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Better Athlete - Better Team

Oogie Boogie's Guide To Achieving Goals

4/9/2017

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Step one: Recognition - I want this... 
Action- I need to make this happen. I wave my magic wand and... poof...  
What the ass? ... Nothing happened!
Step two - understanding - I want it so I have to "make it happen". 
Action - start working out a plan ...which leads us to... 
Step three - reality - hey... this is really hard! 
Action - get to work or Abort! Abort! Abort!
Problem...
Humans are smart monkeys. We can talk ourselves into and out of all manner of realities and negotiate good and bad choices along the roads of progress. If something is very hard, we can develop "self made road blocks" to stall or stop our progress.
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Warning: This is the red band version of a blog post.
For any of those surfing the web without mommy or daddy’s permission, we apologize in advance for any unintentional scarring or future crude behavior it may incite.
For example:
Road Block one- procrastinate. "I'll start next week".
Road Block two - denial - "I'm working on it, really... I am... see... this is me working on it... no, there are no changes yet, but I assure you I am working sooo hard... "
Road Block three - excuses - "I would have been working on it, but I can't because aliens will eat my testicles. You wouldn't want aliens to eat my testicles, would you?"
Like water that finds the least path of resistance, when the going gets hard we can easily sit our asses on the couch and order pizza delivery. "Hey, don't forget my anchovies, dick!"
The fact of the matter is we left high-school behind with zits and shoving people into lockers. "Oh sorry, was that you? My bad". The point is there aren't any teachers to embarrass you in front of your peers or send you to detention if you didn't do your homework. If you have a deed that needs to get done, then you need to stop talking about it and do the mother-fucking-deed. 
So put down that piece of cake. Get up an hour early. Leave that blow up doll in your closet and start obsessively working to achieve your goals. At The Knights Hall we say DEEDS NOT WORDS for a reason. Because words are just words. Half the people you are gonna meet are just going to "talk" about doing all the things... but a few of you, you who are not afraid of aliens and who still have your testicles firmly in hand... you will find it in yourself to do the deeds. And that will mean less ridicule you lazy fuck.
​
    ** Executioner Oogie Boogie is the mascot for the NorthEast Executioners.He joined the team in 2013 during the inception of the Executioners, but the device with his image did not make an appearance until November, 2014 through the concept art owned by The Knights Hall. In 2015, Oogie Boogie was brought to life in his new mascot form thanks to the artwork of Peter Bregman. Known only as, "The Executioner", Oogie Boogie's name did not become public, until this blog post. 
     **All thoughts and opinions expressed by Oogie Boogie are his and not necessarily the same as the editors of “The Blog”. ​
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A Different Kind Of Conditioning

11/1/2016

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"A Different Kind Of Conditioning"
​by Pete Bregman
​
Every athlete, regardless of sport, knows the value of conditioning. Skills and fundamentals are of course king, but without adequate conditioning (which varies from athlete to athlete, of course), they can quickly lose their potency as the gas tank becomes depleted. The same principle applies to athleticism – strength, speed, and aggression are great tools, but without stamina, they're tools that become ineffective after only a few uses during a sporting event.

Now, let's encapsulate said athlete in 70 pounds of armor, add steel weaponry to the equation, and slightly hinder oxygen intake. Oh… and have him or her fight. Welcome to Armored Combat! If you're like me, your initial response to learning about this sport was "This actually exists??," followed by "Where do I sign up??" That's exactly what happened after being introduced to Damion DiGrazia (who was carrying in a beautiful, eye-catching kettle helm) by a mutual friend prior to a German Longsword class that I was taking at Sword Class NYC.

Having competed in sports on a competitive level for much of my life (traditional stuff like football, track & field, and wrestling, as well as niche physical "activities" like arm wrestling and pro wrestling), I consider myself a solid athlete. And I've partaken in plenty of irresponsible, "Jackass-esque" physical shenanigans throughout life, as well, so I'm no stranger to giggling through physical pain and/or bloody bodily harm.

AND THEN I FOUGHT IN ARMOR FOR THE FIRST TIME.
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I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have never felt so un-athletic in my entire life. It didn't start off as such – my soon-to-be-teammates, Morgan Neyland, Rodney Babilonia, and Damion armored me up, and it was surprisingly comfortable and non-restricting. I was jumping around, doing some warmup runs, and stretching. But once the infamous Blood Helm was strapped on, and someone yelled, "FIGHT!," I found myself being repeatedly whacked in the head and body by both Damion and Rodney. I instinctually began to fight back, swinging a mace at anything that I could see out of the ventilation holes in the helm's pigface nose cone (due to my large Frankensteinian forehead, this is where my eye-line ultimately ended up). Long story short, I was completely gassed after a few mace swings, and struggling to catch my breath. It was embarrassing, exhausting, and exhilarating. Three things became certain:

1. I was hooked on this sport. 2. I had a LOT of work to do in order to achieve what I consider mere "entry level conditioning" for AC. 3. I did not fear steel fighting; rather, I feared the feeling of being so gassed and out of breath.
​
I soon conveyed my humbling experience to various friends (whom are/were competitive athletes), and started gathering intel on the the most effective ways to rebuild my body for a sport as complex and grueling as steel fighting. An AC fighter named James Glacken (who has always been more than generous with his knowledge and advice) recommended Tabata workouts, which focus on HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). Look it up online for more details (and more importantly, the results). In a nutshell, it involves interval sets of working hard for :20 seconds and resting for :10 seconds. Specific exercises are tailored to the sport that one is training for. Sports science, epitomized! Regarding the sport of steel fighting, I was (and still am) green as green can be, so my next challenge was to map out a series of exercises that would benefit an aspiring AC fighter such as myself.

"The C-Belt Connection"
That same weekend, I ordered the first component of my own kit: a C-belt. Someone at Sword Class NYC recommended the The Knights Hall C-belts, so TheKnightsHall.com was the first stop on my eventual money-hemorrhaging armor-gathering journey.
*More on the C-Belt later.

Perhaps due to psychological reasons, the word "TRAINING" at the top of the KH page caught my eye. The drop-down menu contained the words, "Knight Fit Tabata Workout." TABATA? Bingo. Everything I needed was right there! – the exercises, the cycles, and even the Tabada timer app! I was ready to begin!

AND THEN I TRIED KNIGHT FIT FOR THE FIRST TIME.
​
It was very, very challenging, and I must confess that there was quite a bit of overlap between the "rest" periods and "work" periods. More than I had imagined. But I went through the full gamut of exercises, and now had a reference point to use when gauging my progress over the next few months. SCIENCE could not be denied, and progress was inevitably made – maintaining proper form throughout KF workouts became more and more consistent, and "sucking wind" became less and less comedic.
​
But none of us are training so that Knight Fit workouts (or any other workouts) will feel easier; we're training for endurance and athletic functionality – we're training to become more-effective fighters. Thus, a larger, more-efficient gas tank is always a welcome upgrade. What I particularly like about Knight Fit is that it exponentially improves a fighters athletic functionality – every one of the diverse exercises in the customizable program has a practical application for fighting and no body parts are neglected (compared to a cardio workout that focuses primarily on running). The only noticeable downside of Knight Fit is the potential for a more-rapid rate of flatulence than I prefer (particularly prominent during the abdominal exercises). However if you're a "gym prankster" type, this side effect can be a positive thing.

