The Basics: Drills

Boring as they may be, drills are vital to developing proper form and improving your skills as a fighter. While you will learn quite a bit on the field fighting as many people as possible, you'll want to supplement what you've learned with drills. They are often overlooked because of how boring and repetitive they can be, but the repetition is key in developing muscle memory. Drills are the building blocks of what we do in Dagorhir. Think of it like building a house: you need a good foundation to build the rest of the house. If you don't have a good foundation, the house will be unsafe and crumble to the ground. Drills are the foundation of our house. The drills I'm going to outline in this article are simple and will benefit all fighters of any level. Ever wonder how the best fighters got to be as good as they are? Want to know how they did it? Chances are they used some or all of the drills I'm going to cover below. Read on and let's get fighting!



Footwork

Footwork is VERY important to building a good foundation and having proper fighting form. If you have bad footwork, little else will matter because you won't have proper form and your improper footwork will get in your way and quite literally trip you up. As someone who studied martial arts, I quickly learned that proper footwork is key, and if your feet don't have it, neither will the rest of you. You have to build your foundation from the ground up, therefore it's vital to learn proper footwork and everything else will follow suit.

One of the first things I tell new fighters is to NEVER NEVER EVER cross your feet under ANY circumstances. Doing so will only lead to injury, no matter how good you may be. Sure, you can control YOUR body and YOUR movement, but there are so many variables on the field, especially at Ragnarok, that you CAN'T control. So please, DON'T CROSS YOUR FEET!!!

There are a number of good videos that can be found on YouTube for footwork training. Below are the ones that I have used and encourage others to do the same:

Triangular Footwork

Wing Chun Footwork

With the video below, watch all 3 parts to get the full effect:

Boxing Footwork

I recommend giving all three a try for variation to see what you like best.

First, practice these without a weapon in your hands to get used to the movements. Doing these empty handed will put all the focus on your feet, which is where it needs to be. Do as many repetitions as you can as many times a week as your able. Repetition is what will make these movements more fluid and they will become like second nature.

After you feel comfortable with the movements, you can then add a weapon into your hand(s). Repeat the movements with your weapon, but don't throw any shots. Just get used to doing the movements with your weapon in hand.

Finally, after you're comfortable doing these movements with a weapon in hand, you can then do these exercises while throwing shots. It's best to have a pell, punching bag, or one of those blow up punching bags that return back to you after you hit them, with sand in the bottom for balance. You can also use a partner if you have one. The point is to be practicing your footwork WHILE throwing shots. This will get your hands and feet coordinated and working together.


Muscle Memory

Next to footwork, Muscle Memory is the best drill that you can do in my opinion. If you do no other drills, do Footwork and Muscle Memory and you'll be sure to see an improvement in your fighting with those drills alone. Muscle Memory conditions your muscles to throw shots to the 6 major strike points on the body: Right Leg, Right Side Hip/Torso, Right Side Arm/Shoulder, Left Side Arm/Shoulder, Left Side Hip/Torso, and Left Leg, as well as to return to a defensive posture to block an opponent's return attack.

How It Works:

First get into a proper stance. Generally, this is knees bent, sword foot pointing forward, back foot pointed outward, almost as if your feet are forming a right angle. Your feet should be about shoulder width apart, and your torso should be sideways, facing the same direction as your back foot. The slimmer the profile you show your enemy, the less they have to hit. This is the stance that I use, but of course, the stance that you use is up to personal preference and what is comfortable for you, as well as what weapon type you are fighting with. Different weapon styles often require different stances that work best for that particular weapon. And other fighters will teach being square to your opponent when fighting. There is nothing wrong with this approach, only the fact that you will be presenting your opponent with more body surface to strike, thus creating more areas for you to have to block if you don't have a shield. Keep these things in mind.

Always start with your offhand. Unless you were lucky enough to be raised to be ambidextrous, you will need to build up the motor skills in your offhand. I recommend 240 shots(40 complete reps) with your offhand(120 with your dominant hand). You can use a pell, punching bag, tree, a partner if you have one, or you can make marks on a wall with tape. To do this, stand facing forward against the wall and place pieces of tape at your left shoulder, left hip, left knee, right shoulder, right hip, and right knee.

Now, while in your stance, take a step forward with your sword foot and SLOWLY, as slow as you can, throw a shot toward the right leg, but don't make contact. Right before you would make contact, begin slowly pulling your sword back into a defensive posture while slowly stepping back into your stance. Repeat the process at the enemy's right hip, right arm/shoulder, left arm/shoulder, left hip, and left leg. Continue the process until you've thrown 240 shots. Then switch sword hands and adjust your stance so that the sword foot of your dominant hand is now pointing forward(it was the back foot when you were training your offhand). Repeat the same process as with your offhand, only you'll be starting the reps on the opposite side now. So if you're right handed, you will begin on the enemy's left side. Continue the process until you've thrown 120 shots.

Use the chart below to determine where to start, based on which hand is your offhand:

Setup

Offhand(Left)

3-- Enemy Right Shoulder/Arm       4-- Enemy Left Shoulder/Arm


2-- Enemy Right Hip/Torso             5-- Enemy Left Hip/Torso


1-- Enemy Right Leg                       6-- Enemy Left Leg


Offhand(Right)

3-- Enemy Left Shoulder/Arm       4-- Enemy Right Shoulder/Arm


2-- Enemy Left Hip/Torso             5-- Enemy Right Hip/Torso


1-- Enemy Left Leg                       6-- Enemy Right Leg

Remember that this drill is ALWAYS to be done as SLOWLY as possible. DO NOT speed this drill up. The slow speed puts tension on the muscles, which is what will help build muscle memory.

