Stabbings

Not a whole lot to talk about.

New Destreza continues to be good and feel Correct. My gameplan currently is to switch among the four Generals until either:

• My opponent anticipates what I'm going to do and I can capitalize on them being out of position.
• My opponent doesn't react in time to what I am doing, and I can capitalize on them being out of position.

Using a shorter sword means I use the four about equivalently often. Using a longer sword means that I use Weak Over Strong and Weak Under Strong far, far more often.

I think that if I blend a certain amount of Italian-esque body mechanics, I'll be able to use Line in Cross and Narrowing more often. The issue is that, at the point where I could actually gain opposition on my opponent's blade, I am close enough that I only need about one and a half steps to touch them. So, if instead of attempting to do Spanish footwork with my longer sword, I do Italian lunges, it blends better. I still want to be moving diagonally away from their sword if I am using Weak Under Strong or Weak Over Strong, and I still want to be moving through their sword if I'm doing Line in Cross or Narrowing, but one lunge rather than two steps.

One thing I've been having trouble with is people who keep their sword low-ish and point from one side of my body to the other. This makes it so I can't accurately identify which direction to go at any given time, which makes me sad. I think this means I need to make more effective usage of Narrowing, though it might mean that I need to learn how to use the Low General and the High General.

In any case, I've been able to successfully create a mapping between my Italian maneuvers and my Spanish maneuvers, which has allowed me to improve my Italian fencing and more accurately predict what will work, and understand why it will work.