Our conversations have brought up the issue of "guards". For those of you new to the swordplay/martial arts, a guard is a position one trains as a starting point and ending point for techniques. Many times the guards will be named after the strike that they re most associated with. I have decided to post a few of the basic guards for the Terra Prime Shii-Cho as a conversation starter.
This is the basic guard or "Ready Stance". If the weapon side foot is forward it is called "attack stance" because the weapon is in a position to attack swiftly. If the leg is reversed, it is called defense dance since it is more difficult to launch attacks with the simple techniques found in Shii-Cho. The points are:
1. Weapon point toward the opponent at about eye level.
2. The stance is firm and the gaze is straight.
3. Keep the legs and knees loose and be ready to move.
4. Try not to square off too much to the front and refers to the footwork section of our videos for proper lower body mechanics.
using these lower body concepts you can combine them with the basic guard positions:
Jedi Guard or example:
Or high parry:
This will lead into more opportunities for techniques and attacks. Guards are fundamental skills that set the professionals apart from the ammeters. More to come.
