- Destreza continues to be fun. Switching back and forth, I think I actually prefer using my shorter rapier for destreza-ing. This is not because of any inherent advantage to it - it's just that fighting destreza with a longer rapier ends up being very similar to my standard game, whereas fighting destreza with a short rapier ends up being very novel and teaches me interesting things.
- I also think that my destreza game when using a short rapier might be better than my Italian game when using a short rapier, and that is an interesting thing. This requires further study.
- I have been extending my arm when in safe measure to provoke a response, to which I pull my arm back a bit and then disengage around. This seems to work well, but I need to work harder at defense when doing this. Currently it is leading to many double-kills.
- With my long rapier, I have been slowly tracing down toward people's hilts and then disengage-lunging to their face or chest when my tip is just above their hilt. People tend to allow me to do this because they view having my tip near their hilt as an advantageous position. When in an appropriate position though, a disengage-lunge is just a touch above one tempo. This means that if I do something extra, this tactic works well. Additionally, it's something that people let me do, unlike standard find-gain-thrust mechanics or far-outside-line shenanigans.
- "Something Extra" includes:
- The afore-mentioned arm-extend-retract thing.
- Covering their obvious line with my dagger
- This also synergizes super well with long-blade destreza.
- Maybe I should be making special note to raise my hilt and perform body-voids to defend myself, if I plan to do this.
- Longsword continues to be fun. I am still working just above the basics, but working with my don gives me a large head start. Longsword makes me really want to do Cut and Thrust, though, and for that I need gauntlets. Perhaps I should make something very basic out of leather.
- Tick-reset-tick-stab is still an effective strategy using attentional blink and training of one's opponent.
- I end up fighting the same people quite a bit, because they are very enjoyable and educational people to fight. I should probably make an effort to branch out more.
- I need to work on Giganti's response to a leg/foot shot. Giganti basically says that you should pull your leg back, lean forward, and stab them in the face. The way I have been implementing this, I actually hop backwards a bit due to the momentum of my front leg and straightening my back leg. It was brought up to me that this gives my opponent just a bit of time in which they know where I am going to be, which means they can do horrible things. I need to relax the motion into something where I do the same thing, but don't hop. This would let me take a step backwards or forwards out of that stance, if need be.
- I also need to try circling a bit more. The particular sequence is:
- Circle to your opponent's left with a pass, ending with your left foot forward.
- Perform a passing lunge, ending with your right foot forward and bringing the circle into a tight spiral, such that you go smoothly from heading diagonally left to moving directly toward your opponent.
- This probably works best if you are in the middle of other circling movements.
- This is slightly deceitful of distance. It won't get you completely there if your opponent is completely on, but it will help.
Practice was very satisfying, though. I think I'll leave this post there, and not really mark out anything I need to work on in particular.
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