Another aspect of Knight Fit that I'm fond of is the fact that it can be done very efficiently and while on the road. A "first-world problem" that many of us experience is that we have very demanding day and/or night jobs with long, often-unpredictable hours (employment being a problem that I'm very grateful to have, by the way). My day job also requires frequent, last-minute travel, so Knight Fit is great when you have limited time, no equipment, and no workout shoes. Yes, many hotel room floors have felt the burpees.

The thing about any structured workout or fitness routine is that even the fastest results still happen in small, perhaps even imperceptible intervals, with peaks and valleys along the way. But they ARE happening. The results can be compared to hair growth – it seems slow, and you don't see it actually growing, but a few months later, you're like, "Wow! I have a legit beard! That was fast!" I was still gassing at practices, but not nearly as quickly as the ones prior, and was finally beginning to feel like I was closing in on the "entry level conditioning" that I mentioned earlier on in this blog.
​
Despite the overt physicality of this sport, the mental aspect is of equal importance – just as we're all different physically, we're all different mentally, as well, and have different levels of focus, motivation, intensity, relaxation, and even neuroticism.

In my case, I was SO focused on the "gassing" aspect, it was actually hindering my physical progress – in other words, I wasn't tapping into my inert fighting and grappling skills/instincts because I was so worried about running out of steam. Yes, there are probably wiser things to "worry" about in the sport of steel fighting, but I am who I am, and I was only worried about gassing (and it was affecting my confidence).

The solution was simple, though – get in better shape! Knight Fit was getting me in better physical shape, thus allowing me to improve my mental state… which allowed me to push myself harder physically… which allowed me to push myself further mentally… and so on, and so on, and so on. It's a vicious cycle of awesomeness.

As I write this - March, 2016, I'm proud to say that I have conquered my weird, irrational fear of gassing. I still gas while fighting (I still have lots of work to do, and thankfully always will – we are all works in progress, and should always strive to improve ourselves mentally and physically), but I now look back to less than seven months ago when I discovered the AC, and am pretty proud of my progress.

Back to the C-belt…
The one tangible moment of Knight Fit effectiveness that stands out in my mind is when Jaye and Cat Brooks came down to Sword Class NYC to teach a Knight Fit class and deliver some equipment. Several months earlier, I had sent Jaye my waist measurement for a C-belt, and when he brought it to me in NYC, it was actually several inches too large for my waist, even at the tightest buckle setting. Either Jaye is terrible at mathematics and measuring leather, or I had slimmed down quite a bit since the last time I measured my waist. Jaye has expertly crafted enough C-belts to know what he's doing, so I'll attribute the drooping belt to Knight Fit, as well as the rigors of this sport!

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. If you're not currently doing Knight Fit, I hope it inspires you to do so. If you're currently doing Knight Fit, I hope you continue to enjoy the effectiveness. If you're currently one of my Sentinel brothers or sisters, I hope you find something in this blog to make fun of me for. If you're currently reading this while simultaneously doing Knight Fit, you are a true multi-tasker. If you're currently wondering why these closing words are so corny and why this final blog sentence is so long, it's because I'm finishing it up while on an airplane (Yep! More travel!), and am possibly suffering from altitude loopiness, sleep deprivation, and too much beef jerky (they only sell the really big bags at the airport).

The verdict:
​KNIGHT FIT WORKS! DO IT NOW!

Updated October, 2016: As I read this blog, which I wrote back in March, and compare my overall endurance between now and back then (the difference is like night and day), I'm more of a fan of Knight Fit than ever. Fighting aside, functional conditioning has positively affected my everyday life, and it's great to feel healthy. It's also an extreme pleasure to see the positive fitness evolution my teammates who have committed to training their bodies for this sport – seeing people who used to vomit and even pass out at practice now going the distance in armor. It's a wonderful thing. However, I must admit that seeing people throw up can be pretty darn funny.
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Softkit Review

9/27/2016

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By Andrew Dionne
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While not a full time member of The Knights Hall, Andrew is a frequent participant in the New Hampshire school, staying and training up to a month at a time. He also trains at Knights Hall New York. 
He has held the office of President with the Washing DC Juggernauts Chapter team and is currently the Regional Commander of the Atlantic Region. He is also the Captain of The Atlantic First Swords. Andrew has fought overseas in Spain, Poland and Portugal, bringing home Silver and Gold.

Softkit Review
by Andrew Dionne

When working towards getting better in the steel combat sport, there is the temptation, and not the worst one either, to practice the way you fight. That is, in armor, with steel, with max effort. While this is good to do occasionally, as it will let you work with what you have practiced, too often this leads to an hour of armoring up, 15 minutes of sparring, during which you don't go full effort as these are the people that have to be healthy to have your back, and then an hour to get out of kit. This practice also raises the bar of entry required to do much at your practices.

There is the added issue That we are a social creature. While armoring up (a tedious exercise) we are prone to use that time to talk, which slows down the armoring process further. This further compounds the problem of the limited time we have to work on our skills, especially if the region you pull fighters from is vast.

The answer? soft or padded kit practices. using sparring equipment found in other combat sports like MMA, or boxing, you can raise the intensity of your practice. I recently bought, along with a couple of the other Juggernauts a soft kit. you get a pair of MMA Gloves, forearms, torso, knee, shin and instep, and head protection. You also get a 'baton' and a shield simulacra. To my mind, this has been the best purchase we've bought.

In DC, we've had several months of practices with not much protection, and only 2 practices with the kits. those 2 practices were more productive than the other months combined. We were able to not only go harder than previous (to my mind, 90% rather than the tentative 50% before) but we have been able to get some new people into our harder practice faster.

While these kits are great, one must keep in mind that this isn't steel we are dealing with, and we are not in our steel kits. Punches can and will hurt through the helmet if the intent is there. An ill fitting mask, as in helmets, will surely spell injury. The whole point of these kits is not to get the complete full contact fight experience, rather it is to allow you and your team to practice at a higher intensity. Higher intensity practices can and will translate to higher intensity on the field.

For us, a practice covers the following:
  • Warmup
  • Discuss the particulars we'll cover over the day (grappling, brutality work, technique, etc etc)
    • fitness needs to be on everyone's own time, practice is to focus on steel fighting specifics
  • slow work on whatever we are covering (step by step grapple, drills for intensity, a specific shot that works)
  • gear up in soft kit
  • speed up the action, still controlled with stoppages to correct
  • Full speed drill
  • Free form fighting, with modification of rules to emphasize using the technique
  • Free fighting
  • Cool down, gear down.

I can honestly say we would lose people right after the full speed drills either to injury or to exhaustion if we were in full kit. We've considered adding in our gambesons and using a firmer foam sword substitute in future practices, so that the weapon is properly respected. Also, we are replacing the MMA Gloves with boxing gloves, to remove the finger dexterity one might not have in combat.

I would talk with your regional or chapter lead to ask about where to **purchase this equipment. If you work in an MMA gym, they will probably have most of it already available. I think the team will still get into steel every so often to apply what we've learned in soft kit to full steel fighting, but now with this option, our practices are much more productive.

**Note from The Knights Hall
If you are interested in getting your own practice kit, we have it available in our store. Thank you.

