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95 results for “training”
Advanced Tracking & Counter-Tracking
Reading sign on rock, sand, and hardpan. Aging tracks by moisture and wind. Counter-tracking -- how to move without leaving sign. I could track a man across bare rock by the scuff marks and disturbed pebbles. Tip: Everything that moves leaves evidence. Your job is to see what others walk past.
Gallic Cavalry Charge Training
The Gallic cavalry was the finest in pre-Roman Europe. Charge tactics, wheeling formations, pursuit and withdrawal. I will teach you to control a warhorse at full gallop in formation. Tip: The charge is not about speed. It is about mass, timing, and the nerve to hold formation until impact.
Viking Axe & Round Shield Training
Bearded axe and lime-wood round shield. The axe hooks shields aside, the rim of your own shield is a weapon. Viking combat is aggressive, mobile, and brutal. Tip: The axe does not need a sharp edge to break bones. Weight and leverage do the work. Fight with the shield, kill with the axe.
Dane Axe (Two-Handed, 5-Foot Haft)
The great Dane axe -- a 5-foot hafted weapon that could split a man from shoulder to hip. No shield when you carry this. Your reach is your defense. The Varangian Guard used these in Constantinople. Weighted training replica, hickory haft.
Viking Shield Wall Drill -- Group Combat
Group training (8-16). The Viking shield wall: overlapping shields, spears over the top, axes hooking from the sides. When the wall holds, nothing breaks through. When it breaks, everyone dies. Tip: The man who steps back first kills the man beside him. Hold the wall.
Reconquista Cavalry Training -- Lance & Sword
Mounted combat in the Iberian style. Lance charge, transition to sword, fighting in mixed Christian-Muslim forces. The Reconquista lasted 700 years -- we learned from the Moors as much as we fought them. Tip: Your enemy is also your teacher. Study what defeats you.
Naginata Training -- The Warrior Woman's Weapon
The naginata -- a curved blade on a long pole, the traditional weapon of the onna-bugeisha (female warrior). Sweeping cuts, thrusts, and the devastating ankle strikes that unhorse mounted samurai. I will teach you the kata and free sparring. Tip: Reach defeats strength. Keep them at naginata distance and they cannot touch you with a sword.
Samurai Mounted Archery (Yabusame) Training
Yabusame: mounted archery at gallop, hitting targets on a narrow lane. Sacred Shinto practice and deadly combat skill. Draw, release, recover -- all while controlling the horse with your knees. I will start you at a walk. The gallop comes when the horse says you are ready.
O-Yoroi Samurai Armor Set (Display & Training)
Full o-yoroi great armor -- lamellar plates, silk lacing, iron kabuto helmet with menpo face guard. Designed for mounted archery. The wide shoulder guards deflect arrows from above. Heavy but magnificent. I wore armor like this when I took heads at Awazu.
Shawnee War Tomahawk & Trade Knife Set
Forged iron tomahawk (throwing and hand combat) and trade knife in leather sheath. The tomahawk is balanced for both throwing and fighting. The trade knife is the everyday tool of the woodlands. I will teach you the standing throw at 15 paces and the fighting grip for close work.
Woodland Warfare & Ambush Tactics
Fighting in the eastern forests. Ambush placement, tree-line defense, river crossing interdiction. The Shawnee were masters of woodland warfare -- we knew every trail, every crossing, every blind turn. Tip: In the forest, the defender is invisible and the attacker is blind. Make the forest your ally.
Chinese Dao Sword & Crossbow Training
The dao -- single-edged, slightly curved, the workhorse of the Chinese military for a thousand years. Combined with crossbow marksmanship for both mounted and foot combat. I used these for twelve years in the field. Tip: Consistency beats brilliance. Practice the same cut ten thousand times until it is perfect, then practice it ten thousand more.
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