Sword Technique Page 15
INDEX
Florentine Style (2 Swords) 1. Invest time in learning how to fight with other weapon styles, especially weapon and shield, spear, and red. These are probably the weapon styles you will most encounter in Dagorhir. You don't necessarily have to become expert at any of these. It's mainly for you to gain experience in the basic attacks and defenses of each style. 2. Build the longest swords you can wield effectively. This may be a process of trial and error. While short two-sword is an extremely fast style, it requires you to get "up close and personal" with your opponent. Whenever possible, I prefer engaging an opponent outside his or her effective attack range. 3. When building weapons for the two-weapon style, I always build them in pairs. I've found that I have a better chance of building similarly weighted and balanced swords when I build them at the same time. 4. Use the same length of weapon for each hand. Using a shorter weapon is faster for blocking. However, your effective attack range for using both weapons is defined by the shorter weapon. 5. Use both weapons with the swords held normally. Some fighters prefer fighting in the two-weapon style with their off-hand weapon held pommel up. While this can be effective for blocking, it can limit the types of attacks you can use. Wrist-snap stabs (where you snap the wrist up as you bring the sword tip forward) aren't effective against armor. I've also found that I don't have good control or give good, solid hits when executing draw/slicing cuts you would have to use when holding the weapon with the blade pointing down. 6. It helps to get a buckler to defend against missile weapons. 7. You have two weapons. Both can be used for attack or defense. Many people I've seen transitioning to two-sword from shield and weapon often use the off-hand (where their shield used to be) as a shield only. Using both weapons for attacking allows you to engage your opponent from multiple angles. Against a person wielding a shield and weapon, you can use multiple attacks to force him or her to move the shield in a certain direction and create an openings. 8. Practice! Practice! Practice! You have to develop muscle memory for each arm for both attack and defense. Constant repetition and patience are critical especially in developing your off-hand (unless you're gifted with ambidexterity--Dex!!8) A couple of techniques I've used for practice are the heavy bag and visualization/shadow boxing. I would practice hitting a heavy bag using different combinations and moving around the bag while constantly striking. In visualization/shadow boxing, I would imagine the different possible attacks/defenses (See #1) that a fighter might use and imagine how I would respond to them. Then I would execute the movements. 9. Study the Filipino martial arts. It's basically stickfighting. The philosophy is that you learn how to fight with rattan sticks and then you can transfer that experience to unarmed combat or to any other weapon you might use. The drills are great for learning different two-weapon patterns and for developing your coordination. Their drills also help you to effectively integrate your attacks, defenses, and footwork.
