You don't know enough to know that you don't know.

Littlest Amazon asked a few fighting question. I wrote an answer in notepad (my word processing package of choice) but the comments would not accept me pasting the result. So here it is.


>> I am so incredibly annoyed about this stuff that I don't even know where to start.

Good. I don't really mind what your emotion is, as long as their is lots of it. No emotion is the one I tell to get packing and try and learn off someone else. Creepy dead fish.

>> Firstly

Weird ass zen answer:
You don't know enough to know that you don't know.

WHat?:
What is your green alien pelt brushing technique like? You don't know. You've never brushed the pelt of a green alien. What do you think you can analyse your shots? What do you know about shots?


>> Secondly

Basic/ Flow/ power: Once you can mechanically throw a shot correctly, your teachers want to ensure that you can generate power from flow. One way power ccan be generated is from a large arc of swing. I suggested that when you were practicing you tap your own butt between each shot. This will guarantee a large arc. Once you get this to become a gentle brush past, you will have power and flow. This is one of the long, slow lessons.

Teachers who do not practice: 100% correct.

>> Thirdly, Lets face it at this point I just suck.

Do I suck?: Yes, you do. You know fighting is hard. Hard to do, hard to learn. One of the greatest things about is that it cannot be faked. It cannot be purchased. It does not come on sale. It doesn't care if you want it. ANyone who is good has practiced, likely for years. YEARS. The 'quick studies' - BS. The quick studies are the ones who have done sports conversion. Some people want XP. Well, you don't level up in SCA Heavy like you do in Diablo by ten minutes of clicking. You want a formula? One pell shot is one xp. Levels are based on 100,000 XP. One shot in armour with someone shooting back is 10xp.

>> Fourthly Everyone seems to know what I should be doing.
Anyone who tells you this is easy is trying to sell you something. The old 'show me how by winning crown' is a good comeback.

>> I like the little hurts.

Watch the line between pain for discipline, and simply having crappy gear.
Next time you see me, (or Corny, or Stephen) ask them to teach you the pell technique that involves going as fast as you can and NOT hitting the pell. Save pounding your hands into condition for once you have your lighter basket hilt.

>>I am not sure why I want it soo much, but I have to do this.

Cool. SOmething that you don't know that you know you don't know :)

>> I once thought I would never uni/ run many k/ bigger challenge.

Weird ass zen answer:
You don't know enough to know that you don't know.

>> Fighting is hard. Competition avoided / competing to lose / another type of intelligence and one that I don't have a lot of.

You were likely taught not to strike people. "Nice girls don't do that." "Nice girls don't wrestle in the mud and smack into each other." And wrestling is the basis for non linear movement, which gives you a good skill set for contact sports. The dodge, the duck, the weave, the fake, the power-kill attack once the other person is out of position. Once you know the basics, you move on to doing it with more complex tools. The combat books all move out in distance. First wrestling. Then daggers. The swords. Then longswords, and finally polearms.

You simply have the long path. Wanna wrassle?


>> Relax your grip

I'm shutting up on that one. I haven't learnt that one. I grip my sword like it's a million bucks. I don't throw 'snaps' (tm). I throw forehands.

>> just because it takes my 3 times as much effort as everyone else.

No. "Everyone else" is in the smae spot, or using skill conversion. What was my first question - "What are your other sports?" When you answered 'none really' I said straight away - that means you are on the slow path.

>> I want my armor to be ready

Weird ass zen answer:
You don't know enough to know that you don't know.

Once you are in armour, you will begin to see what people have been trying to tell you about pell work, and you will have something wonderful - physical feedback. A teachers words and your thoughts will not help nearly as much as those first few bits of getting hit (damn, I should really move my feet) or hitting someone ( ffs, she didn't even NOTICE that shot).

One thing I tell newcomers in armour - hit the other person as hard as you can. Your technique is going to be poor. Your headspace will very likely be awful, as you have been societally trained not to hit people. You will be so busy defending, what you think are good shots will be rubbish because your brain is so busy defending that it will not give you the spare power to attack. I've never seen a newcomer be asked to not throw excessive shots inside of three months in armour.