by Pamela Muir

Yes, unequivocally yes. Chest protectors should be worn for practice drills, free fencing and tournaments. Yet quite a few women participating in western martial arts do not. How come? Well, those plastic Barbie chests are unattractive. Men’s chest protectors don’t look any better and any plastic chest protector is uncomfortable and can restrict your movement. Even those that are separate shells inserted into a sports bra can be uncomfortable. Besides all that, a woman fencer may feel that she needs to appear tougher and so she forgoes the obvious piece of safety gear that highlights her difference from the men. I used variations of those excuses for years until another coach bluntly explained to me the long term damage that I could be doing to myself. I put aside my wrongly placed pride and began to wear one.

The potential for long term damage is the primary reason women should wear chest protectors. What could initially be ignored as just a bruise, may actually result in a more serious condition called fat necrosis. When the fatty breast tissue is subjected to trauma it can die or form scar tissue. Symptoms of breast fat necrosis may include lumps, deformation, and/or drainage. Though fat necrosis is a benign condition, it’s symptoms can mimic breast cancer even on a mammogram, leading to more imaging with a sonogram or MRI, or even a biopsy. Besides the potential cancer scare, breast fat necrosis can be a painful and disfiguring condition.

Though not as serious as breast fat necrosis, injury to the breast can also cause calcifications, small calcium deposits in the breast tissue. Calcifications are not painful and they do not have any other physical symptoms that you would notice. However, the aftermath of a localized blow to the breast tissue, months or years later, may appear as as white specks on your mammogram. These may form a pattern similar to that caused by some types of breast cancer, sending you once again for more images and/or a biopsy. Microcalcifications may not be painful or disfiguring by themselves, but the follow up procedures, once the specks appear on your mammogram, are painful, scary, and potentially resulting in permanent scars. I can tell you from personal experience, if you are in a high risk category for breast cancer, these microcalcifications from old bruises will be a recurring cause of worry for you and your radiologist.

There is a less obvious reason why a woman should wear a chest protector when working with a partner. It is simply considerate. Imagine fencing a man who was not wearing an athletic cup. Would you deliberately aim for the groin or would you try to avoid hitting him there, if possible? I will make the generalization that most people prefer to not deliberately hit a woman on an unprotected breast. As the chest and torso is a prime target area, if you are a woman who is not wearing a chest protector, you are putting your partner at an unfair disadvantage. In a drill situation, when your partner is required to hit you in the torso, wear a chest protector. Don’t place your partner in that uncomfortable situation and compromise his or her training in the process.

Oh, and one more reason to wear a chest protector. That one blow, or worse, repeated blows, in just the right spot… it hurts!

Most of what I have said has been aimed at women, however men need to be aware of these issues as well. Whether you are a man or woman, in an instructor role or working as a training partner, ask, or nag, the women you are training with to wear a chest protector. It’s healthier for them and a better training situation for you.

The fine, but important, print: Women, if you do notice anything unusual about your breasts, see your doctor.

Fighting with the German Longsword by Christian Henry Tobler, the revised and expanded edition.

Book review by Pamela Muir

Back when I started teaching historical swordsmanship the first edition of Fighting with the German Longsword by Christian Henry Tobler was still a new book.  A fellow instructor advised me that if I was ever stuck for a class, I could just open the book at random and that could be my lesson.  While choosing random lessons didn’t fit with my teaching style, as I prefer cohesive units of study spread over several class periods, it wasn’t far from the truth.  Mr. Tobler’s book was the teaching resource.  Now we have the revised and expanded edition available.  As a reader for this edition, I had a preview of the text, but it wasn’t until I had the hardback color copy in my hands that I was able to marvel how fantastic the new book really is for both instructors and students alike.

The first thing that I noticed was the gorgeous layout and design by Mr. Robert N. Charrette. It is bright and crisp as a modern textbook, yet there are subtle nods to the medieval tradition.  The chapters and subsections are clearly marked and corresponding photos are easily found near the technique they illustrate.  Drills and flowcharts are precisely outlined.  Each page of a chapter has the chapter name faintly written in a medieval-esque text in the background.  Besides being an aesthetic touch, it is a useful feature when looking up a specific topic.  The first page of each chapter includes an illustration from one of the medieval swordsmanship treatises, an attractive reminder of what the book is all about.

