with it as i did with the kite (makes sense, I don't do as well against lefties for the same reason--It doesn't move over as far because it's strapped to my forearm). I took the Brian Tarragon stand up tall and lean back stance with him and it worked fine. My best move against him was using my low-line hidden thrust when he was on his knees (this is where i hide my sword behind my rear leg, with the thrusting tip touching the back of my foot, then thrust inside his shield).
Against Oscad that stand tall and lean back theory was getting me killed. He came in with his typical aggression and our first fight ate my lunch. I went to a more mobile style, keeping him at range and working the corners and I started to kill him a lot more.
Roger was a fun fight for me. I did a lot of good stuff against him. I had his leg pretty well with double strikes and moving right to take it, even an upsilon. Twice I killed him with a top-edge hook while he was on his knees. About half-way through out set I set I lost my thrusting tip, but then the fights got even more fun as I went to strictly edge work.
Against both Roger and Oscad I was mixing up my aggression. I have been winning a lot lately by being patient, defending, and attacking mostly as a counterpuncher or using techniques that play into my opponent's attacks. (with the exception of my hook/thrust). Against Roger and Oscad I fought a couple of defensive fights and then attacked all out to change it up. I found that against Roger this was effective, against Oscad not so much. Oscad did say that I have the ability to totally disappear behind my shield sometimes, which is one of the things I try for. Something is obviously working.
No comments:
Post a Comment