Softkit
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Melees

4/5/2016

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An Introduction to Field Positions And Expectations:
By Evan Ringo

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Evan Ringo, or just "Ringo" as he is known around the Hall, has been training at The Knights Hall, New Hampshire, since 2013. In 2014 he joined the  ACS C and in 2015 he won the North American title as Longsword Champion. Ringo joined the US Team and competed in the 2015IMCF World Championships in Poland for Longsword and the 16 v 16 man team, bringing home the Silver. Ringo is on the Regional Team for The New England Executioners and part of the local chapter - The Nashua Knightmares. Currently Ringo is making plans to compete in the 2016IMCF World Championships to be held this year in Portugal.
Today I’m gonna talk about melee’s. In particular where you belong on the field and what you’re supposed to do out there. There’s a lot of confusion about how to play the sport what with it being essentially brand new. Far too many people walk into the lists as fresh meat, having armor and weapons, but no clue. At best they come in with some fighting or sport background hoping that will transfer and luckily it does. Right up until the point it doesn’t and they are caught out in the open, getting an axe to the ribs or stuck in a corner, as 4 giant hulking war machines unload damage onto them until something breaks; equipment, body or their will. Proper teamwork prevents that 9 times out of 10 and proper teamwork starts with understanding the parts of the team.
    Positions and Roles:
In Armored Combat Melees, also called Bohurt, there are 2 primary ways of breaking down a team, Positions and Roles. A position label is about where one is supposed to move in regards to their team and a role label defines how a person interacts with members of the opponent's team. While there is crossover between roles and positions it’s entirely possible to break down a team structure and devise strategies using only one set. In fact it is preferable to how a thorough understanding of both separately first before thinking about how the two sets of labels interact. Looking at positional play and how a team designs it’s tactics around where people move will give you a good sense of how battles are likely to play out. Looking at roles and the different weapons used will help you understand when opportunities arise, what to do in those situations, and how individual fights go down. Once familiar with both concepts you can begin to think about how they intertwine. I’ll be giving detailed breakdowns of each in the coming weeks concluding with an article on ways to experiment with the knowledge accumulated so far. For now that I’m going to just give a high level overview.

   Positions
        There are currently 3 positions formalized by the USA Knights. centers, guards, and flankers. In general the center is a stable point, usually fixed to the rail and moves little. Guards sit off his shoulder making sure no one gets into the back field. Flankers move through the open field away from the main body, hoping to get into the back field and cause chaos. The standard line up differs depending on what form and who’s available but mostly looks like, a center on the rail with 1-3 guards angled behind him. They pretty much walk straight down the rail looking to go straight into their opponents and keep the fight on the outside. Flankers take the other rail and try to find a way into the opposition's backfield.  In general positions are based off the 5 man line up which is 1 center, 2 guards, 2 flankers.
    Centers are big immobile rocks. You want them to be strong enough to take the brunt of the impact with another team and stay standing. They tend to be the anvil more than the hammer, grabbing guys and turn them into guards with higher damage or flankers running in with speed. Centers main offensive move is to grab and crush/toss if the person is small enough. They are  focused on being unstoppable forces that let you claim field position.
    Guards are usually your scorers, your killers. While the term may indicate they are protecting the back field or the center, which they do, these are traditionally the guys you have dropping people. They catch flankers who come into close to the line, they toss the opposing guards and they wreak havoc on any center that gets turned away from the rail, punishing him till he has to quit.
    Flankers are your mobile unit that opens the field up. They will get some of your kills catching opponents off guard but most of what they exist for is to cause havoc with penetrating runs. They are your speed force and need to be the most tactically aware because they will be making runs designed to create 2 on 1 or 3 on 1 situations, which if done poorly will expose 2 on 1 or 3 on 1 for the other team.

​     Roles
        There are 4 roles that we discuss at the knights hall. There may be room for more but these are the ones we’ve broken out. Grapplers, Strikers, Punishers, and Runners. The names are fairly self explanatory but to be thorough I’ll walk  you through them quickly. The names refer mainly to how you put your opponents down or fight them. So Grapplers grab opponents and try to throw them. Strikers unload lots of strikes hoping to overwhelm them and force them down. Punishers drop one or two heavy hits that deliver enough pain or physical trauma to force a person down. Runners check and trip opponents at speed causing them to fall. People can have multiple Roles on the field while they usually only have one position per match. It’s a breakdown more for training and figuring out who to play at what position.
    Grapplers are often the first role people get because it’s relatively easy to just grab someone and hug. However that doesn’t mean this isn’t a role without skill. Effective grapplers know when to leave and when to throw. They have an arsenal of trips, throws, drags, pushes, meant to overbalance and force their opponent down. They are also effective set up men for strikers and punishers, knowing how to stretch and opponent out and pull away their guard so they are an open target. Lastly they are ready to capitalize on any movement their victim makes trying to avoid the pain of a striker or punisher. Grapplers need to be comfortable on the rail and near bodies, have strong arms and a strong base, a great sense of balance, and deep endurance as wrestling saps your energy fast. Every Center needs to be a grappler, and guards should have a decent understanding of the skill set. It is not necessary for a flanker but it is helpful.
      Strikers are primarily the second skill people learn and are often more set up men or closers. They rarely take someone down on their own thought it’s possible. In general their job is to weaken or distract an opponent so a grappler, punisher, or runner can put them down depending on field position. They are also able to capitalize on open gaps and rain repeated damage down until a person quits but this can be a long time depending on the fighter. It is not my preferred use of a striker. A strikers skill set is not just weapons work, indeed some would argue that weapons are inferior. I hold that all forms of striking are good. You need a good kick and kneed game, you’re punches need to sharp, quick, and damaging, and your weapons work needs to be hard, fast, and accurate. A striker can easily overwhelm an opponent with well timed, hard, continuous striking, and through this take field position, keep a dangerous enemy out of play, and set up plays for the more dangerous members of the team. Striking is an invaluable skill for a flanker, necessary for a guard, and it’s a poor center that hasn’t learned the basics.
      Punishers are your big hitters. They drop people in one or two shots. They need to be protected and kept free so they can work. A punisher needs to have power in their swing but that is just the tip of the iceberg. They need perfect placement of the weapon so they don’t waste their shots. They need mobility so they can get to the plays their team has set up for them. They need field awareness so they can keep track of where their targets are but also not get cleaned out on their way to ending a person. Punishing is the hardest role to achieve basic competency in. Mastery I don’t speak on, but to get to just being able to do it takes far more practice and time than the others. It is also the only role that requires weapons work. The other roles are benefited by knowing how to use a weapon, but it is required in pushing. You can’t drop a person through pain with just a punch or kick. It won’t happen, it needs to have the multiplier factor of force that comes with a  weapon. In addition in terms of pure skill set it is the least practical. If you have only pure punishers the least practical. a 5 man team of just punishers will get munched by a more diverse line up. You need your grapplers and strikers, your set up men, to give the punishers their opportunities to do work. I would argue you never have more than 2 pure punishers on the field at a time. However a skill punisher will often have aspects of other roles if not mastery. Punishers are adept at any position and every position is improved by having this skill set.
     Runners. In a way this role doesn’t fit the others. You can think of grappler, striker, punisher, as a progression. Most people come in as grapplers, learn some weapons work and become strikers, and if they are good, master the weapon to become punishers. However Runners don’t follow that line. It is an entirely separate skill set and way of approaching the game. Runners need to be fast, understand the field, and be able to find opportunities to check people from behind or the side. It’s physically all about explosive power, but mentally it’s about knowing the field and being able to open up gaps and lanes. Flankers need the runners skill set and while it’s helpful for guards, it’s very rare that a center will use this skill set.
      People often have more than a single role, even in a given match. They rarely play more than a single position, though knowing how to step into another position can add a huge amount of variety to your plays and redundancy to your team make up. The way positions are used changes fairly dramatically as the size of the field increases. they are practically meaningless in 3v3 for exemplar and while flankers rule the day in the 5v5 and 10v10, on the 16v16 they are impractical and hard to bring to bear. Roles are a fairly standard across the different levels, but it’s hard to build a team strategy around them. They work great for monetary tactics and small plays can be developed using them, but when coming up with field positioning and such, Positions live up to their names. Over the next few months I intend to write pieces delving deep into each position and role, as well as talking about the potential for new areas of classification. I hope this will be a valuable resource for both new and veteran fighters.
     This is meant to a primer that will help alleviate confusion entering the sport not the end all be all guide to bohurt tactics. It builds on work that some others have done which will be linked later. It would be nice to get a repository of all words written on the topic and if anyone wants to help with that project please contact me.


