Spanish Fencing Notation Part 1 – Vector Notation

Filed as Destreza (Spanish swordplay), Fencing, General, Historical Fencing, Italian Rapier with 8 replies

(8/20/2009)

In the Italian fencing system, fighting is broken up into pieces of time called “tempi” or “fencing times” in English.  For example, a fencing action might take place in a single tempo (one unit of fencing time), mezzo tempo (a half tempo), or due tempi (two times).  It is a useful tool for teaching timing to a student and an action with less tempi is generally considered more desirable.

The Spanish fencing science takes the idea of tempi even farther by using a vector-based system of notating actions through movements.

Aristotle states in his book Physics “Time is the numeration of continuous movement.”

By this definition, we can reexamine tempi as the summation of different motions.  In the Spanish science all fencing actions are described as “movements.”  There are movements of the blade and footwork to move the body.  By using the two together, we can not only understand fencing time, we can also create a shorthand notation for describing complex actions and their counters.

The Spanish fencing authors describe blade actions as a series of varying length vectors through space.  To be more clear a vector is a line with magnitude and direction.

This allows the Spanish notation to be extremely precise when describing the motions of the blade associated with specific actions like cuts, the Atajo, or even Italian actions described by Spanish authors.

To better illustrate this, observe this map of three dimensional space with a sword pointed along the Diameter (or Line of Direction) towards the adversary.

Natural Movement

(En español – Movimiento Natural )

A Natural motion is one in which the blade falls to the earth.  More specifically, the blade is lowered.   One example would be a vertical cut downwards.

Violent Movement

(En español– Movimiento Violento)

A Violent motion is one in which the blade rises.  One example might be the chambering of a vertical cut.

Forward Movement

(En español – Movimiento Accidental)

A Forward motion is when the blade travels toward the adversary along the Diameter (Line of Direction).  One example would be a thrust.

Backward Movement

(En español – Movimiento Extraño)

A Backward motion is when the sword is withdrawn away from the adversary along the Diameter (Line of Direction).  One example might be pumping the arm back to execute a jabbing attack.  (This is not a recommended action, and Don Luis Pacheco de Narváez describes how to defeat this pumping of the weapon arm in an adversary.)

Offline Lateral Movement

(En español -Movimiento Remiso)

An Offline Lateral motion is when the point of the weapon is carried away from the Diameter (Line of Direction) either to the left or right.  Notice that the Spanish create a special case for movements that bring the point away from the target.  It might be tempting to merely use lateral movements as descriptors but the Spanish notation relates specifically to removing the threat from the adversary.  This might be a parry or the chambering of a horizontal cut.

Aligning Lateral Movement

(En español – Movimiento de Reducción)

An Aligning Lateral motion is when the blade is returned from either the left or right back to the Diameter (Line of Direction).  It is interesting to note that bringing the weapon across the Diameter is counted as two distinct movements.  If the point is offline, bringing it towards the Diameter is an Aligning Lateral Movement, but when it crosses the Diameter and continues traveling in the lateral plane without stopping this becomes an Offline Lateral Movement.  This is very useful for indicating the different tactical situations that are possible when a blade is leaving or entering presence. An Aligning Lateral Movement might be the delivery of a horizontal cut or bring the weapon back into line after the adversary has executed a beat.

Mixed Movement

(En español – Movimiento Mixto )

A Mixed Movement is a single motion that is a combination of two blade movements that don’t conflict.  For example an Offline Lateral Movement can be mixed with a Violent Movement in a single motion to form a Mixed Movement.

Counting Time Through Motion

Like the Italian system we can count time using the Spanish notation.  An action with fewer movements is more desirable than an action with a greater number of movements.

Let’s compare two actions:

Diagonal Reverse (Riverso Squalembrato in Italian)

1. Mixed Movement combining an Offline Lateral Movement to the left and a Violent Movement in order to chamber the cut over the left shoulder
2. Mixed Movement combining an Aligning Lateral Movement and a Natural Movement to deliver the cut

Thrust

1. Forward Movement along the Diameter to deliver the thrust

Description of Defense or Counteroffense

Because the Thrust requires fewer movements than the Diagonal Reverse it can defeat the cutting attack in the first movement.  In addition, we can use the counted movements of the adversary’s action to give the reader a guide to the timing of defense or counteroffense.

For example:

Countering the Diagonal Reverse

In the adversary’s first movement as the cut is chambered the fencer may strike with a thrust.

During the adversary’s second movement, the fencer may defend by placing the Atajo.

Final Notes

The Spanish notation is system agnostic so it can be applied to any weapon or tradition of fencing.  In historical Spain, authors used this notated system of Movements to describe the actions of the single-handed sword and the two-handed sword called the Montante.  The AEEA fencers in Spain today also use Destreza’s science and notation to analyze and teach the swordplay of other non-Spanish authors as well like Fiore.

~Puck

The Public Defenders Will Execute People!!

Filed as General, Opinion, Politics and News with 26 replies

(8/18/2009)

I thought it might be fun to spread my own wild and unsupported accusations in the Health Care debate.  In order to get us there, we need to look a bit at the public defenders first.

Mirandizing

This quote above is a typical script used when arresting someone in the United States.  To understand this script we need to understand two landmark cases from the 1960s.

