Class review: 19th of November

Tonight's class was a good review for everyone who showed up; since only a few students showed up last week because of the "November Reading Week" (two days, really), it had been two weeks since anyone had picked up a sword. We went over all of the basics, refined some of our motions (particularly in relation to the correct tempo), and went as far as option three, creating motion.

One thing I mentioned tonight that seems to have frightened a few people was that I would be giving the first rank examination next Thursday at the beginning of class. This is both a formality and a necessity: formality because everyone already knows very well what I'll be testing them on, necessity because no one can free fence without passing this small hurdle. What I'm really aiming for with the examination is to make the commitment to Capoferro's system, which necessarily means abandoning anything that does not belong in it (the actions described in the plates are exceptions to this rule), and improve our skill in that system until we can take on anyone from another school, be they Spanish, Italian, German or self-trained. It's not enough for us to be good fighters; we need to be exemplary fencers. Only then can we begin to branch out and begin to examine other methods of performing the same kinds of actions.