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Oogie Boogie’s Guide To Your European Vacation

3/2/2016

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Alternate Title:
"Advice that's not a cure, but more like a topical ointment that reduces swelling and itch"
By Oogie Boogie
Warning: This is the red band version of a blog post.
For any of those surfing the web without mommy or daddy’s permission, we apologize in advance for any unintentional scarring or future crude behavior it may incite.
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     Executioner Oogie Boogie is the mascot for the NorthEast Executioners. He joined the team in 2013 during the inception of the Executioners, but the device with his image did not make an appearance until November, 2014 through the concept art owned by The Knights Hall.
     In 2015, Oogie Boogie was brought to life in his new mascot form thanks to the artwork of Peter Bregman.
     Known only as, "The Executioner", Oogie Boogie's name did not become public, until this blog post. 
     All thoughts and opinions expressed by Oogie Boogie are his and not necessarily the same as the editors of “The Blog”. ​
 You're probable thinking that the editors of “The Blog” must be pretty damn desperate to let me out of the box... But before you go back to touching yourself, keep reading. Because if you said "yes" for going to the 2016 World Championships in Portugal, you just won yourself an E-Harmony date with Oogie-Boogie-destiny. So pay attention kids! I’ve got the knowledge that will keep your boom boom safe and coming home "NOT" in a sling..

Training

First of all, forget all those romantic notions you’ve been whispering to yourself in mommy’s basement. Fighting abroad isn’t gonna be “Girls Gone Wild” with subtitles. You are going to be up against people that take armored combat fighting as a serious “life skill”.  They train, they’re fit and their image of fat is an American gymnast with anorexia. You’ve been training to get in shape for this, right? And by training, I don't mean with a shaky weight from a fucking informercial. I mean training like a beast!
# Knightshall
# Tabata
​Well good... keep at it. You’re going to need it.
The only break you should get is the week pre-flight. Use that time for armor prep and packing.
And, don't forget to keep eating like the very best little-armored-psychopath that you can be.
Stay away from bad food, sweets and carbs! That shit will make you lethargic!

Medieval Reenactment 

For some of us, reenactment is just the extra whip cream topping from a pressurized can. It's sweet, but you didn't sign on for dress-up. You want to fight for gold in the mother-fucking-ass-kicking sport of armored combat! ...Well, get over it and start putting your best 15th century party pants on, because in Europe, you can’t get hit without swallowing the cream first.

To compound this problem, you're going to meet people who only see you as a medieval teletubby on a watch list, walking in a pair of LARPy elf boots from your daddy's private foot locker. Their respect for your garb, historical knowledge and medieval ancestry wouldn't fit on a freckle of my happy sack.

So before you walk onto their enchanted forest, channel your inner Boy Scout and "be prepared". You need the right gear, the right soft kit and the right costume. Keep the modern shit next to your inflatable doll in your hotel room and fuck duct tape. Yeah, that’s right, I said fuck duct tape. Put that shit back in the closet with your vibrating Yoda and focus on how you're going to field-repair your armor without it. Because like it or not, duct tape is banned for 2016.

Safety

For safety tips let’s start with something that's near and dear to all guys and gals… Your head…
No, your other head…

As far as I know, they don’t make head transplants. So why the fuck wouldn’t make sure that your helmet stays on?  I hate to dash your visions of rainbows and flying monkeys Toto, but you’re not in Kansas anymore. Your opponents will not always play fair. If they can pop-your-top, they will. And where does that leave you? Rolling around in the dirt trying to keep your head from turning into a fucking kabob. Fix your padding. Tighten your straps. Do whatever necessary and secure that shit! DO NOT allow your helmet to be pulled off!
#Don'tBeLikeJangoFett
#WhereTheFuckIsMyDad'sHead

While we’re on the subject of rolling around and eating dirt, let’s bring up, “Dying Defensively”. If you don’t know what dying defensively is, let’s discover together what it isn’t… Go outside, lay down in a parking lot and have your closest bromance buddy roll over you with his truck. And then have him back-the-fuck-up and do it again. Yeah. That’s about what it’s like to have two thousand pounds of meat and steel fall all over your prone body. Learn to Die Defensively. Tuck and Roll. Protect your future of dick kicking revenge and sexy sexy time.

Dude Potential
If you bought that ten dollar helmet for your ten dollar head, then you’ve probably already lost the ability to do math. But just incase you were a pioneer and fortified your head from skull crushing, you have the option of doing some “Dude Potential” ratios…

Before you walk onto that field, know how many opponents you're facing. As your wingmen pair off, have a grasp of how many bad guys are left. The remaining is the “Dude Potential” that is potentially eyeing your six. And they’re not there to plan hot showers, take long walks or hold hands. They’re fixing to take a shot straight up Main Street.  So don’t let the "out-of-sight" be "out-of-mind". Protect your walnuts and get your ass to rail.

Alright, that’s it for now. Thanks for playing, but Daddy needs some alone time.
Your friendly neighborhood Executioner,
Oogie Boogie









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Armored Combat Heroes

2/17/2016

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Armored Combat Heroes: Jaques de Lalaing,
​The Knight of Tears
By Lane Atteridge

Lane has been involved in the Armored Combat since 2014. He traveled with The USA Knights to Poland in 2015, competing in the IMCF World Championships and is the current Captain of the Boston Dark Knights. He trains at The Knights Hall in Nashua, New Hampshire and is the current Knights Hall, KnightFight Lightweight Champion.
    Modern tournament fighters should know their history, and the legends of our own sport.
   Not knowing Jacques de Lalaing, the Knight of Tears, would be like a modern MMA fighter not knowing who Royce Gracie is.
   He was, supposedly, the greatest tournament knight ever to fight in the list. He was tough, skilled, and noble to his legions of defeated opponents.
​   When looking for inspiration while training, look to The Knight of Tears.
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Jacques de Lalaing: Credited with giving start to the famous Feats of Arms. This was a pre-arranged series of 'friendly' duels fought in full armor with live steel.
   Jacques was a French knight from Burgundy, born to an upstanding noble family, and by twenty years old he had set himself apart by distinguishing himself at a dozen tournaments. He became a knight-errant, and travelled the world with his men-at-arms, looking for other knights who might test his skills. This eventually​ brought him to Scotland, where he, his uncle, and his squire fought a combat against three members of the Douglas clan. Sound familiar?
   They fought three on three until one side was hurled bodily to the ground, yielded, or the royalty watching stopped the combat. Jacques was victorious in the melee, defeating the opponent he lined up with and then teaming up with his uncle to drive the others, back.
 

