TOPIC: Saber Combat Journal

E64 wrote: I don't have a Heavysaber (yet..) but am certainly trying to reach a conclusion with someone to imitate the appearance as close as possible. Biggest problem is it's not duel-worthy. Then again, Arnie as referenced, is shadow duelling himself so why not. I watched Conan recently and that scene triggered this Diary of yours. The laughable part was JEJ sporting bangs and straightened hair!

Got it lol.

3/25/16-Good Friday

With my running muscles (basically everything) starting to adapt to Track and get stronger, I'm finally getting back into sabering! As usual, spins have been my focus to get my off-hand up to snuff in terms of strength and coordination. However, with my general skill using Form One at a plateau, I now need a sparring partner, which means duel training will unfortunately go on a bit of a hiatus until I get an apprentice/partner.

3/27/16-Easter
More to do with saber appeal than actual practice (though I did do some spinning drills when I had freetime). We had a big family get-together like we usually do on Easter. I'm gonna get used to carrying a saber, so I brought my Apprentice with me on my belt. Of course, the thing looks more like a flashlight than a lightsaber, so I got more cocky remarks than compliments. Ome of my cousins has actually never seen any of the Star Wars movies, and he asked if that made him bad. I jokingly said 'yes'.

Hopefully by the time our next family event comes around, I'll have a Disciple or a Prodigal Son on my belt. With sound. That'd knock peoples socks off.

3/29/16
Did something a bit different today. First, I went outside to meditate with my saber. We have one of those massive orange snowplows you see on the road after serious snowfalls, so as usual I went and sat on its hood like I usually do. Then I just relaxed. It's pretty nice here right now (fluctuating between 40s and high 60s Fahrenheit), so I went out in my sweats and long sleeve tee.

Then I decided 'Hey, I'm out here now, might as well see my progress.' So I jumped off the plow, saber ignited and clasped in my right hand, and began to shadow duel. Looking back on it, I should've recorded it, but I don't think my iPad has much space left.

After dueling with my right (which felt controlled and powerful), I backtracked and repeated with my left. My offhand. And in retrospect, I'm really surprised-no, impressed-with myself. I had almost as much control in my left hand as I'd had in my right, and nearly the same amount of power.

And this wasn't slow shadow dueling, either. It was what I call a 'threshold'. Not as fast as I'd work in an actual duel, but fast enough that I felt I was getting a workout and not slacking. Needless to say, it felt fantastic.

Now I need a partner and new sabers. Perhaps I'll buy an Initiate from Ultrasabers to save time, but more than likely I'll buy an Oracle from Saberforge. To truly continue my journey into Jar'Kai and the art of dual wielding.

4/17/16

With the weather finally turning around for the better, I decided to go outside for about five or ten minutes and do some more sabering. I opted to act more "three-dimensional" this time, and my movements were more circling than linear. It was a lot of fun despite the short time, and allowed me to reassess my skills. I've determined that my right arm and hand (as well as holding my saber with both hands) is my 'controlled fighting' style, with a ton of power but more focused and precise in my strikes and spins. My offhand (for duel wielding or single hand wielding) is my 'aggressive defense' style. My moves are still as powerful, but they also lack a bit of control. I'll need to work on that when I actually get another saber to work with. My journey continues...

Well over the past few weeks not been able to practice but now the stitches are out I've began control and movement training building arm strength to have it like a extension of my arm will update more after I get some more time under my belt but not being able to play with saber for awhile now it has begun again

4/28/16

I've been...on edge...since I was rejected for the second time by the same girl. This time, for Prom. I guess my subconscious mind decided I needed some venting time, so I grabbed my saber and went outside. There was no pre-training flourish. Only a powerful spin combo into a multi-strike combo. There was no strategy, only mindless swings and transitions between hands.

The dark side is calling, and I must face the storm with serenity, or risk becoming far worse than I used to be...

#feelsbadman

Old Man Advice: Sucks bad when rejection like that happens. Move on, barrel through the five stages of grief, and keep looking for that person who appreciates you for you. Might take you a day or a few decades to find them but it's worth the search.

Until then, saber on!

Thanks for the advice, h2soy, and congrats on Global Mod status!

A long overdue update!

8/26/16
I dropped out of sabering and swordsmanship as a whole for a while, despite the fact that I got an iaido katana for my birthday (more on that later). However, my yearning to pick swordsmanship back up has resurfaced, and I know find myself wanting to train with a sword or saber after Cross Country practice and work.

Tonight was the first evening that I unsheathed my katana and went to work. I know that I'm hopelessly out of practice, and my movements and attacks are too predictable. Thus, I determined that I'd have to start from the ground up. This won't be too much of a problem thanks to the Darabee sword workouts.

I started with the 1000 Cuts workout, (which I lowered to 100 because of my skill loss and the fact that I'm using an actual sword now--build yo' way up!), and worked with both my right and left hands as dominant. It hurt, but it felt good to swing a sword again.

My goal is to be able to do the 1000 Cuts workout over four consecutive days with four different focuses before I start actually dual wielding: Right hand dominant with both hands, left hand dominant with both hands, right arm solo, left arm solo.

9/3/16
I intended to write this entry a few days ago, but I became preoccupied. Anyways...

On Wednesday I did another rep of strikes, again alternating hands to work both my dominant and offhand. I did about the same as I did on the 26th because I didn't want to overwork myself, as I had a Cross Country meet the next day. I'll be continuing the 1000 Cuts workout until I make it to my aforementioned goal, which is when I'll start using two swords at once.

Little late, but that's okay!

9/10/16
I filmed a little freeform today. Of course, when I say freeform, I don't personally mean spinning and flipping, I mean freeform combat.



There will be more practicing the rest of this week since I have a competition tomorrow (not sabering, unfortunately), and the rest of the week is free for training.