Guild Seminar in Tilburg 2005

The E.H.C.G. seminar in Tilburg 29/30 October 2005

This two-day seminar was held in the Netherlands in the city of Tilburg, organised by the Tilburg chapter.

The seminar was built up out of two 2-hour sessions each day and focused on the guild basics applied to staff weapons.

Friday the 28th

After Kristina and Jonathan had arrived at Eindhoven airport they were brought to Tilburg and dropped of at their hotel. The first room proved to have no shower, as was requested the second room had an old rusty shower and an even more ancient set of used underpants! After this a new hotel was found and a mix of instructors, assistants and members met up in one of Tilbury’s pubs for a nice chat a drink and a few laughs. The seminar would start at ten in the morning so everyone tried to go to bed early... some failed.

Saturday the 29th

After some coffee, the strange- flavoured girlie kind, the training started with the basic; attack defend traverse drills, this time focusing largely on the amount of distance one can make in a passing or single step.

Some members noted that the precise execution and form had changed since last they were at a seminar, and Jonathan and Kristina explained the reasons behind these small adaptations. We soon discovered that the Guild is trying to get to grips with the way the Principles should be trained and judged. Through more seminars we should be able to get a more unified base of Principles, not only in thought but also in execution.
After the ‘attack, defend, traverse, lunge drills’ we switched to staff weapons and did the same drills but now with a staff.

This was followed by drills were one had to avoid being hit without or with a weapon to defend yourself, again focusing on footwork, stepping off-line and continued facing of your opponent instead of simply stepping back and allowing you opponent to continue his assault.

We trained parries from the inside and outside followed by a counter attack, again using footwork to get you to safety and a better position to counter attack.

Emphasis was laid on eye contact to help you focus on the opponent, and where his attacks are coming from and determining the distance between you and your opponent. The sliding of the staff trough your hands to increase range and momentum and thus the force of the strikes was also introduced and discussed.

And finally the obligatory seminar group-picture was taken

After a hard day of training we went to freshen up and later that evening there was a nice dinner. Here were discussed al manner of things from guild principles to strange Dutch words, re-enactment and even world politics! Afterwards we met up with some other Chapter members in a pub, these poor souls had been unable to attend to the seminar but still wished to take part in the discussions, friendly talks and tall tale spinning that takes place after the training sessions.


Sunday the 30th

We started out this day without coffee but 1 hour less early.
There was a different group as some could only attend to the seminar one day. Again we started out with the basic drills focusing on footwork and eye contact.
And then we continued our training with staff weapons. Again focusing on moving in defence and attack to gain an advantage.

Next up were some techniques for closing in, both as defence and to facilitate a take down, throw, choke, push or combination.

After these we started training outside as it was splendid weather and we all could use some fresh air. Outside we continued with a drill focusing on applying pressure to the weapon in a bind to control the bind and detect when someone is leaving the bind for an attack. Subsequently we practised these actions and their counters. Lastly we did some drills focusing on the use of the staff as a spear, relying on of lining to defend and strengthening the block at the same time. Allowing one to counter attack.
After the training was done we had a small demonstration on the uses of a Dane-axe, using the Guild basics as a guideline, and taking in to account the specific weapon characteristics.

Before everybody went home by car or plane there was some time for coffee and lunch and the Chapter Masters, Senior Teachers and assistants went for a bite to eat. People tried some of the local food and we had some more discussions on applied techniques, medieval manuscripts and fechtbucher and how knowledge of one martial art wil influence one’s interpretation and execution of another martial art.

Conclusion
Although the seminar focused mainly on the basics it was still very interesting as it was a good chance to actually practice your basics and get good feedback on your skill, also since our Chapter had not yet trained with staff weapons it was also new. Even the well-known basics become interesting again if applied to a new weapon.
All in all it was a good seminar, and by that I mean; we had two good day’s worth training, A nice dinner, some good discussions and friendly conversations, new insights and a chance to meet people from other chapters. Last but not least two people got their basic staff grade.

I hope to see another seminar In the Netherlands soon.

Merlyn Janssen
Member Tilburg Chapter