Results and comments from the Aug/Sep 2003 survey.

	Ýves’ big SCA rapier survey #1 ~ Typical practice formats: Prep first
	Updated: May 24, 2005

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Policy blurb

By default, authors of comments sent in response to this survey are named only by their permission. Usually, other people mentioned in a comment are named only with their permission as well. Each comment represents only what the author typed in for the survey at the time.

» This survey was conducted during August-September 2003. Things change over time. «

Some comments were edited for content. Certain harsh words have been changed for your amusement. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the surveyor.

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# of Responses
by Kingdom
 
AEth.  = 34/235
Anst.  = 36/240
An Tir = 56/347
Art.   = 12/124
Aten.  = 27/460
Atl.   = 60/425
Caid   = 49/400
Drach. = 21/76
Eald.  = 12/77
East   = 46/480
Loch.  = 22/120
Mer.   = 27/140
Mid.   = 52/640
Nor.   = 25/164
Out.   = 26/214
Tri.   = 46/237
West   = 14/70
Unk.   = 2

The gist

The comments below were sent in response to Question 26.

Respondents share their input on their typical local SCA fencing practices (past and present). The theme for this page is: these practices begin with "prep".

About "prep"

For simplicity, I use "prep" to include activities like warming up, stretching, exercise, teaching, and discussing goals of the day that are (one hopes) done before fencing-specific physical activities (footwork, point work, slow sparring, fast sparring, etc.).

I think in most of the comments below "warm up" refers to stretching (and perhaps calisthenics, jogging, etc.)

However, "warm up" can also refer to sparring.

The comments

Note: Any remarks in the comments below from Yves look like this.

More comments on this topic are on separate pages.
See the links at the bottom of this page.
 

Choice picks

Φ Traitor's Gate, An Tir ~ (WINTER) - We are confined to the local elementry gym so to make up for the summer slacking we do the following.. 30 min of yoga and or stretching. 20 to 30 min of footwork drills ... then another 20 to 30 min of random drills most of which can be pretty crazy and we make up on the fly before we finally get to stab each other... we also try to aternate between S.C.A fencing and olympic styles.

Traitor's Gate summer practice.

Φ Atl. ~ Most of my practices nowadays are a bit more structured. We do stretching, footwork, & lecture before we get to swordwork.  ``Alejandro

Æthelmearc

Φ First hour warm ups, drills and occasional group lessons. Balance of the practice pickups, melees and individual lessons.

Φ Some sort of warmup & footwork practice, some individual instruction and/or pickups, then the last half of practice is melee...  ``Miriel

Φ Stretching/warm-up, footwork and other drills with beginners, free sparring (usu. bear pit depending on number of fencers and space) focusing on weak forms or those needed for authorizations.  ``Miguel

Φ FIrst 10-15 min meet greet and streach. Then we do a class (lecture type with interactive componets) then we drill on the topic covered in class. this takes about the first hour. Then we bout. Our marshalls do one on one help with fencers as we bout and we usually end the night with a fun melee scenario or paronia match. We usually stick around another 20 min or so packing up and discussing the practice. We still have a small group under 10 fencers including our youth fencers.

An Tir

Φ Warm up slow work fast work.

Φ 1/2 hour workout/drills, 1 hour class, 1 1/2 hours free bouting.

Φ Some guy blabbing and telling us how great he is. 15 minutes of warm-up, 20 mins practice routines, 20 mins slow, 40 mins sparring.

Φ About 30mins of theory and slow work technique and then sparring and application of the techniques and people basically working on their game.  ``Draven

Φ Lionsdale:
7:15 hall opens
8:00 practice starts, lesson, drills, some group slow work
9:00 lesson is over, newer fighters approach experienced fighters for one one one lessons, slow work begins, some fighters begin sparring
10:30 hall closes  ``Tomas

Ansteorra

Φ Stretch, 8-10 Drills, Controlled Sparing, Free Sparing..3 hours.

Φ Warm up, point control and other drills, slow sparring, speeding up to full practise speed.

