Footwork & Shoulder Strength with Rapier

The ability to move your feet with swiftness and precision goes a long way in a sword fight. It helps you to arrive at the right place and at the right time. Need to get there? Footwork. Need to get away from there? Footwork. We’ll be working on lots of footwork combinations, both on their own and as they relate to sword turns and lunges.

Shoulder strength might be a bit of a misnomer, because we’re not all that obsessed with the size of our deltoids in this course. It has a lot more to do with the shoulder’s connection to the back and chest, making those connections deliberate, toned, and resilient to injury.

A note about warmup and physical readiness. I run a very short warmup at the beginning of class. Take what extra time you may need ahead of class to be able to move freely and sometimes quickly/explosively without risk of injury. Some of us (like me!) need more than a few minutes to warmup, while some require less. I’ll start the session about 15 minutes early, and you can follow my extended warmup or do one of your own.

Class Format

• 5 min: salute in, warmup and meditation
• 25 min: movements, strength-building, drills, student feedback, salute out
• 10 min: stretching
• q&a