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   Later, in Bruges, he fought an English squire, named Thomas, with pole-arms. The squire had brought a pole-arm he favored, but the judges were reluctant to let him use it. It was heavy, larger than most, and wickedly sharp.
   Thomas whined that it was unfair, and he would be at a disadvantage using a weapon he was unfamiliar with.
​   Jacques couldn't be bothered to care. He allowed Thomas to use the illegal weapon, and they started the match. 
The squire swung at him with the back-spike, impaling Jacque's wrist, but it barely slowed the knight down. He beat the squire senseless, blood dripping from his mangled wrist. Even Thomas' illegally sharp and heavy pole-arm couldn't save him from the skill and savage tenacity of Jacques de Lalaing. 
   Approaching thirty years of age, Jacques looked to take on a new challenge. He set up a Passage of Arms in France, near a fountain wrought in the shape of a weeping woman.  
  Donning a surcoat patterned with blue tears, he dubbed himself the Knight of Tears, and sought to fight thirty men before his thirtieth year on earth.
   No one had the guts to challenge him for three whole months, but finally challengers began to arrive, and soon he had seven challengers from across Europe.
   He smashed all comers with lance, sword, or pole-arm, and came away from the event undefeated.
​   This got him invited into the legendary Order of the Golden Fleece, a chivalric organization that the king consulted on all his martial endeavors.
    
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Jacques de Lalaing: Order of the Golden Fleece
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The Revolt of Ghent on July 3, 1453
   Unmatched man-to-man his entire life, Jacques finally fell to cannon-fire during the Revolt of Ghent on July 3, 1453, fighting for Philip the Good.
   Assumably his foes were too terrified to come within sword-range of him, so they just shot at him with cannons until they succeeded in putting him down.
    Phillip the Good, so enraged over Jacques' death, executed everyone in the castle that Jacques died attacking.
​   Thus ended the life of a true champion, and the model for every modern armored combat warrior.
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The Keys To Successful Training

2/11/2016

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By Evan Ringo

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Evan Ringo, or just "Ringo" as he is known around the Hall, has been training at The Knights Hall, New Hampshire, since 2013. In   2015 he won the North American title as Singles Sword Champion. Ringo joined the Team USA and competed in the 2015 IMCF World Championships in Poland for Singles Sword and the 16 v 16 man team, bringing home the Silver. Ringo is on the Regional Team for The New England Executioners and part of the local chapter - The Nashua Knightmares. Currently Ringo is making plans to compete in the 2016 IMCF World Championships to be held this year in Portugal.
In terms of skills and abilities, armored combat is one of the most diverse sports in the world.

Physically, it requires every type of fitness...
strength,
speed,
agility,
balance,
explosive power,
endurance, and
recovery.

Mentally it requires a knowledge of
team tactics,
a cool head,
quick thinking,
and an understanding of measure.

Add to that the learned skills a person needs to succeed;
weapon skill,
striking with fists and feet,
grappling and throws,
how to move in kit,
how to utilize the rail and
team takedowns…

Put these all together and it’s easy to see just how complex this sport is. That complexity is part of the fun, but it is also one of the largest challenges.

Learning and training for the different mental and physical aspects are quite the chore. Naturally, there’s going to be many different philosophies and strategies to prepare for victory. Some will be better than others and at this early point in the sport, it’s hard to figure out which is which.

I’m lucky enough to train with some of the best armored combat fighters in America. I’ve been blessed to watch them evolve in their training as they’ve studied, experimented and applied their knowledge. I believe that the key to their success comes from their continual exploration of strategies and diverse training methods.

However, you can’t just take any variety of training methods and assume one mix is as good as another. There are certain aspects of this sport that are beyond priority, they are simply stated, a prerequisite to being competent. After those fundamentals are covered, attacking the priority skills are next and it’s important that when focusing on them, you make sure you are not just training for them, but training for them correctly. Of course, this is beyond "general" at this point and thus completely useless. I’m not quite ready to give practical "advanced training" advice, yet. We still have some basic concepts to cover.

Training can basically be broken into 4 areas.
(This isn’t the only way of categorizing them, just the one I prefer)
​
I believe they should be implemented in this order:
  • Fitness: Training that’s primarily focused on increasing general physical ability, instead of a specific skill.
  • Drills: Focused repetitive movements designed to teach a small number of discrete skills.
  • Sparring: A free form method of training to get “a feel for” an actual fight
  • Study: This is time spent reading, watching, or thinking about fighting.

It’s totally possible for certain training tools to fit into two or more of these areas and few may fall neatly into one, but each tool will have a certain way it should be used. At its basic level, we can break down the type of training needed and when to implement it.

Fitness:
Muscular Endurance And Recovery

Before anything else, fitness is crucial. Not just strength, speed, or even endurance, but overall fitness. Cardio is king… Not the long slow cardio of a distance runner, but the explosive cardio of a wrestler. You need to have muscular endurance and recovery, because there will be times you are putting out a near 100% physical effort for over a minute, only to start going again 10 seconds later.

Worse than that, your rest is not a real rest. You’re still carrying a minimum of 50 pounds of armor, if not more. For this type of endurance and recovery training, you need intervals, (But not just sprints!) Your interval training needs to be a whole body exercises that work everything... It needs to be a mix of movements that target:
core, shoulders, quads, hamstrings, triceps, pecs, and...well everything. You need all the muscles.

As always, I think the “Knight Fit” workout is one of, if not the best version of these, but the crucial part is that it’s a full body interval workout.

After you have your base fitness down, you may think it’s time to learn to hit things. Nope. Sorry, you’re still not ready for the ultra-violence. Got get your milk first. And by milk I mean agility and balance.

Drills:
Agility and Balance

Moving in armor is not like anything else. Your center of balance is completely different. Your vision is quartered at best and less than a 1/10th in some cases. You need to learn to handle this.
​Good starting drills are the tires or ladders at speed, keeping your head up.
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​“Do not look at your feet”
let your body learn how to move through the obstacles on instinct.
From there, add either your helmet or your leg armor... (Not both!) Adding the helmet will get you used to limited vision and breathing. Adding the legs will get you used to movement.
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“Be careful with these drills!”
Doing them too fast when you’re tired can, very quickly, lead to injuries. Sprained ankles are common, especially when adding the helmet. Eventually you’ll want to build up to using your full kit for this, but that’s a slow build. Every piece you add increases the likelihood of injury in training. Make sure you are prepared before you move to that step.
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You might think you are ready for sparring here….and you’d be wrong.
It’s time for more drills.