Φ A typical SCA practice that I have run begins with 15-30 minutes of stretching and warming the muscles. THen for 1-2 hours we drill and do slow work. Then, for maybe 1 hour the intermediate/advanced students spar while the rest continue slow and controlled attacks.  ``Aeron

Atlantia

Φ Warm-up/Stretching, Review, Drills, Sparring, Cool-down.

Φ Last year ... we had 30 minutes of warmups, about 30 of drills and lecture, 1-2 hours of fencing and a 5 minute cool down.  ``Keelin

Φ Lochmere practices start out with stretches, then move into footwork drills and then partnered drills involving set footwork and attacks, usually to teach double intentions and how to move around your opponent and back out of range. there might be more drills after that, then paired-off sparring, then usually one or two melee-type bouts.  ``Rois

Φ [Response is below.]
- 10-15 minutes stretching
- some slow work and then regular speed with each partner
- get in a variety of wepons forms (each form at least once, and encourage others to do so)
- everyone fights everyone
- some melee work if there's time (especially closer to Pennsic).  ``Jean Claude

Φ Assuming new people (otherwise skip to step 4)

1. Introduction to the rules and conventions.
2. Basic stance, footwork, parries and attacks (including target areas).
3. Drills for above.
4. Warm-up/stretching.
5. Slow spar for step 2.
6. Introduce advance techniques.
7. Slow spar for above.
8. Independent matches/Fast spar.
9. Cool down.
10. Critque.

Caid

Φ Warm up, slow work, rapid sparring.

Φ Go, chit chat, stretch, some footwork drills, fight (open sparring).

Φ Warm ups, individual drills, sparring, sparring, sparring, sparring, sparring - slow work if you're new.

Φ Lesson followed by drills on that lesson. Time/equipment permitting, 1/2 or 3/4 speed sparing using the lesson.  ``Johann

Φ I perfer the lesson/drill/spar method. The one on one training is helpful later on, but doesn't work with groups (not enough teachers) and tends to exclude new and shy fencers.  ``Johann

Φ Inside my Barony- Arm up, strech out, foot work, training newcomers and beginers, fast sparring with new fighters, fast sparring with authorized fighters. Outside my Barony- Arm up, strech out, foot work, fast sparring with as many people as possible.

Φ Typically we simply get geared up and stretch so that we dont get hurt, then spar for about 15-20 minutes or untill we cant any longer. once done with that we sit around talking about strategy, skills, drills, and analisis of the other fighters.

Φ In Caid I had 2 years of collegate fencing experience. Still, I was a beginner at SCA rapier. Practice consisted of stretching, half and hour or so of group drills, then about an hour of drills with one instructor. The instructor would change, as experienced fighters went off to fight. Then I joined the free sparring for half an hour or so.

Drachenwald

Φ Warmup, first bouts, some slow work, fencing and having fun.

Φ Stretching and warmup, an hour of drillwork and slow sparring to practice the moves from the drillwork, then some fast sparring and optionally some full-speed fencing.  ``Guntram

Φ Stretch, do some slow-work, move on to full speed bouting (with the teachers keeping a frequent eye on their students), and for the last half-hour melee practice (sometimes drills, sometimes just playing).

Ealdormere

Φ Practice is in a very public place ... and so there is less drill and more play (one of the reasons we get the site is to give the public a bit of a show, so it is part demo). I always make sure people warm up, followed by unarmoured footwork drills (using period footwork). This is followed by attack and defence drills of various types, again with the emphasis on period techniques (currently using William E. Wilson's Arte of Defence book, very handy). I then match people off and there is free fencing, which I observe and comment on (and participate in). I try to keep the amount of chatter to a reasonable level. In the drills I emphasize repetition and good style.  ``Albrecht

East

Φ 1. Stretching. 3. Drill Students and/or Cadets. 4. Open Fencing. [The missing number.]

Φ Arrive, dress & warm up while talking, drill for a while, hang out and see if anyone wants to play (Pretty much the same all over). [That is a common practice format, but there is also considerable variety across the Society.]

