My dealings with Gallowglass Academy

I apologise if this is slightly off topic but since Allen Reed is a regular here I thought it was as good a place as any to post this.

I recently purchased a book from Gallowglass (to bring things on topic, it was Paulus Kal's "In Service of the Duke" fechtbuch, which is long out of print and I was delighted to find an as-new copy for original retail price) and the service I received was excellent. Andrea was extremely helpful, and the book travelled across the Atlantic and got to me in perfect condition, which is no mean feat as the posties tend to like to kick stuff around.

Just thought I'd say thanks to the Gallowglass team for this wonderful acquisition to my WMA library, and mention to everyone that if you have cause to do business with them then you are in good hands.

Thanks for the attaboy. Andrea always tries to do the best she can when she sells books. Hope you can make it to the States and drop by sometime.

Slung-Shots by the historian John Evangelist Walsh

I just started reading a true-crime book called Moonlight, by the historian John Evangelist Walsh. It is about a notorious 1857 murder case which took place in Illinois. The defendant's lawyer, a young fellow named Abraham Lincoln, won a spectacular "Perry Mason" victory. (This case, highly fictionalized, is a highlight of John Ford's film Young Mr. Lincoln.)

One thing that interested me was that the murder weapon was "a certain hard metallic substance commonly called a slung-shot (a lead ball encased in leather with a cord attached for swinging.)" It also turns out that Lincoln, as a young man, was an enthusiastic belt-wrestler. One of the decisive moments in Lincoln's early career came when he defeated Jack Armstrong, the champion of New Salem. The match got a bit rough towards the end, with both men resorting to foul tactics. The crowd, fearing for the safety of their local hero, threatened to riot. All turned out well in the end, however. Lincoln managed to stare down the crowd. Armstrong was so impressed by Lincoln's stamina and courage that the two men became lifelong friends. The rough-hewn folks of New Salem formed the core of Lincoln's Illinois constituency. 

Incredibly cool stuff; and I'm only on chapter two. I'm from ILL originally. There are many stories of Lincoln, but I didn't know about his wrestling. In England the policeman’s truncheon became known as a ‘life-preserver’ but in fact before that people carried a ‘self-defence’ weapon which was nicknamed the ‘life-preserver’. This consisted of a small (possibly lead) ball attached by cord/chain to a short stick. It was like a miniature mace which was small enough to be carried inside a coat pocket and was intended for use against footpads and suchlike. I wonder if this was similar/identical to the slung-shot?

Flip and Flick

Just Greg and I. We focused on the Cane in close range and confined spaces. We first defined what "close range" and "confined spaces" was in a historic context and then in the modern. We looked at Lang's "Flip" and "Flick," both my interpretation and Craigs. Then Lang and Vigny's bayonet related material. Examined the different grips used in the Lang and Vigny bayonet style material. We also brought in a bit of Cunningham work ("Double Guard"). Did a few drills using modified bayonet (Lang, Vigny, Cunningham) against a knife in a restricted area, then developed a "practice set" of chained techniques and defenses.

Followed this with an inclusion of the defenses against a grab from the "Cane and the Footpad" article along with the logical extensions for left or right use.

Finally, I taught one blood-choke using the cane which flows sometimes from Lang's "Flip." It's a variant of gyaku.

First Class!

Anybody first Class in this week from today! Any last minute advice?

I taught my first class a few weeks ago. I'm actually teaching my third tomorrow. My advice is this: know you'll screw up and accept it and just have fun! 

One thing I did for my second class was write on GIANT Post Its my choreography notes. I could see them easier to glance at and my class could "cheat" if they needed to. Since I don't have cuing down to a science yet, it was a great thing to do!

By the way, if your group is new to Turbo Kick too they really will only get about 4 layers or less. I didn't believe it, but low and behold, that's what happened. 

Yes, definitely write my notes out on something you can see so you can glance down at them. Keep your layers simple. You will do great! I haven't been teaching too long..:a little over a year, and the other day I froze during the warmup and couldnt remember what to do after the double bob and punches! Luckily there was another instructor in there and she started marching. Lol see, we will all mess up from time to time, but as long as we can laugh it off, we will be fine. :) 

Have fun and let us know how your first class goes. What round are u teaching?

Know that you will mess something up & embrace that. Focus on having fun & keeping your participants safe. If that means big ole' monster cheat sheets, then cheat away. Let them know that safety & a solid workout are your priority. You may not even need the notes, but with them you can have fun, monitor exertion levels & engage your students :o) Without the notes, you may prove that you nailed memorization, but at the expense of an amazing experience -- you build classes based on experience, not memorization skills.

Get a really good nights rest the night before! I was so nervous that I could not sleep, but it didn't help that I kept on practicing late that night. Lack of sleep just intensified my fears of being on stage and I completely blanked out and froze with a deer in headlights look on my face! Thankfully my second time went much better as I accepted my 1st experience and really it was not the end of the world and as I reflected I realized that in teaching group fitness, its the students experience in your class that matters the most! So I quit worrying about me and chose to be positive, excited, and full of energy for them. Just go with it...have fun and your class will too! :) 

This is all good stuff! I love the advice and reading your own personal stories. I'm going with R45. The presenter here kind of taught me how to break it down even more so it should be fairly easy for people new to Turbo.