Drills, Drills and more Drills

Now, you don’t have to get to “full kit agility drills”, to start adding, “striking” or “grappling” drills to your training. Most of us end up fighting “in kit” within a month of getting armor, (which can be dangerous). The ability to stay on your feet and keep your balance is key to being useful for your team, (you can’t do anything from the ground can you?) Staying on your feet is also important for protecting yourself from injury. Bad falls are the most common injury in this sport.

As you begin to get into your “violence drills”, falls will become inevitable. You should start with “safe falling drills”. This will help to prevent injury during training and hopefully penetrate into your brain so that while fighting you can fall and land safely in harness.

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​"Do not forget to practice, safe falling drills!"
I encourage you to practice “safe falling drills” every time you do a grappling session. Basically, everyone in this sport starts off grappling as their default attack. The problem is that few people know any throws that leave them standing, (if they know any throws at all), and even fewer still, know how to do them in armor.

A Word On Throws
​
​Get yourself a mat and some protective gear and work on one throw. Personally I suggest the hip toss. It’s simple, it can be pulled off in armor without perfect form, and it teaches you how to;
resist being stabilized, 
throw without falling, and 
how to land safely. ​
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“Whichever throw you pick, you should come back to it often before trying to learn a new one.”
Alright now it’s time to spar right?
Nope.

There is one more drill, we need to cross off our list.

Basic striking
There are a variety of strikes we use in bohurt;
Punches,
Kicks,
Sword blows,
Axe blows,
Butt Strikes,
knee strikes, (front or side with weapon only)
elbows strikes,
and even head-butts.

When first learning how to strike, I would suggest a basic sword blow and straight punch. A sword blow can easily function as a jab or hook, leaving the straight punch to act as the “2” in the normal
“1-2”, Jab-Cross or “1-2-3” Jab-cross-hook, combo.
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It’s also key that you learn to use a weapon, before trying to swing it wildly. For one, you’ll have no power and therefore it’ll be useless, and two, it's very likely to hurt your elbow or shoulder from throwing blows incorrectly.

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“Spend some quality time working on a pell to get your form down.”
Sparring
Finally, time to spar. 
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Let’s put on our full kit and go at it.
“Only if we want to break our equipment and our bodies.”
Full kit sparring is important and needs to be part of any full training program. However, constant sparring will put a lot of wear on the gear that you rely on to protect you. And no matter how safe the gear is, adding full kits and weapons, drastically increases the likelihood of serious injury. I personally would suggest no more than once a month full kit /full armored /full contact sparring, (outside of an event that you can go to).

Instead of full harness sparring, I suggest a protective, sturdy and less damaging gear for practice. Boffers, Rattan, wasters, etc for weapons and *plastic or padded armor for protection.
*(see Knights Hall SoftFight gear).
This will allow for the training you need, yet limit the wear on your gear and your body.

           
                                                                              ~
Quick story.
​I went out to New Mexico to see my brother and got a bunch of semi-local people to come spar with me. One of them drove 4 hours, just to fall in full kit and break his ankle. Fast forward 3 months, I’m sparring in soft kit at the knights hall and I throw my opponent. He lands on my ankle and rolls it. The difference? I was more mobile and my opponent wasn’t an extra 50-80 pounds. I’m certain in full kit that same situation I’m out for at least a month. Instead I took 2 days and was back in action.
                                                                               ~
In addition to the safety aspect there are a number of advantages to lighter simulations. One is the ease of putting on and wearing the gear. Putting full kit on takes a half hour at least and every fight is tiring in the extreme. It’s not worth suiting up in full harness to only have one or two matches. If you decide to go for an hour, far more time is spent resting. Lighter kits just let you fight more.

The second advantage is the reduction of difficulty and complexity. Full harness fighting is hard and it always feels like there’s more going on than fighting out of harness. The extra weight, the reduced breathing and vision, the weird articulation, these are all factors that distract you while you’re fighting. It feels faster and more desperate. This is something you will need to get used to and nothing will prepare you like full kit sparring, but full kit sparring will make it much harder to work on new techniques.


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​“Sparring is meant to teach. The key aspect is to try and think through the fight and actively work on a particular skill. It is simply easier to do this in a soft kit than it is in full armor.”
Study

The final aspect of training is study. This one is easy. Watch your fights. Watch other people fight. Read about fighting. Watch videos on fighting technique. Try and pick up things from every other fighting sport. Watch melee matches and actively try and break down what gave victory to the winner. Basically, think about fighting as much as possible. The key to this though is that the newer you are to fighting the less faith you give to your ideas. Try and learn from everywhere, but stick to what your teachers are giving you until you become a competent fighter. Once you have a good base you can start to implement all the things you’ve studied.

    Summing Up

  1. It’s important to make sure that first your fitness is on point. All your training will build on this.
  2. Next begin doing drills, starting with agility and balance drills, before moving to grappling and striking drills. 
  3. You will never really develop good striking if you don't put in your 10,000 hours. (And that’s done at the pell, not in the lists!) 
  4. If you have drills and fitness in your routine, start adding actual sparring, but don’t go from zero to 60 right out the gate. Limit things and in particular, try to be safe and protect both your gear and your body. (A soft kit will greatly increase quality sparring time.)
  5. There’s a lot of thinking that sparring is the best way to learn, but it’s far more important you learn to master your individual skills first. (Go back to points 1, 2 & 3)
  6. Matches, tournaments, and fighting at events will all become just sparring, if you don’t have time to get sparring into your training. 
  7. After you have put all these together, you can start to make insights about fighting and that comes from watching other fights in the ring, critically reviewing your own fights and watching fight videos. When you have a free moment pop onto youtube and pay attention.

    Alright, that’s enough ranting for now. Hope to see you in the Lists.
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A Different Kind of Honor

1/20/2016

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A Different Kind of Honor 
by Lane Atteridge

Lane has been involved in the ACS since 2014. He traveled with The USA Knights to Poland in 2015, competing in the IMCF World Championships and is the current Captain of the Boston Dark Knights. He trains at The Knights Hall in Nashua, New Hampshire. 
“Well, you wouldn't want to attack a man with his back turned, that's not honorable.” I overheard a fan saying after our latest Chapter Match. His sentiment is completely understandable from an outsider's perspective, but misses the mark a bit. The brutality of this sport sometimes makes spectators think we adhere to a set of vague guidelines on top of the rules of the sport. Maybe some do, but I have a good reason for following the letter of the law when it comes to rules, no more and no less. It's a different sort of honor, one that is not immediately apparent to an outsider. It can be broken into two pieces, “Honor your Teammates” and “Honor your Opponent.”

Honor your Teammates
    This sport is no joke. Broken bones and concussions abound, armor failures lead to bloody scars and I've seen more than one man spit out his own teeth. I've only been fighting for a year and a half. This level of violence leads to injury, and the old saying goes “It's not a question of if, but a question of when.” Some of these injuries can be career-enders. You get a stray shot to the knee with a polearm and suddenly you're walking with a limp for the rest of your life, and get to watch your buddies fight from a comfy seat on the sidelines. We're warriors, it's in our blood, and the idea of getting retired by a blow is a very real and very terrifying thought. While good armor and training can mitigate this risk, it can never go away. Damaging another human is the core tenant of our sport. So how do we come to terms with this? We fight hard, and we fight fast, and we protect the people standing next to us.     “Honoring your Teammate” means doing anything and everything to stop another fighter from hurting them. If you hesitate, if you pull punches, if you stop and worry about hurting the man on the other side of the list field, that moment could cost your teammate. If you pull your punches on an attack from behind, that might not be enough to stop your enemy from swinging his weapon into your teammates hip. That weapon swing might be the swing that misses armor and lands straight on flesh and bone, destroying both. That might put your teammate out for days, weeks, years, or retire them forever. In the context of our sport, it would be your fault for hesitating, because your opponent is fighting just as hard for his own teammate. Ending the fight quickly will be your best insurance against a friend and teammate getting injured, and sometimes the only way to end a fight quickly is by brutality. When you rely on your team, and your team relies on you, hesitation to hurt people is not an option.