Φ Carolingia (many years ago): 20-40 fencers, 15 minutes warmup, 45 minutes drills (lines and pairs), 1+ hr sparring, 30 minutes melée (or, sometimes, mini-tourney). During the drills and sparring, one or two of the experienced fencers would sometimes give individual lessons to a series of intermediate fencers - especially the ones who were helping run warmups, drills, etc. I think the Carolingian model I described is the best I've ever seen - but it requires cooperation from the experienced fencers.)  ``Guillaume

Meridies

Φ Warm-ups, slow sparring, and then go at it.

Φ Typically some instruction time, usually including drills and frequent critiques followed by sparring.

Midrealm

Φ Warm up stretches, drills , open sparring.

Φ Suit up. Warm up. Footwork drill. Point control drill. Spar.

Φ Stretch, footwork drill, point drills, open fencing (unless I'm teaching).  ``Purple

Φ Inspections, discussion of any changes or proposed changes, warm ups, some slow work, one-on-one different styles, melee work, bear-pit.

Φ We stretch, sometimes do organized drills (depending on the amount of newbies there), do some single combat, and then for the last hour or so we do melee combat.  ``Lydia

Φ Go over kit(checking weapons and gear)get in gear, stretch, (all the while chit chatting) slow work/drills, sparring, after action discussion. We have to give up the floor once two or more heavies are armored up.  ``Uadahlrich

Northshield

Φ From 2 to 8 people. Socializing,warm ups, some do slow work, most every one armours up for fast work. If numbers allow some melee practice, go for coffee and food.

Φ A bit of warm-up, find a partner, mutually agree on what you'd like to work on, go at it. Do slow sparring for new moves, or parries I consistantly flub, etc. Later, FENCE!!!--"Bear Pit" lets everyone have a turn and mix it up--better fighters end up fighting more while newbies don't tire out so fast but get lots of action.  ``Maisy

Φ Here in Northshield, practices have changed over time. On average fighters strech (or not) individually, there is often a group drill session for half an hour or so, but not everyone joins in. Then newer fighters may pair up with more experienced people who are willing to teach. At anytime anyone who has regualrly attened practice for two months is free to spar. I like what we are doing. I want both the freedom to just go fight, but also want to be sure beginners get attention. On the other hand, our current practice format wouldn't work if our group was small, or if we had fewer experienced fighers.

Φ We start with _____ or Martin showing us a new move sometimes or them asking if anyone has come up with any questions since last practice or moves that they would like to work on and then do that. Then we pare off for about 20 min. and then we Bear Pit, except in our Bear Pits, looser stay in, they are the ones that need the most practice. We always ask eachother when paired off if there is anything the other would like to work on and we do and then switch off if the other one also has something they have been wanting to work on. We (Le Couer du Noire) also have a champion cloak that we chalange the posseser of the week for. It changes hands regularly, it gives alittle competion to us, it can be chalanged during any practice or event, but only by other students of the School. It is ugly and useless in a fight but we all want it anyway. We are going to be working on a new one soon, but is was what we have for right now.  ``Gabrielle

Outlands

Φ Warm up, then drills, then some form of fighting to work on drills, then free sparring.  ``Seuilla

Trimaris

Φ We would first do warm up stretches and drill work. Then we would fence a couple of hours of single combat. There would be the occassional melee practice for wars. Then eveyone goes out to eat dinner.  ``Lillian

Φ This varies a lot depending on the number of fighters in attendance and their level of experience but they tend to go something like this: Start off with some stretching. Discuss what we want to get out of practice that day (work on particular style, etc). Walk through explanation of style/technique. Drills with style/technique. Open sparring.  ``Silvain

West

Φ Warm uyp, slow sparing or drill, fast bouts, "wrap up".  ``Alail

Up to index	Main page - typical practices Other practice formats: • Drill first • Most or all sparring Personal observations Typical = Ideal
Questions 22-25 Slow work		Question 27 Ideal Practices

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Original page posted: October 18, 2004. Last tweaked: July 1, 2006.

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