The second obvious standout of the new edition is the photography by Messrs. Christopher Valli and Janusz Michael Saba.  The photos showing a specific position such as the guards, depicted from both front and side, are clear and well lit, but it is the ones illustrating the dynamics of techniques that stand out.  As Mr. Tobler and his senior students demonstrated they were photographed using a burst setting for the camera.  Thus each movement is captured “live,” resulting in a fluid feel as well as a more realistic image of the correct way to perform the action.

Besides the stunning presentation, it is its use as a curriculum guide that makes it of value to the historical European martial arts practitioner.  Like its predecessor, the first edition, it begins with the basics, presenting the footwork and guards. The footwork has accompanying movement diagrams using a medieval style footprint, a nice detail.  From there the book goes into depth on the core principles of the Liechtenauer tradition.  Those that have read the first edition will notice that some of the interpretations have been updated and the text has been greatly expanded.  Concepts are explained in greater detail and new material has been added, such as fleshing out Indes and Überlaufen and giving Nebenhut its own chapter.

As a curriculum guide, the dozens of drills are invaluable. A student could spend considerable time with the solo drills covering guard transitions and cutting patterns.  Partners can find drills to develop Fühlen,  or work on the master strokes, provocations, counterattacks, etc.  The list goes on.  And, speaking of lists, there is a pretty handy list of drills at the back of the book as well.

Another useful feature are the flowcharts/decision trees.  At the end of each of the master strokes chapters is a flowchart depicting the possible actions associated with that strike.  Though these were also included in the first edition, the ones in this addition are clearer and easier to read.  The text is larger and bolder and the question boxes are octagonal to differentiate them from the action boxes.

I have used the first edition as a training and instructing tool for a long time and it shows.  My copy is dog-eared and littered with scrap paper bookmarks and penciled notes.  Though I intend to make just as much, likely even more, use out of the second edition, I predict that my color hardback version will stay pristine much longer.  During practice sessions I will be able to use the ebook version.  While the hardback version is great for planning out a practice session in advance, the ebook will come in handy in the midst of a session.  The ebook features make it easy to use for a quick lookup of a topic.  The table of contents is linked so that you can easily jump to a chapter.  I can bookmark pages as well as highlight text and add notes.  Though the lovely layout is not as well preserved in the electronic version, the graphics, flowcharts, footwork diagrams, and color photographs, are still available.

So, though I am not inclined to open the book to a random page and proceed in a practice session from there, it certainly is possible.  The revised and expanded edition of Fighting with the German Longsword should be a useful resource in any practitioner’s library, whether beginner, following the curriculum in order, or advanced, using it as a lesson plan on specific topics.

Freelance Academy Press offers the book as a black and white paperback, a color ebook (Kindle), or a limited special edition.  The color hardback special edition is worth the cost.  Not only does it come with the ebook, but it is signed by the author.  Now, how cool is that?

by Pamela Muir

Intellectually, we know that being able to relax during drilling or free play will improve our performance. However, that concept falls into the category of things easier said than done. For some of us, the concentration and determination we employ in a drill sets us up to tense our muscles. Are you the type of person that clenches your jaw while problem solving or hunches your shoulders while performing a task that requires fine motor skills? Chances are you are tensing your muscles when you drill as well. Free fencing or competition not only stress tests your skills, but may also put stress on your attitude or mind set and be reflected in the tensing of your body.

I have been through all of that. From the very beginning, as I was starting to learn the arts, my personal determination to do it right resulted in a constant tensing of the muscles, usually reflected in hunched shoulders. My instructor would repeatedly need to admonish me, “Relax! Put your shoulders down!” This would result in my determinedly holding my shoulders down, so that now my muscles were still tense, but in a different position.