Honor your Opponent
    Steel Fighting takes a certain kind of person, I think we all know that. New fighters are entering the sport constantly these days, and I am seeing new faces at every event. I don't know these men, and they don't know me. So I fight them as hard as I can, and I expect no less from them. A sign of respect is treating every opponent like a dangerous adversary, even if it's their first day in armor. Part of that is respect for anyone willing to get in kit and get out on the field. It takes guts, and I admire anyone who is willing to do it. I'm going to treat them with the same level of reverence and respect as a storied warrior who has been fighting for years, because I respect the act of getting out there and fighting. Another aspect of honoring your opponent speaks to the danger inherent in this sport. Someone could have never held a falchion in their life, but it comes naturally to them, and they start swinging it with bone-breaking power. You have no idea what you're coming up against, and so I treat all comers with respect, because underestimating them could land myself or a teammate in the hospital.
    When I had my second Knight Fight, I went up against the legendary Dave “The Mangler” Olsen, and he took me to task. In the last round of the fight, I was exhausted and my arms were lead, and I literally couldn't defend myself from his blows. But I wasn't kneeling, or saying yield, but I was stubbornly staying on my feet the best I could. After four or five clean, unimpeded punches and chops to my head from The Mangler, I saw him hesitate for just a heartbeat. It was a stutter in his swings, a momentary calculation. He knew he could just step back and wait, seeing if I would yield, or the ref would call a TKO. But he did me the great honor of hitting me as hard and as fast as he could until the bell sounded. I truly take that as an honor, and I know it sounds insane, but taking pity on my exhausted body and just stepping back would have been devastating to me. He had won the round, and with that won the match, but he still treated me like a legitimate threat until the end. It was an honor.

Fighting Your Hardest for Yourself, Your Team, Your Opponents
    A lot of people like to talk a lot of things about honor, and off the field “honor” can be a lot of things, too many and too varied to talk about here. But on the field, this is what I consider to be the most honorable actions. It seems strange, my honor code seems to demand hitting opponents as hard as I can in weakly armored areas, or grabbing them and turning them to a friend who will hopefully do the same. It's counterintuitive until you realize what it would mean if you didn't do these things. To me, these guidelines are unwavering rules, etched in stone, letting me know that I gave my all on the field.

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KnightFight® (Part 2)

1/8/2016

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So, You want to have a KnightFight®

By Evan Ringo

So, you want to have a KnightFight®, do you? Good. They’re fun. More than that they are, in my opinion, the purest form of this competition.
         
Want to find out what you’re made of? Want see how good you really are? This is the place. No one to carry your slack and no one else’s slack for you to carry. Duels are fun, but they don’t have the violence. Melee’s are great, but they lack that mano y mano aspect. No, this is it… The purest, rawest, and in my opinion, most enjoyable aspect of our infant sport.

In case you weren’t sold before I hope you are now, but regardless you’re probably asking yourself some questions. What’s the fight really like? How’s my training line up to this competition? What do I need to pull this off? And how can I get myself a fight? If those aren’t the questions you’re asking….I guess you’re out of luck. Cause that’s what I’m gonna answer. Or I guess you could comment below or reach out to me personally and I’ll try to help, but it won’t be in this article. This one is gonna answer the pre picked question like it was a presidential debate. Yeah, Politics!
    
   Where Do I Start? How Do I Know When I’m Ready?
Let’s deal with what you need to pull this off. First and foremost, Information. You need an accurate assessment of where you are as a fighter. You need to know the rules. You need to know how your gear works, what weapons you have access to, what weapons your proposed opponent has access to, and how they fight with it. Let’s break that down a bit more.

   The Rules...
Well, we’re still working on them. Read the singles rules for duels. That’s basically the same.
  1. Remove anything that prohibits kicks or punches, (though the knee and groin as targets are still off limit), 
  2. 5 rounds, not 3.
  3. It’s subjectively scored, based on fight dominance and weapon dominance.
  4. Clinches will be broken up after 3 seconds always, not 3 seconds of inactivity.
  5. No striking a downed opponent and
  6. no fighting once you’ve fallen (3 points of contact).
  7. In terms of judging, weapons strikes are worth twice non weapon strikes or takedowns where both fighters fall.
  8. Take downs where one fighter keeps their feet are worth twice weapon strikes.
  9. Disarms are not officially recognized in such a manner, but I’d say they are weighted about the same a takedown where you keep your feet.
  10. Each round is scored  by 3 judges,
                       A) 10 to the winner,
                       B) 9 to the loser unless the winner was truly dominant
                            in which case the loser may get 8 or even 7.
                       C) Penalties will remove a point from the total  
                       D) Knocking an opponent out or causing them to submit will also grant victory.
                       E) Fighters are given 1 minute of total time to fix any armor problems. If they can not fix                             it before that time elapses they forfeit the match.  
                       F) The total after all rounds are added up to determine the winner.

    Assessment:
          Getting an accurate assessment of yourself as a fighter is not easy. You need to give yourself a hard look in the mirror. Don’t look away from your faults, but you also can’t focus so much on them that you lose sight of your prowess.
  1. First off, are you in shape? No really, I mean “300”, “Adonis”, or even “Conan”, shape. You don’t want to carry extra fat into this fight, especially if it pushes you into a higher weight class.
  2. Can you do a full 5 minute Schifino work out? How bout 10 minutes? KnightFights® are a grueling endurance event and it’s absolutely essential you get your body in place, before anything else. Think about what your weight would be at 12-15% body fat. What weight class does that put you in? Try to aim for that. If you’re on the border you can bulk or cut as you feel works better for you.
  3. What weapons are you skilled in? How are you kicks and punches? What’s your grapple game like? Figure out what you’re strongest asset is and build your fight game around it. Figure out what your biggest “hole” is and spend the next few weeks and months trying to close it. Ask others for their assessment of you. Take the time to watch videos of yourself, especially ones where you lose. Figure out what you did wrong.  We’re all new at this game and right now we all have huge gaps. You’re going to get the most out of your training time by self assessing and closing your biggest holes.

 Accessories:
Make sure you have the accessories you need.
  1. A Full suit of armor per 
  2. Weapons combination that matches your opponents and also meets the rules, posted above. You want to know how your weapon moves, where your armor gaps or binds and how your want your points to sit, exactly. You don’t have time to be fussing with that the day of the fight so spend some time getting to know your armor before hand.
  3. A mouth guard, no exceptions! 
  4. A squire and my personal recommendation is that they know how to fight so they can act as a corner man. You only get one.
  5. Some form of cold compress that can go on your neck or under your arms
  6. A  water bottle that you can drink out of - in your helmet. You don’t ever want to take the helmet off. Open your visor but don’t take your helmet off.

