Double Broadsword
I've started working with my double broadswords and I already have a lot of thoughts about it.
Double broadsword felt like the logical next step for me in my weapons training since last year I did only one. I thought because it was just the same weapon (x2) it wouldn't feel that different right? I WAS SO WRONG; using both feels like a completely distinct weapon! I also naively thought that it wouldn't be too much harder because I became pretty well acquainted with my sword during the Year of the Tiger, but again, I WAS SO WRONG because it's a whole new league of difficulty.
1) Not only do I have none of the coordination or control in my left arm that my right has built up over the past year, I feel like making progress on that coordination and control is an uphill battle since it's my non-dominant hand.
2) I though I was pretty well versed in concepts like "equal and opposite" and "moving independently but together" but like most concepts with weapons, the problems have become 10x more visible. It's SO HARD to keep track of what each hand is doing and when, and even harder to control which orientation the blades are in since they feel like they're extended way beyond my bubble of control that lives in my center (I'm used to having short limbs, but now with a sword in each arm my wingspan has doubled).
I really struggled anytime we learned stick articulations, for whatever reason my brain is not wired to watch the way each end moves and I have a hard time understanding how blocks and strikes happen simultaneously due to the nature of the stick being double ended. I'm currently trying to practice a "double articulation" of sorts with my swords which is putting my little peanut brain into maximum overload because not only does it have that same "double ended" quality to it, but the swords are two separate halves of a whole so they can independently move in all sorts of ways that a staff cannot.
AND I'M LOVING EVERYTHING IT SOUNDED LIKE I WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT. I love how it's much more difficult than I thought it would be because it motivates me to practice WAY MORE so I can get better faster, it almost becomes this spite-like drive where I want to prove to my swords that I'm in control. I love finding something I absolutely suck at (left hand sword) because then it becomes really clear what exactly I need to be working on right now. I love how the idea of "what is the left hand doing? whatever it needs to do to support the right hand" that we often talk about in certain techniques or forms seems like it's thrown out the window because both hands can be doing completely different motions that are both equally important. I love how this is going to improve my strength and coordination in my left hand, and how my eye for detail will likely get better at noticing multiple things at once (I already feel like a chameleon trying to watch both blades).
I love how big and dramatic they can be when they're both fully extended. I love how having two swords makes seeing the flow between motions even clearer than it did when I just had one. I love how all the "moments" I have started piecing together in the start of my form feel so cool. I love how complicated everything is and I'm so excited to keep working until it becomes easier.
Kayley Burke
