Forms

The Eight

The Right Handed Form

The Box Form

The Revenant 

Practice Drills

All drills are with a single sword unless otherwise noted.

Basic Blocks and Strikes

Purpose: To learn the fundamental blocks and strikes and repeat them into muscle memory. This helps develop control.

Requires one or two people.

Note: The attacker counts on the first strike of each set until the desired total is reached. If a block is missed, the attacker should lightly hit the defender. Moving in a rotational direction is acceptable.

Right Handed (right hand on top):

Defender:

High block arms uncrossed, to low block right side, to low block left side, to side block right side, to side block left side, and repeat.

Attacker:

Head strike straight down, to low strike left side, to low strike right side, to middle strike left side, to middle strike right side, and repeat.

Left Handed (left hand on top) is the same as above, but the high block has arms crossed.

The Hundred

Purpose: To increase endurance and to practice rapid attacks and defenses.

Requires two people.

One person is designated as the attacker and the other the defender. In rapid succession the attacker attacks the defender one hundred times. The attacker should vary their shots and not using the same one in an excessive repetitive manner. The defender tries to block or dodge as many shots as possible. Count all attacks regardless of block, hit, or miss. The attacker should count out loud as they attack and the defender calls where they are hit. Movement in any direction is acceptable but do not move faster than a step at a time.

Three Person Drill

Purpose: To learn how to keep attention on two targets. Also, practices standing one’s ground and conditioning to being hit and still acting.

Requires three people.

One person plants a foot that they may pivot on but may not lift off the ground. Two people working together attack the one continuously. All attack and defend normally, but hits do not count. After a set period of time rotate the solo fighter.

Dual Wielding Basic Blocks and Strikes

Purpose: To develop independent motion while dual wielding.

Requires one or two people and two swords each.

Note: The attacker counts on the first strike of each set until the desired total is reached. If a block is missed, the attacker should lightly hit the defender. Moving in a rotational direction is acceptable.

Defender:

Right arm high block, to left arm low block right side, right arm to low block left side, to left arm side block right side, to right arm side block left side, to left arm high block, to right arm low block right side, to left arm low block left side, to right arm side block right side, to left arm side block left side and repeat.

Attacker:

Right arm head strike straight down, to left arm low strike left side, to right arm low strike right side, to left arm middle strike left side, to right arm middle strike right side, to left arm head strike straight down, to right arm low strike left side, to left arm low strike right side, to right arm middle strike left side, to left arm middle strike right side and repeat.

Tempo and Initiative Recognition Drill

Purpose: Fighting tempo can range from fast pressing to slow drawn out stalling. This drill practices setting the pace and identifying someone else’s pace.

Requires two to three people.

This drill may be run one of two ways, all involving two people fighting. To start, two people face each other and the third person, if available, secretly sets the pace of the two fighters’ tempo at 1, 2, or 3. 1 represents a slow pace, 2 a normal fighting pace, and 3 a fast pressing pace.

Tempo - In the first method, only one of the fighters is given a pace. After 10 seconds of fighting, the other must guess at the pace set. This is used to give practice identifying the pace your opponent is trying to set and verifies that the pace is at the correct intensity level.

Initiative - In the second method, both fighters are given different paces and must compete to set the tone. In this case, if the third person is available, they should attempt to judge who does a better job controlling the pace.