Ok, Now you know what you need, time to look at your training and how it holds up to your competition .Well, I don’t know what your local competition is doing, but the most successful fighters out of “The Knights Hall” do 3 team sessions a week as well as 2-4 additional training sessions. Team sessions consist of a warm up, a Knightfit®, and some combination of footwork, pell work, bag work, agility drills, grappling drills, melee teamwork drills, or sparring. (It’s a minimum 6 hours a week as a team.)
Brandon Ross, (Captain of the Knightmares), supplements this with a few days of heavy weight training. I do 2-3 additional days of weapon technique classes and sparring, and try to get at least 2 additional days of 30 minutes at the pell or heavy bag and at least one day running. To break that down, if you want to compete physically you need to be training a minimum 5 days a week, (which should really be 6 or 7 depending on what you need for rest days).    
    
    Training:
Assuming you’re going to take on a 5 to 7 day regime, what should you do for your training? Well first you need to “cardio-up” and in particular, get  your, “recovery” and ability to “maintain”, at max output. You need to be doing some form of interval training at least twice a week. I’d suggest getting a heart rate monitor and making sure you are getting your HR into 90% or more of your max. Next, you need to have your, “striking” up, so make sure you’re doing at least one day of pell and bag work. The rest should address your weaknesses. If you can’t do a Schifino®, you aren’t ready in cardio and just need to keep upping that. If you can, but find that you get thrown a lot in sparring, you need balance. Do some lunges, boardwalks, (place a 2by4 on its side and walk the length), pistols, and single leg deadlifts. Practice footwork every day. If you find you’re punching is good, but you can’t swing a 6 shot sword combo, get on that pell, everyday. Find your weakness and train it. And, no matter what, Spar as much as possible. I can’t stress this enough! Nothing helps train fighting like fighting. Feel free to message me if you want specific advice. I’m not an expert by any means, but I have a clue.

    Getting a fight:
So, you have an idea what you need and plan to train, but now how do you get a fight? Well first you need to find an event. Unless you can make The Knights Hall,  KnightFight® , night or you plan on putting on an event yourself, you’re gonna need to get in contact with a regional commander or chapter head and try to arrange for a spot at one of their events. If you want to arrange your own KnightFight®, “only”, event that’s a whole different thing and Cat or Jaye Brooks would be far better than me to talk to that. When you contact the event runner tell them you’d like to fight at their event either before or after the melee’s, or in between rounds to fill an intermission break. If you get their ok, that’s good, but you still need to do some work. If you’re really lucky the event organizer will have everything handled for you, but don’t assume anything.

  Find an opponent in your weight class.
Weight Classes:
  1. (Featherweight - 140 and under),  
  2. (Ultra Lightweight 141-160),
  3. (Lightweight 161-180),
  4. (Middleweight 181-220),
  5. (Heavyweight 221-260),
  6. (Titan Class 261+)

  Pre Planned Arrangements For KnightFight® Match:
  1. Judges, (You’ll need to find 3 judges who understand boxing scoring as well as weapon fighting).
  2. A referee. (You can probably get one of the refs at the event already to double duty, but you’ll want to make sure they know all the details and have contacted Jaye T Brooks Sr. so they can be clear on all interpretations.)
  3. You’ll need a way of verifying weigh within the week before the fight.  
  4. You’ll want to have a DJ to play entrance music for you and your opponent,
  5. an MC to introduce you and explain the fight to the crowd,
  6. a videographer to film it. And If you’re really together,
  7. Get some commentators for a “Live Stream”.

As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into these fights and unfortunately we as fighters have to play multiple roles; promoter, trainer, and fighter. That’s what it takes to build this new aspect up and build it up we will. If you want to get in early, be on crest of the wave as it builds, now is the time to get in. So go get to work and I’ll see you in the List.
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Weapon Of Choice

12/14/2015

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Rookie to Rookie: Weapon Choice
By Lane Atteridge
A few fights into my rookie year, I started to notice a shift in how I fought. For a long time, I might as well have had a pool cue in my hand, for all the good it did me. But as I got better at field position, at keeping my feet, and at moving around a bit in armor, I started to question what weapon I held in my hand. I found myself in positions where I could be doing some damage to my opponent, but found I lacked the offensive output to do very much.
    That problem of mine was two-fold. First off, I wasn't very good at throwing a weapon shot. A year later, and I'm still not great at it, but I'm getting there. So, my damage output was lacking, because of my swings, and how unskilled they were. Compounding that issue was my hatchet and buckler. Early on, a loaner weapon that was available to me was a one-handed axe with a tomahawk type head, and it was fairly small and light. In my other hand, I held the free buckler I was lucky enough to get packaged in with my armor when I bought my kit. I was clinching a lot in the old days, relying on my rusty Muay Thai skills to survive. I rarely had a chance to use my weapon and shield, beyond the occasional buckler punch to the face. When I found myself surviving the scrums more and more, I also found myself with an exposed opponent's back. I needed to try something new.
    First step was turning my buckler into a more offensive weapon. Cat Brooks developed what we affectionately call the “Punch Buckler,” (a strapped version of the classic buckler). There's advantages and disadvantages here, but personally I love it. A small, metal shield turned on it's edge is almost like punching with the striking edge of an axe. It can slip through defenses like a jab, and can find open spots like a weapon strike. It's small enough that it doesn't get tangled up in a grapple. And, it's still a shield; I've got creases on it to show where I've caught a two-handed strike.
    Next was trying to figure out my main-hand weapon. Early on, I was barely using my weapon at all. So it seemed a no-brainer to stick a heavier axe in my hand, so that when I did swing it, I did it with some meaning behind it. It worked just OK. The “dread axe” head that is so popular as a two-handed axe head these days was my one-handed axe, and that was a mistake. It was too heavy, I couldn't get any snap to it. The plus side of the weapon was that when I got ignorant and desperate, I could slide my hand up and punch with it. That happened more than I'd like to admit.
    I've since changed to a falchion. It's the same weight as my axe, but more evenly distributed throughout the weapon. I've been fighting with it for quite a while, and I still feel like I'm learning. But it's quicker, has a bit more reach, and is easier to toss out a quick slash. Then, when I want to switch to a more offensive output role (like a teammate is tangled with an opponent, and I have their exposed side), the falchion has enough weight so I'm a threat.
    That's a step forward, but I'm by no means done experimenting with weaponry. I talked mostly about one-handed weapons here, and that's because my two-hander skills are far behind my other skills. I've played with them in melee and found myself holding it in one hand, and punching with the other. Brandon Ross, my brother and captain of the Knightmares, took to a two-handed weapon like a natural. He quickly found out his college baseball skills were translating into power generation, making his two-handed hits brutally effective.
    Don't ever stop experimenting with weapons. Some fighters fall into the trap of “I'm worried if I switch I'll be at ground zero again,” and that is partly true. But the benefits of finding a weapon that fits your style outweigh the risks. Switch weapons with your training partner. Goof around on the pell with something you borrow for the day. Explore all options, because you might find the perfect thing out there for you. And worse case scenario, you get a little experience with a variety of weapons, which is never a bad thing.

​
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