How to Train Technique

These short videos are the inspiration for our ideas on how to train a given technique:

Duke Gaston, Duke University:

After watching those videos many, many times we found some older, more in depth videos of the (possibly) complete set of drills:

These Gaston/Baldar drills have inspired us to work all of our initial training for a specific technique into 2 person drills.

The fact that Baldar is right handed and Gaston is a lefty seems to be the reason that they do the sword drills in both hands, but it has an added benefit for us florentine guys; it helps train both hands equally.

So the way we've been training is generating drills for every technique that we want to use, by following these steps:

• Think of a technique, eg moulinet to the head, that you want to improve
• Establish what stance and position you would throw this shot from
• With a partner, at 1/4 speed, do the technique once and complete the technique
• Do the technique again, at 1/4 speed, and have the partner do the corresponding move; eg tent block for the moulinet to the head.
• Make sure you both go back to your starting stance and position
• Then the partner does the technique, and you do the block.
• That is one loop of the drill
• Continue in this loop at 1/4 speed, subtly playing with variations of the strike and block, so that you find the optimal way to perform the technique
• If it's a single sword drill, once that arm gets dead tired, do the drill in the other hand.
• Both partners should be thinking and commenting on their own strike and block, but also each others' as well. One really good way to do this is to film yourselves, and watch the footage afterwards; making sure to decide on what you need to work on next time.

Once you have a set of established drills, you can mix them up, move around while doing the drill, play around with the range, and try them at full speed in armour.

Not only does this sort of drilling help improve techniques you already know, it helps you to always be thinking of new techniques; and new ways to use existing moves.

We've found that drilling techniques this way allows us to deliberately learn techniques a lot quicker than before.