CombatCon 2014

A great weekend in Vegas!  Met old friends and made new ones, took some very interesting classes and made it to the finals in the long sword tournament!  Got in late Thursday night (almost Friday morning).  Friday morning I took a bowie knife class from Steve Huff.  The bowie is a very useful tool.  I'd like to train in it more.  That and tomahawk.
Then it was off to get ready for the Longsword tournament.  There were 8 pools.  My pool had Wayne Heinz, Keith Jennings and Jordan Hinckley.
Here is my match against Jennings; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lolF6bHvcO0&feature=youtu.be
Against Hinckley; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGR9yYu54wo
Against Heinz;
I beat Jennings and Hinckley so I made it to the finals!
Then there was the sword and buckler.
Against Brian Stewart; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfpvmJsw-D8&feature=youtu.be
Against Jerzy Mi (Miklaszewski);  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKyU3qLVr-4
Against Lindsay Victoria Goodwin; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSNE7nZ3xaU
I did not progress
Saturday I took Italian Cane from Paul Macdonald.  Very similar to the French La Canne.  Then on to Against Knife and Dagger with Mishael Abia Lopes Cardoza and Maestro Paul Macdonald.  Practical, combat oriented techniques.  They also showed how you can grab the blade hard and it won't cut you.  After lunch Jonathan and I just walked around talking to people and watching the rapier tournament.
Sunday morning I took Irish Stickfighting followed by Russian Fisticuffs.  Both taught by Ken Pfrenger.  In the fisticuffs we focused a lot on the rounding blow.  It's a type of whipping strike that hits as either a backfist or strike with the bottom three knuckles.  More range than a hook.
Then off to the longsword finals.  First match against John Knoch; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXVV_blm_yY&list=UUj9oMAlSKNibbWffk6839Qw&index=5
I lost so I was out.  John fought Dennis Ljungqvist and lost.  Dennis fought Richard Marsden and won the tourney.
Said my goodbyes, packed up the car and drove back to California.  The tourneys are fun and I do better each time....but then I miss classes I'd like to take!

HEMA training in San Diego

It's been a good week for me down in San Diego! Thursday I trained with Scott Farrell and his crew at Swords of Chivalry. http://chivalrytoday.com/services/knight-school-historical-fencing/

I learned some German drills and they let me spar with longsword and sword & Buckler.

Then today I trained for four hours with Brian Stokes of Schola San Marco and his crew. http://scholasanmarco.com/

Brian has really broken down Fiore and continues to amaze me with his extrapolations.  By careful study he shows how the paintings show exactly how to place your feet, the angle of your hips, even how putting your little finger behind the hilt on a certain technique affects your balance and strength!  He has hired guys with PHD's in medieval Italian to translate the original manuals to make sure of the meaning!

My main problem is that I don't make it to KRON in time to learn the techniques and I don't take the time to really study the material.  Jason Taylor has time free during the week and I'm going to try and take advantage of that to become a better technician.

KRON High Desert

The last two classes I've taught hanbo techniques.  The hanbo is a Japanese weapon.  A short staff about 3 feet long.  Very useful and works well into cane work.
Today though I taught sword and buckler.  We covered the basic wards and cuts from the I.33 medieval fechtbuch.
The news though is that we are officially starting KRON High Desert!  Part of KRON Martial Arts which is a member of the HEMA Alliance.

Update 2014

  So after a year of no entries I'm back.  No CombatCon in 2013 but we did have a bigger and better SoCal Swordfight.  I taught cane and helped with the longsword class. We'll be having another one at the end of March. https://www.facebook.com/events/183176325224863/  There will also be another CombatCon in June.
  It's been an interesting year.  Getting used to being retired and figuring out what to do with my time.  Keeping up with my Bujinkan training and trying to progress in HEMA.  I need to get serious and get ready to test for my Godan rank.  We are thinking of moving out of state and if we do, I'd like to open an Ohoko Dojo wherever we end up.
  I've been playing with the hanbo, cane and shillelagh (Irish stick).  Although the weapon systems originated in different areas, there are a lot of similarities.  Since the cane is legal pretty much anywhere and it can be used in a variety of ways, including sword techniques, I feel it is the ideal weapon.
  This year looks to be a very good.  I'll try to do better with keeping up on updates!
 

