Scott Moyle came over last night intending to drop off something he had borrowed, and ended up staying for about 5 hours of spontaneous fighting fun! Among other things, I ran him through a crash course of what I’m calling “foundation principles or concepts.” These are concepts that — through my work with the Shenandoah project and its many participants — I am coming to understand as the consistent thread through all combat. Especially as a stage fighter who is expected to be able to fight with and teach ANY weapon or combat system, I feel that it is imperative to know and understand these concepts, and how to apply them. Once one can use and manipulate these principles, you will have better fights, as you will have a better understanding of how to adjust your actions, both to achieve better realism and higher safety.
We talked about so much stuff, I honestly can’t remember it all, but one of the things that really sticks out was body awareness, both awareness of how you’re using your own body, and of your relationship to the space around you. I love introducing these elements to new people, because it helps me to see what is consistently easy for people, and what is consistently difficult. Scott, like many people, has a bit of difficulty bending at the hip. Many of us are so trained to tuck the pelvis under, that when bending in the hip joint is required, it takes a lot of concentration. Last year, I took a couple of pilates lessons, and I was so surprised when I realized that my hip joint isn’t quite where I thought it was! Seriously! It seems so odd, but the socket itself is closer to the centre of the body! So odd, to discover something new about the thing you’ve been with all your life!