Doing this drill daily will make your shots more fluid and precise, you will have better weapon control, and you will also be able to link shots to create combos. Once you are comfortable with the standard version, you can add on to it:

Inside Lanes of Attack

You will follow the same process as the standard version, only you'll be attacking the inside lanes of the enemy: Inside Right Leg, Stomach(slicing out to Right Hip from the bellybutton). Right Pectoral(Chest), Left Pectoral(Chest), Stomach(slicing out to Left Hip from the bellybutton), and Inside Left Leg(this will be reversed depending on which is your off hand and which is your dominant hand). For this drill, only attack the inside lanes. Once you become comfortable doing so, you can link the standard version and the inside lanes of attack version together. Doing so will offer more attack options and combos, and will later lead to the ability to do feints/baits to fake out your enemy.

Note: When throwing a shot to your enemy's chest, use the Slot shot, shown here:

Slot Shot

The 1-6 Drill

The 1-6 Drill is very similar to the Muscle Memory drill, but the setup is a little different. All of the odd numbered shots(1, 3, 5 or Right Arm/Shoulder, Right Hip, Right Leg, or the left side if your offhand is your right hand) will be on your sword side and the even numbered shots(2, 4, 6 or Left Arm/Shoulder, Left Hip, Left Leg, or the right side if you're offhand is your right hand) will be on the opposite side of your sword arm. Follow the same procedure as the Muscle Memory drill.

Start with your offhand. To begin, get into your stance. Remember to take a step when throwing a shot, and step back into your stance when returning to a defensive posture. The patterns for the drills are as follows:

1-1-1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6
2-1-2-2-2-3-2-4-2-5-2-6
3-1-3-2-3-3-3-4-3-5-3-6
4-1-4-2-4-3-4-4-4-5-4-6
5-1-5-2-5-3-5-4-5-5-5-6
6-1-6-2-6-3-6-4-6-5-6-6-6


Setup

Use the chart below to determine your starting point, based on whichever hand is your offhand:

Offhand(Left)

1-- Enemy Right Shoulder/Arm   2-- Enemy Left Shoulder/Arm


3-- Enemy Right Hip/Torso         4-- Enemy Left Hip/Torso


5-- Enemy Right Leg                   6-- Enemy Left Leg


Offhand(Right)

1-- Enemy Left Shoulder/Arm     2-- Enemy Right Shoulder/Arm


3-- Enemy Left Hip/Torso            4-- Enemy Right Hip/Torso


5-- Enemy Left Leg                      6-- Enemy Right Leg



You then switch to your dominant hand and repeat the process. Start off doing this drill slowly until you get comfortable with it, then you can gradually increase your speed.

This drill is great for learning to throw combos. Combos offer you a better chance of killing your enemy because you're varying where your throwing your shots, and it can throw your enemy off balance and offer them little time to react.

For reference, this drill is also explained at http://www.scabastardsword.com/pellworkdrills.htm

Block/Strike

Block/Strike is another very important drill to practice. It teaches you how to block an enemy's attack and then follow up with a counter strike of your own. You ALWAYS want to throw a return shot after an enemy throws a shot at you. Doing so can give you an opening to take a limb or get a kill shot because of a missed or errant shot by your enemy.

To do this, you'll need a partner. Before beginning the drill, agree upon two areas where you will be aiming your strikes(Right Leg, Right Hip, Right Arm/Shoulder, Left Arm/Shoulder, Left Hip, or Left Leg). The 2 shots should be on opposite sides of the body.

Start by getting into a fighting stance(per the Muscle Memory drill above). Make sure you and your partner are about a swords length apart. There should be no movement other than blocking the incoming shots. Start the drill Right Handed vs. Right Handed, and make sure to go slowly, just like with the Muscle Memory drill. One person throws one of the 2 agreed upon shots and the other blocks it. The person throwing the shot returns to a defensive stance to block the incoming attack. Repeat this back and forth process for a desired amount of time, then switch so that one person is fighting Left handed while the other remains fighting Right handed.

Repeat the same back and forth process using the same 2 shots. After a desired amount of time, switch it up so its now Left vs. Left. Repeat.

Then switch one last time so it's Left vs. Right, with the person who didn't switch after the first round switching sword hands. Repeat.

You and your partner should not increase the speed until you both are ready. Use the slow tempo to work on proper form and returning to your defensive stance. Increasing the speed too soon can lead to the formation of bad habits.

While doing this drill, try alternating between fighting guards to see how each works. Start off with a horizontal guard, like the Bait guard here:

Bait Guard

http://youtu.be/2dDd3q4tDxY

Then transition through the others:

Denial Guard

http://youtu.be/LMpmwNtY23g


Range Guard

http://youtu.be/XHiki-GW8ac


Lazy Guard

http://youtu.be/y7bDXoLHgJs

(Note: The Lazy Guard is more for veteran fighters as it invites your enemy to attack you, mainly in the upper body. This guard makes it appear as though you don't know what you're doing, when in actuality, you do. You're baiting your enemy to attack, effectively getting them to do exactly what you want them to do. Learn and practice the other guards first, and eventually learn how to use baits before using the Lazy Guard)

Read the 'Guard Flow' drill at http://www.scabastardsword.com/pellworkdrills.htm for practicing transitioning through the guards.


Trying out each will allow you to discover which works best for you and when it's best to use each.

Well, that's it for now. Sorry for such a long post, but I hope it was informative and helpful. Until next time, thanks for reading and LAY ON!!