Lightsaber: Training #3

Principles of movement: In this section we will be reviewing the principles of movement. The principles of movement are the correct ways of action during an engagement. These you know of, advance, retreat, etc.... We will explain them one at a time so as not to confuse you. You should devote at least 30 min. of your training time to these movements alone.

ADVANCE

The Advance is the first movement we will review. To perform an advance simply stand with your feet in a 'T' . This being the basic ready. Back foot going from left to right and front foot going from front to back. Creating a 'T'. Now shift all of your weight to the front of your feet, this makes you light and agile. Now slide your front foot out away from your back foot about 2 feet. Shifting your wait to your front leg you now slide your back leg up to meet your front one. Finishing this movement in the same position you started at.

RETREAT

The Retreat is done exactly the way the advance is done but in a reverse order. Stepping first with your back foot and trailing with your front.

ANGLE STEP

The Angle step is done by moving toward your opponents hip. You are facing your opponent, with your right foot forward. To do a right angle step you perform a basic advance towards his left hip.To do a left angle step, you bring your back foot around you, and step towards his right hip. Using this principle you can figure it is just opposite for left foot forward stance's. This is actually a very important stepping movement , seen as how it usually get you around your opponents blade.

WALKOVER The walkover is a very good movement used to close a lot of ground quickly, without having to perform a technique. To perform a walkover from a right foot forward basic stance, you take your back leg, and bring it up in front of your right leg, keeping the left foot facing right to left. You then bring your right leg back to the forward most position and regaining your basic stance. When fighting against a double bladed saber do not perform this stepping movement, for the amount of force that the double saber distributes upon impact is to much for you to handle if caught in the middle of a walkover, it will send you directly to the ground.

SPIN / CURL The spin/ curl is a very effective move if attacked with a lunge or a pass. These are both techniques in which you devote all of your force of movement into an attack, missing your target are leave you vulnerable and off balance. The Spin or Curl is a sure way to make your opponent miss his objective. To perform this movement, again you are in the basic stance, right foot forward. You will step forward towards your opponents incoming attack, angle stepping towards his right hip, then with your right leg you make a circle pattern on the ground, bringing your body all the way around into a 360, only stopping once you have sight of your opponent once more. When starting your spin, after performing the angle step, turn your head as far to the right as possible. This is done so that once your body has quarter turned you already have sight of your opponent, giving you advance warning on a miss, counter, etc..... This is a very difficult technique to use in actual combat and requires A LOT of practice.

ROLLING

Rolling is probably one of the most successful forms of defence and evasion. An opponent swings low, you aerial roll over it, he swings high, you roll under it, he knocks you off balance, you roll backwards to get distance between the two of you. In my experience in actual duels, there is no better form of defence then solid rolls and basic blocks. We will learn this one left foot forward basic stance, this means you will be rolling on your left side. When practising this always alternate sides, to build up flexibility. During the entire roll you should always keep your body round and curved. Step 1) you bend down to begin your roll and you must make sure that you bend straight over so that your roll will be straight and not on your side. Place your feet shoulder width apart, aim your eyes to your back toes, or stare at your right hip. Place your hand directly in front of you, finger tips pointing at each other, palms slightly raised of the ground. Both arms curved into semi circle, this insures no one single point of contact. Shift your wait forward letting gravity send you rolling. Do not break your form. Do it like this for a while, once you get comfortable doing it like this you can move on to performing the roll from a walk, then run, then jump.......once you have gotten to the jumping part you have successfully completed the rolling section of training. The back roll is done the same way as described above just in reverse order.........I strongly recommend finding a qualified instructor to teach you these rolls though.

EVADING

Evading is one of the best forms of defence, both in saber combat, and in Martial Arts. If you can get proficient at it you can defeat anyone. This is probably my favourite way of fighting seen as how you do nothing but move flowingly, and your opponents is running after you swinging frantically. After a few moments the attacker will not have the energy to go on.....you can end it there and pummel him( not cool at all) or you can just walk away( which is what your here to learn to do). So this concludes the section on Principles of Movement.

James Adamik