Swords move really fast

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Check out the sequence of pictures. The sword starts in a point backwards cutting position, like Meyer high guard, ends in a wide position. No step but the torso has twisted though and this is quite obviously a strong blow.

These photos bring it home to me about how fast swords move, something that I'm not really conscious of when I'm training. In this sequence each frame is a tenth of a second, so this heavy blow took 0.3 seconds to execute from start to finish. The blow to the bottle probably less than 0.1 seconds (see how the sword is already through the bottle in the middle picture).

This is a good illustration of Silvers idea of Place, that if your opponent is in a position where they can attack an opening without having to step then there is pretty much nothing you can do about it. It highlights the importance of reading your opponents intentions and setting corresponding body mechanics in place before someone is in this position.

Thanks to Ian Nelson for the photo.


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