Week 25 - Winden Down

This week started off with the ALS Ice Bucket challenge thing, so it was a slow start to class. I volunteered to film, but knew it wouldn't get me out of it. Luckily, I'd been saving milk jugs for months. They are tons easier to cut than stupid pool noodles. After we'd all been properly doused and recorded, we did a group warm up and review, then had a quick demo of the winden before we had to pair off to practice. 

Poor Ezio... both of us trying to learn the first four winden, me trying to do it all bass-ackwards since I'm lefty but not allowed to be, neither of us getting it at first. I was always really good at assembling those box drawings in my head on the stupid aptitude tests in high school, figuring out where the shady sides would be and such. But I cannot for the life of me seem to figure out what to do with my feet when sword fighting. Either they stay still entirely, or I step with the wrong side, or I do the fairy foot thing. The Professor, Lee, Mr. ZeusSquatch, RJ, and half a dozen others at Longpoint have all told me I just need to relax. Unfortunately, that has the same effect as when the gynecologist tells me to relax- it's the absolute last thing that happens. (Yup, I tossed in a lady doctor. You're welcome.) Maybe once I've figured it out enough that I don't have to think about every little thing, then I'll be able to relax. For now though... not so much. Basically, I could not figure out how these winden eins, winden zwei (1&2, really?) were supposed to go, and Ezio was terribly patient while we tried to work it out. The Professor had to come over and walk me through them a few times before finally I got it straight, then showed us the windens 3&4, which made EVER so much more sense. Then Ezio had to figure out the reverse, because my lefty ones made sense finally and his were the ones that were bass-ackward.

One of our numbers who doesn't come much any more showed up for the ALS Challenge thing, and wanted to do hand to hand-to-hand and staff work, so we did a bit of those after the winden. Well, the guys did the ringen stuff- that's not one I'm keen on learning. We had stations though, so I ended up with Ezio again, using quarterstaves this time. Quarterstaffs? Whichever. We were using big sticks. I was a huge Robin Hood fan as a kid, and always wanted to learn how to use a staff. New stuff! Yay! Only problem was, I had never even picked one up before. Well, one that wasn't attached to a bristle broom anyway. Ezio grabbed his and started spinning it around like he was Gambit or something. Suddenly I was feeling a bit intimidated.

I have discovered that I do NOT like the 'sink or swim' method of learning martial skills. (Apologies if this paragraph sounds disjointed, but I've re-written it like three times because it keeps sounding sketchy.) I grabbed hold of the staff with both hands, and tried to follow Ezio's lead while the other guys called out 'helpful' comments. They said it was like a really big sword, so I tried to treat it that way, and ended up catching a schielhau to the mask that knocked me back and had me staggering a bit. I saw him coming, but couldn't manage to duck out of the way before I caught it full in the face. I always thought that cartoony image of stars and twittering birds was just done for effect... yeah, no. I saw stars. And shooting comets. Several supernovas. I kept at it for another few minutes, but honestly couldn't report another thing that happened. I think I got in like one or two decent shots to Ezio's side, but kept forgetting the stick had two ends and no pointy bits. Mostly, I just remember the stars.

So homework got postponed again last week, and we're for really this week supposed to find a play in the manuals that can be furthered or countered with zwie hangen. As the Professor put it, were someone to say "Hold up, Siggy (Sigmund Ringeck)- what if I did this..." at the end of a strike, what would it look like? But it rots- I had my example all ready to go for last week. I'd been looking at plates, found my doorknob absetzens and thought if you pulled back into a high hanger after thrusting you'd be all protected and ready for another strike. Then the Professor describes the assignment again in class since not everyone remembered to do it, and STOLE MY EXAMPLE! Then he said we couldn't use that one.

Rude.

Now I have to go find another. Most probably I should be finding one now, because this is the only free moment I have this week since school is starting again and I'm supposed to be focusing on getting the little darlings to read. Ooh, wonder if any of the picture books I have with knights have illustrations with hangen opportunities?! I know there's a book with an armored squirrel by Jacques. Surely that'd count! I'd love to do a big display on medieval warfare, but we only have like two books left. I had a group of sixth grade boys enamored last year- I ordered five beautiful new books on swords and weapons in January, another three on battles, and every one of the new ones was stolen before the end of the year. So on one hand, grrrr, lousy thieves! On the other, yay! I bought good stuff! At least someone's going to read them.   :-)