Step In or Out?

The advantage of a stick is range.  Thus, if your partner has a stick and you don’t, one way to solve the problem is to clinch.  By clinching you’ve nullified the range advantage.

Today in weapons class we looked at two basic approaches for bridging the gap against a big, committed first swing.  One strategy was to step in and meet the attack with an area block (meaning a broad defensive action towards an area).  The other strategy was to step slightly back as the swing goes past and then quickly enter and clinch before the second strike arrives.

Personally, at faster speeds, I’ve had success (and of course, lots of failure) with both methods.  Which method I choose largely depends on how well I anticipated the attack.  If I managed to figure out where the attack was coming from, I can often stuff it with an area block.  If, however, I was unable to figure out the angle of the attack, it seems to work better to dodge back and then re-enter.  Realistically, at faster speeds, I only know what and why I did what I did after the event happened – things are moving to fast to think during the actual attack.  For training purposes, though, it is valuable to purposefully drill both methods at slower speeds until they become natural.

Great first weapons class.  I’m already excited for the next one.