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Sport Sword
Sword Fighting DVD from Guard Up
Guard Up Inc. 2004, 45 Minutes
The new Sport Sword DVD from Guard
Up is an introduction to Western
swordfighting using the widely popular Action
Flex safety sparring weapons. Unlike
homemade plastic-pipe-and-foam "boffer" swords of old which can still
hit incredibly hard, the Action Flex weapons are designed to allow
full power blows with safety. They are not realistic in terms of
weight or handing, but they are a lot of fun and can be useful in
training.
Though many martial art schools today are adding programs with these
weapons, Guard Up is the first commercial program to my knowledge to
be drawn from Western styles of swordplay. Most similar programs are
loosely based on Japanese sword arts and what is sometimes called
"Chanbara" (sword fighting like in Samurai films). Similarly, as
opposed to learning "serious" historical swordsmanship, the idea
behind Guard Up's Sport Sword program is to quickly introduce new
people to the ideas of Western swordplay and then let them have a lot
of fun whacking each other with safe foam swords.
While some might roll their eyes at this, I think it is a good way to
reach out to a new audience of people who might otherwise never get
involved with any kind of training what so ever, and may help get
them involved in more serious martial pursuits later on. This kind of
training is very exciting for kids while being so safe that there is
almost no way to get hurt (presuming you have a helmet on). I would
rather see kids doing this than playing video games or watching TV,
how about you? With the popularity of swords in movies, games, and
young adult fiction I think that programs like Sport Sword can spark
a special interest in the imagination that white gi's (uniforms)
can't always do.
The DVD opens with two chapters on Introduction
& Safety. These give you some history and background on the
program and set the ground work for learning Sport Sword. In addition
to discussing the necessary equipment, the correct mental attitude
and communication with your partners is stressed.
Four basic types of Footwork come next. Common mistakes in executing
these maneuvers are also shown, so students can correct themselves at
home. To make sure you know they are showing a mistake, a visual NO
symbol (the red circle with a slash across it) appears on the screen.
This is a nice touch and helps with learning. Also onscreen is the
name of the technique being taught, allowing you to better take notes
and find specific techniques within chapters while using the fast
forward or rewind button.
Afterwards, four simple Guards are taught with the one-handed and
two-handed sword. The use of the guards in both attack and defense is
shown, as is their combination with the footwork. To simplify
learning, the guards are given English names rather than the old
German or Italian equivalents.
Next comes Bladework, which teaches five essential movements of
swordfighting. These are the cut, the thrust, the parry, the beat,
and the evasion. Again these are shown with both one-handed and
two-handed weapons, allowing the student to draw the connecting
lines.
Tactics and Bonus Techniques round out the instruction on the DVD.
Tactics deals with four simple ideas which can help a fighter in
Sport Sword training, such as using range to defend while counter
attacking. The Bonus Techniques section is the longest one, showing
five specific fighting techniques utilizing all the footwork, guards,
bladework, and so on along with new movements such as the moulinet
and false-edge parry. Several sparring and evasion games are also
shown, giving you ideas of how to better practice Sport Sword.
The final chapter of the DVD shows footage of students enjoying Sport
Sword training.
Sport Sword is a good looking introduction to
fighting with the Action Flex weapons, using techniques based in
Western swordfighting. If you want to learn how to swordfight with
your kids, want to be better for LARP boffer-fighting, or are
interested in adding this kind of program to your school I would get
this DVD.
For instructors looking to add this sort of program, Sport Sword also
offers a full package with lesson plans, ads, and so on. I have not
seen this, however, so can not comment further (perhaps it will
become the basis for a future review).
The lighting, sound, camera work, editing, and
production on this DVD were all excellent. The use of on screen
graphics effectively helps in learning and allows you to easily fast
forward or rewind to the start of a specific section within a
chapter. This is a quality production job and very professional
looking. The students shown all look like they are really enjoying
the classes and games.