Warm ups

1. Hand Weight Exercise
2. Dynamic Lunge Stretch
   (5 times for the lunge & 5 times for the recovery)
3. Translate & Turn
4. Lunge with resistance

Review Lesson 4

Recovery from the lunge

The Cavazione and regaining control

The cavazione (called a disengage in modern parlance) is the response to the gain of the sword, allowing us to regain control of the line. Allowing the opponent to gain our sword breaches the Prime Directive, because it is very stupid to allow the opponent to take control of our sword.

A lot of this lesson also revolves around the understanding of tempo, as the students learn the actions being studdied in this lesson rely on the correct use of tempo to succeed.

The Cavazione in Response to the Gain to the Outside

1. The Active Student gains the sword on the outside line.
2. Passive Student disengages anticlockwise under the sword, to gain on the inside, turning the hand into 4th just as they close the line, and then hitting to the chest or face with a glide.
3. Repeat 5 times and then switch roles.

Teaching Notes:

1. The sword tip should appear to spiral inwards in response to the Active Student’s attempt to gain the sword. The disengage must start before the Active Student completes the gain / touches the Passive Student’s sword.
2. The disengaging tip should move just around the opponent’s blade, not their hilt furniture. The action is also made with the fingers & wrist, not the elbow & shoulder. It also helps the students to understand the action if the turning of the hand into 4th is emphasised as a rotation of the forearm.
3. This combination of disengage and glide is our first introduction to the concept of an attack into the preparation. The Active Student is committed to making the gain, which is a preparatory action to making the hit. The disengage and glide hits them during this preparation time.

The Cavazione in Response to the Gain to the Inside

1. The Active Student gains the sword on the Inside line.
2. Passive Student disengages clockwise under the sword, to gain on the outside, turning the hand into 2nd just as they close the line, and then hitting to the chest or face with a glide.
3. Repeat 5 times and then switch roles.
4. The teaching notes from the first drill also apply here.

The Cavazione in Response to the Gain to the Low Outside

1. The Active Student gains the sword on the low outside line.
2. Passive Student disengages clockwise over the sword, to gain on the low inside, turning the hand into 4th just as they close the line, and then hitting to the chest or face with a glide.
3. Repeat 5 times and then switch roles.
4. The teaching notes from the first drill also apply here.

The Cavazione in Response to the Gain to the Low Inside

1. The Active Student gains the sword on the low inside line.
2. Passive Student disengages anticlockwise over the sword, to gain on the low outside, turning the hand into 2nd just as they close the line, and then hitting to the chest or face with a glide.
3. Repeat 5 times and then switch roles.
4. The teaching notes from the first drill also apply here.

Attacking the Enemy Through the Cavazione

The cavazione against the gain relies upon evading the opponent’s sword before they complete the gain. The focus of this drill is to demonstrate that the cavazione itself consumes a tempo in its completion, through which the opponent may be hit.

1. Active Student gains the sword on the inside.
2. After the gain is completed, the Passive Student makes a cavazione to gain on the outside.
3. As the cavazione is being made, the Active student extends turning the hand into 2nd, hitting the Passive Student to the chest or face.
4. Repeat 5 times and then switch roles.
5. Repeat the entire sequence but this time with the gain to the outside, and a disengage to the inside.

Teaching Notes:

1. The counter to the disengage relies on the completion of the gain, to give the tempo in which to safely hit the opponent.
2. The safety of the counter also relies on the turn of the hand to close the line. Like the disengage, it is best to think of this turn as a rotation of the forearm. The basic rule is to turn the hand towards the disengaging blade. The extension forward should also not occur before the disengaging tip has passed under the forte, otherwise you are susceptible to a double hit due to the open line left by the false edge.

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