Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Practicing Control in HEMA

Exercising control when you're in the heat of a fight can be the most challenging component of martial arts. The masters tell us that control is paramount in our Art, as Joachim Meyer describes in his section on what he labels "the craft": "[The craft] is the art that teaches you, when you realize that your cuts are futile or useless in one place, how you may quickly pull that cut back before it hits, or allow it to go past without hitting, and send it to another opening" (p.73, Forgeng trans.)

It's clear, then that we shouldn't brandish our weapons like a club or a tire iron. We need to train our control just as we train proper displacements, edge alignments, footwork, endurance, breathing, etc. Control is one of the fundamental components of art in the martial arts. If we control our weapons skillfully, then we have a better chance of successfully finding "another opening."

Control contains two branches, both of which are equally important. The first branch is mental acuity or faculty. Our mental state allows us to enter a supreme level of focus or flow with our weapon, which is vital when trying to defend ourselves. To this end, MS 3227a explains that "in real combat or in practicing, you should be joyous in spirit, so that you may pay attention to and perform with a good courage these things which you should do and rush against him.... [...] Avoid fury" (18r). We must control anger and frustration because these emotions lead to injury. MS 3227a also tells us by extension that the control of our emotions allows us to utilize the list of attributes given on folio 17r. Those attributes are:

  • prudence
  • smartness and wisdom
  • mind
  • reason
  • deliberatness
  • readiness
Without a clear and focused mind, we cannot be prudent and deliberate. These are elements of a controlled and focused mind, which in turn build the foundation for the controlled and focused use of a weapon.

The second branch of control is physical proficiency. Good control demonstrates proper technical form which entails an understanding of range and targeting. Flailing and off-balanced attacks are uncontrolled by definition. Control, however, does not mean slow and steady. 

Speed and intent must be learned and trained alongside the training of technique, body mechanics, footwork, etc. Speed and intent are used in a controlled technique, but that technique does not connect or finish with speed and intent! In a nutshell, techniques should not end in full extension, as full extension would ideally end inside or through your target, as our techniques are devised to maim and kill. This is why proper range must be recognized. The technique ends, therefore, before full extension, but within range where a fully extended technique would end inside or through the desired target.


I practice and teach control in two ways. First, through personal exercises. Pell work is crucial here, as it provides a measuring stick with which you can adjust range to meet various targets. Take a look at this video on using a pell to practice control.



The second way to practice control specifically is to use a partner. The partner should wear protective gloves. Your training partner holds their sword out away from their body and turns the flat to receive the blow. Then, cut at the sword with full intent, stopping just as you make slight contact with the flat. You can easily adjust the cutting angles to include oberhau, mittelhau, and unterhau, including the meisterhau. Also, practicing control with a moving target is easy with this method too. Your partner need only move the sword by moving their feet. They should not pull the sword into their body! This is dangerous, as your sword is aiming at theirs intentionally. They should keep their sword out away from their body at all times.

These two methods will help to instill a culture of control in your club. I've heard of other clubs instituting push ups and other physical activities for those who spar without much control, and those are good reminders that control is to be taken seriously. A culture of control is not only the safest way to practice the art, but it's also the best way to gain true proficiency in the craft.

No comments:

Post a Comment