The Articles

The two articles that we read this week were both informative and interesting. The first that I read was "Getting the Feel for Steel". This article went into more depth about sword handling, and safety. Most of the information that was there was covered in class already but it included a few handy tips and exercises that were new and it was still informative. I thought the part that went into specifics about handling and control was most helpful. I liked the advice,to hold the grip like a small bird, tight enough so it wont fly away but not tight enough to crush it. Cradling the grip as opposed to the "Conan Grip" is definitely some solid advice that i figured out the hard way on day one.

The second article was called "Crossing Swords" and it went over the safety aspects involved with actually practicing with a partner. It reviewed things like safe distance, footwork, blades meeting edge to edge, and eye contact. A cool thing that was included at the end was a list of twenty rules essential for safe blade handling. Seeing as we have been working with the steel for a few days now there weren't any surprises in the list but that was a good thing that meant Jenn has been keeping us safe and doing her job, yay! One thing that the article did mention that I realized I need to work on is stopping my blade more on my attacks as to not damage the blades, and making it less terrifying for my opponent.

Peter Van Atta