So my shoulders are down, but my muscles are still tense. Why isn’t this an improvement? Because, physiologically, tense muscles are going to slow and impair your ability to correctly perform a technique with the correct timing. Let us look at the timing issue first. Say you are standing in a guard, and you are concentrating hard on keeping your guard absolutely correct. You are creating a tension that results in your muscles being engaged. For whatever it is you need to do next, you are going to have first disengage, or relax, your muscles so that you may move from your guard and then reengage them to perform your action, whether it is a cut, thrust, parry, or a guard change. You are essentially turning a single tempo action into a two tempo action. It is going to take longer to disengage your muscles and then perform the action than it would to perform the action from a relaxed guard position

That brings us to the second issue, it is difficult to correctly perform the technique with your muscles pre-tensed. As an example, try the following experiment. Stand in guard with weapon in hand and deliberately tense up your muscles as much as possible. Holding that tension in place, slowly perform one of those actions mentioned above, cut, thrust, parry or change guard. Did you feel the resistance? If you did it slowly, did you notice a point where, if you had done it quickly, you would have caused yourself pain? Instead of fighting your opponent, you were fighting your own body.

Try another experiment, from as relaxed a guard position as possible, thrust into a target. Repeat this a few times so that you get consistent results. Now from a tensed guard, while keeping the tension, thrust into the target again. How did the tension change your results? It is easier to achieve accuracy with a relaxed starting position.

So now that we have established that relaxing contributes to better fencing, here is the hard part. How do we relax? As I have found from personal experience, simply telling yourself to relax is not enough to achieve it. “Relax!” and “Don’t worry!” are commands, that no matter how well intentioned, do not work with only the issuing, even to yourself. Techniques that have helped me relax in fencing include tension transfer, visualization and self confidence.

Tension transfer allows you to give yourself permission to be uptight, but you store the tension in a smaller muscle group. Most of us tense up in the shoulders, which raises them up, or in the jaw, notice how clenching your teeth still applies tension to your neck and shoulder muscles. Instead of clenching up a large muscle group, find a small set of muscles that are not directly involved in your art and deliberately keep them engaged. I have found by curling up one of my pinkies as tightly as I can, neither myself, nor my instructor, will notice tension elsewhere in my body. This deliberate tensing in a small muscle group forces a relaxation in others. Furrowing the brow also works, but that is best left for solo drills.

Rather than storing your tension, perhaps you would prefer to visualize yourself somewhere that holds no stress, such as a lying on a warm, sandy beach, smelling the flowers in a rose garden, strolling through the autumn woods, or sitting by the fire on a cold, snowy evening. Taking your mind elsewhere, but leaving your body behind to handle the drill or the fight is not as hazard prone as it may sound. It is very similar to driving and discovering after traveling for a ways that you do not remember the last few minutes of the road, yet you trust that you have not left a wake of destruction behind. (Please note: I am not recommending you daydream while driving.) Of course, just as in the driving example, you cannot completely take your brain away, but you can trust your body to respond as needed. This works best for free fencing or a familiar drill.

The best relaxation technique is self confidence. If you have complete faith in yourself that you will be able to perform the action, if not the first time, then within a finite number of repetitions, there will be no tension to dismiss. It is true for any fine motor skill that you have developed, whether it is needlework, touch typing, or handwriting a grocery list. If you know you can do it on a level that you no longer need to actively think about it, you can perform the action without conscious thought, your muscles will not clench.

As an instructor there are ways of helping your students to be able to de-stress and thus to become better fencers. You can advise them by giving them specific relaxation techniques: tension transfer, visualization or others that work for you personally. What absolutely positively does not work is to tell the student “Relax!” The surest way for you to help the student achieve relaxation is to boost his or her self confidence. Try sincerely delivered praise. “You did that well!” “You internalized this technique quickly.” “I know you will enjoy this.” “Excellent, have you done this before?” An even better method is to demonstrate your own confidence in the student. Use him or her to help you demo or drill. Engage the student’s help in instructing a new student or reviewing a technique for a returning student. On my personal journey, it is the show of confidence by my instructors that helped me to have confidence in myself.