Update

SO I'm still working on getting pictures and videos put together from CombatCon.  I edited everything from Paul MacDonald's class but he did not give me permission to post them.  I can understand since his was an extra class that we paid for.  I really liked the Scottish sword so I've signed up with the "Cateran Society"  http://www.cateransociety.com/ It's learning by correspondence but the book "Broadsword Academy" http://www.lulu.com/shop/christopher-scott-thompson/broadsword-academy/paperback/product-18780493.html;jsessionid=90441C2F8A564E85FA8E5C9F3C06E74A is very well written and is augmented by online videos.  I hope to be hooking up with a guy near by that studies with a broadsword group.
  KRON had the first HEMA event in SoCal on November 10th and 11th.  I took Mark Duncan, Dave Cullen and Eric and Norvia Kilpatrick down to participate.  There were a number of great classes including Ringen, sword vs knife, saber, rapier, etc.  I taught a pressure point class and helped Jonathon Mayshar teach a class on axes, maces and other implements of destruction.  We had participants from all over California, Nevada and Arizona.  Dave stayed behind with his brother's family and the rest of us went home Saturday night.  Dave participated in the tournament Sunday night.  The plan is to hold these on a regular basis and hopefully have the tournament on Saturday night.

Back from CombatCon!

On Friday I took a Backsword Intensive class with Maestro Paul MacDonald http://www.macdonaldarms.com/armoury/ , a Whip Master class from Anthony De Longis http://www.delongis.com/Index.html and a Longsword for Competition class from Lee Smith, head of http://bloodandiron.ca/.
On Saturday I took "Entering into the Fight & Infighting at Longsword" with Steaphen Fick of http://swordfightingschool.com/ , Mishael Abia Lopes Cardoza of http://www.zwaardvechten.nl/content.php
 and Lee Smith. Then "Bartitsu: The Lost Art of Sherlock Holmes" with Tony Wolf of http://tonywolfsystem.com/bartitsu-classes-in-chicago/
 and finished with "Get Medieval on Your @$$: WMA for Modern Self Defense" with Mishael Abia lopes Cardoza, Maestro Paul MacDonald and Steve Huff of Historical Martial Study Society. Later that night I competed in the Unarmored Longsword Tournament. Won my first match, lost my second...had fun!
On Sunday I took "Military Knife Quick Kills" followed by "Unarmed vs Knife" both with Hock Hochheim of http://hockscqc.com/ then "The Footpad and the Cane" with Ken Pfrenger http://artofcombat.org/Convention/BioKP.htm.
 "Get in there: Fighting at Half Sword' with Steaphen Fick followed by "Bowies, Brawling & Cane: Fighting in the Old West" with Anthony De Longis, Steve Huff and Tim Ruzicki of The Seattle Pugilist Club http://artofcombat.org/Convention/BioTR.htm
. I'd planned of taking another whip class with Mr. De Longis but decided we needed to get on home. I'll talk more about each of the classes and post some video as well.

News and more

I haven't been having regular classes for awhile.  My Saturday schedules have been busy.  Now I've been having classes in the late afternoon as opposed to the morning.  Still having fun with the KRON group and learning a lot.  (http://www.kronmartialarts.com/)  CombatCon (http://thecombatcon.com/) is coming around again in July.  Besides the sword classes, I'll be taking a bullwhip class from Anthony DeLongis (http://thecombatcon.com/special-guests/anthony-delongis-wma) and have already ordered a bullwhip from (http://www.adkinsbullwhips.com/default.html).  Bullwhips aren't exactly medieval but I've wanted to learn how to use one since a guy put on a demo at my elementary school in Cottonwood, AZ.  I'll post a picture when I get it.

new swords

So I finally got the Penti III wasters I've been waiting for!  http://www.woodenswords.com/WMA/synthetic.LS.typeIII.htm  Nicely balanced and a very good feel.

Armor research

Doing research into thinner armor and hand protection. Existing riot armor would be great but still pretty expensive. This suit would be ideal for plastic, wooden and possibly steel swords but at $600 or more it's a bit much for the average combatant. The "motorcycle style" riot helmet would also possibly work. We need to have one donated to test! It would certainly be intimidating. Some of the newer padding with a plastic shell should be enough for gloves and armor that is thinner, lighter and will take a considerable amount of force.

Catching up!

Wow it's been a long tome since I've posted! Need to catch up. I've still been having Saturday classes at my house and attending the KRON get togethers (Classes) at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday nights. A great group of people with a wealth of knowledge on HEMA. I've got a few videos of some of my sparring matches!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZqKVSfWSkI&feature=related 11/16/11 vs Jason
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2U51GWzP5I&feature=related 11/16/11 vs Jim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QcHj7EinDg&feature=related 11/30/11 vsJasonwithflail

I've gotten a couple of new swords from Cold Steel. They had their annual parking lot sale and I picked up an 1860 Heavy Cavalry Sabre (http://www.coldsteel.com/1860cavalry.html) and a Scottish Broadsword (http://www.coldsteel.com/scottishbroad.html). I paid $175.00 for both! Good quality, very sharp! I will do my best to stay more updated and give interesting news and facts. Happy New Year!