Thursday, July 24, 2014

Working on stuff

Last night's practice was mostly newish people, which meant, for me, working on on-side attacks, wraps and snaps and working the timing on the thrust and different shield manipulations with legged opponents. My head wrap sucks. I am thinking too much about what my target is instead of letting the stick do its work. I don't need to see the back of the head to know it is open and I think I need to just spend some time using the wrap and figuring out my timing on it for the head. I'm throwing the leg wrap just fine. Had good success with the diving wrap to the leg, just following the face of the shield down. I also really need to decide to work the side thrust and just do it -- on the pell it is so natural and then I get into the fight and I overthink it. If we do practice this weekend, I think the strategy will be to leg my opponents and then work the flourish with the side thrust. I am also doing this sort of sticky hands thing to control my opponents when we are both legged -- it feels supernatural and it is turning into an excellent way for me to control the fight in a way that allows me to be both offensive and defensive at the same time. I will need to try it some more with some more of the really kickass fighters to ensure it is a technique that will work with all sorts of styles. Kaz is officially going to make me a teardrop shield and I am going to give that a go for awhile. I am doing so with some trepidation as I love my heater and one of my big strengths, I think, is my offensive shield work -- and it will take some time to figure out how I am going to adapt to the centergrip and no corners. We'll see. Even if I don't stick with it longer than a year, it should make me a better fighter in the long run.