It is along the personal journey that the most important point of all is found, the simple joy of the expression of the art. Find that within you and express that to your students, that is where you will find it nearly impossible to hold onto stress and tension. Release that tightening feeling and delight in the flow of your art.

by Pamela Muir

The title is misleading. We know nobody wins or loses in a partner drill. You are both equals, taking turns as to whom gets the last action. Yet, sometimes it can feel counter productive to your own improvement to be the one taking the hit. With a change in mindset, you can take this as an opportunity to convert your loss in the drill to a gain in your training.

We will start with terminology. In this article, instead of winners and losers, let us talk about Givers and Receivers. The Giver would be the one that would deliver the last blow or action, in the ideal form of the drill. The Receiver is the one who accepts that final action. I freely admit that in practice I cannot resist injecting humor, so if I am the Receiver I might call myself the victim, practice dummy, or pincushion. However, to boost the mental image of improving your own skills, Receiver is a more positive title.

The Receiver’s chief responsibility is to be a good partner. Be polite and courteous to your partner. Do not perform actions outside of the drill. Match your speed to your partner’s, speeding up or slowing down as needed. Give verbal feedback when appropriate. Treat your partner the way you would like to be treated. Remember it is your turn next.

The Receiver is also responsible for performing the actions cleanly and correctly. This is not only good for the Giver, this is where the Receiver can benefit.

Take a simple rapier parry-riposte drill. The Receiver attacks to an open line, the Giver parries and ripostes, landing a thrust on the Receiver. On the surface, it appears that only the Giver is getting any quality practice out of this drill, but let us look deeper and we can see where the Receiver has an equal opportunity for skill improvement.

The Receiver performs an attack. Right there is a whole lot of opportunity for practice. The Receiver must identify the open line. The arm must extend first, the rest of the body follows. At the completion of the lunge, the front foot should be pointed directly forward, the front knee should be bent, but not extended over the toes, and the back leg is straight. Then comes the recovery, pushing off with the front foot and recovering into a proper guard position. If you concentrate on all those actions, even if you accept a hit at the end, you have spent quality time practicing your attack.

The above is probably obvious, and reads a bit like preaching to the choir. When your job as the Receiver is to perform a correct action even though it will be countered, of course you are working on your own skill sets. It is when the Receiver’s job is to deliberately make an incorrect or sloppy action that it can be more of a challenge to see how the Receiver can benefit from the drill.

As an example, in a longsword drill, suppose the Receiver’s job is to be a Büffel, a brute force dependent fencer, so that the Giver can practice a Schielhau, a specific strike which effectively stops a brute force attack from above. In this drill, the Receiver must not perform a smooth and correct attack, else we would not have a Büffel.

So, how can the Receiver still learn from this drill? At least three techniques come to mind, observation, visualization, and persistence.

Observe your partner. As you perform the drill, watch and feel the Giver’s action. When was it effective and when was it not? What was the difference? Was it in the timing or the mechanics? Take those observations and apply them to your own practice.

Visualization techniques are known to work when it comes to improving a physical skill set. By practicing in your mind, you get some of the same benefits as you do in physical practice. Even though you are deliberately performing an incorrect action, as you do so, visualize a smooth and correct attack. Separate your mind from the motion of the body. As you are performing the action that needs to be done for the drill, picture in your head how you would make the attack if your job was not to be a Büffel. This is easier than it sounds. It is similar to stewing on some problem and finding you have driven three blocks without remembering how you got there. Your body has performed the actions that you wanted it to do and your brain was working elsewhere. (Please note, I am not advocating daydreaming and driving.) Visualization will help you avoid training a sloppy technique into memory.

Finally, employ persistence. When the drill is over, your job is not yet complete. At the end of the class, find a quiet corner of the salle, or when you get home find a secluded corner of the backyard, and practice, practice, practice. Do solo drills in order to enforce the correct actions and erase from your physical memory the incorrect action. Let the correct form of attack be your personal conclusion to the drill.

With the right mindset, your time is never wasted during a partner drill. Whether you are the Giver or the Receiver, this is your time to improve your techniques. I call that winning.