Gideon versus Wainwright (1963)

This ruling guarantees the right of a public defender and here are two key portions of the ruling:

“Not only these precedents, but also reason and reflection, require us to recognize that, in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person hauled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him.”

Miranda versus Arizona (1963)

Here is a key piece of this ruling:

“The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has the right to remain silent, and that anything he says will be used against him in court; he must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation, and that, if he is indigent, a lawyer will be appointed to represent him.“

The Safety Net

The key idea here is that the poor had no legal safety net and our government provided for their protection in the courts.  What the poor have in legal representation many of us lack with regard to health care.

There is no basic health safety net and we instead practice a draconian form of Social Darwinism that affirms that the poor deserve no protection because of their own lack of ability to produce enough income to pay for it.

“The poverty of the incapable, the distresses that come upon the imprudent, the starvation of the idle, and those shouldering aside of the weak by the strong, which leave so many “in shallows and in miseries,” are the decrees of a large, far-seeing benevolence. It seems hard that an unskilfulness which with all his efforts he cannot overcome should entail hunger upon the artisan. It seems hard that a laborer incapacitated by sickness from competing with his stronger fellows,  should have to bear the resulting privations. It seems hard that widows and orphans should be left to struggle for life or death. Nevertheless, when regarded not separately, but in connection with the interests of universal humanity, these harsh fatalities are seen to be full of the highest beneficence—the same beneficence which brings to early graves the children of diseased parents, and singles out the low-spirited, the intemperate, and the debilitated as the victims of an epidemic.”   ~Herbert Spencer (1851)

Boiled down to the core idea, wealth = merit.  There is no need to feel any concern over the suffering of others because it is actually good that these weaker people (widows, orphans, etc.) die.

There has been plenty of frothing hysteria and misinformation from the right wing about what a public health care option would bring to the country.  If we compare a public health care option to the public defender system we might get a better understanding of how it might work.

Socialism

Socialized Medicine – This is a big deal for the right wing and the insurance companies actively try to play up the idea of a completely nationalized medical system like China’s.   This isn’t remotely what is being proposed and to suggest otherwise is lying.  What is being suggested is an optional government sponsored insurance program that scales the fees to meet the individual’s needs.  People who don’t make enough money to pay the premium receive the coverage at no charge and it functions as a safety net.  People who want to continue their current coverage aren’t directly affected (although it may lower their premiums as insurance companies try to compete against the public plan).  Nothing about offering public health insurance implies a government seizure of the medical system.

Socialized Public Defenders – All lawyers work for the government and lawyers are assigned to cases by the government.

Rationing

Medical Rationing – This is a convenient shell game in which the proposed free medical coverage is instead portrayed as a removal of existing medical care for everyone.  In this argument the government will ration all medical care.  (It neglects the current situation where 7 large corporations seeking a profit already ration your medical care and try to rescind existing policies that become too expensive.)

Public Defender Rationing – Only a certain number of cases will be granted a public defender.  The remainder of defendants will be required to defend themselves or will be found automatically guilty.

Bankruptcy

Bankrupting Insurance Companies – This myth promotes the idea that everyone will immediately turn to a public option and the insurance companies will go bankrupt.  As much as I might like this to be true, it is pretty unlikely.   We have had Public Defenders for over 40 years and private attorneys seem to be doing just fine.  Imagine Coca Cola, Microsoft, or Exxon using a public defender and you can see how laughable this really is.  I haven’t seen FedEx or UPS go out of business yet even as they compete with our socialized postal service.  This is capitalism at its finest.

Bankrupting Lawyers – Public Defenders are free and therefore all private attorneys will go out of business.

Bureaucrats

Government Mandated Medical Decisions – This is the classic “government bureaucrat between you and your doctor” argument created by the private insurance companies.  This is particularly heinous considering insurance companies have actually pulled patients off of operating tables mid-surgery to deny medical claims.  While the idea of a government bureaucrat sounds scary, what we have today is a corporate suit trying to make a profit and that is much worse.

Government Mandated Public Defense Decisions – A government bureaucrat decides what you will plead in each case and makes decisions about your legal strategy.

Loss of Benefits

Losing your existing Coverage – In this myth, the government removes your existing coverage and forces you into the public option using government doctors.  No one has suggested anything but adding an additional public insurance plan to cover those without insurance.

Losing your existing Lawyer – The government fires your existing lawyer and forces you to use a public defender.

Obama Wants to Kill Your Gramma!

Death Panels – This particular piece of hysteria has been Sarah Palin’s newest talking point.  In the Palin-Reality the government will create a panel concerning end-of-life decisions with the power to euthanize you or your children.  This seems to be inspired by an option in the current bill that permits doctors to receive Medicare compensation for voluntarily discussing living wills with patients.  Let’s just say that Sarah Palin’s reality is not to be confused with actual reality.

Public Defender Vigilantes! – Public Defenders chase down suspected criminals and execute them on sight.

This current discussion is a lot more about trying to bring Obama down than it is about the evils of socialism.  In any case providing a public insurance option is not socialism any more than the U. S. Postal Service, the Police, Firefighters, or the public defenders are socialism. What we have seen is that when the neoconservatives on the right-wing disagree with you they:

• Lie
• Shout down any debate
• Bring assault rifles to political town hall meetings

The Great Dane finally gets to play with cats…

Filed as General with no replies

(8/11/2009)

Since puppyhood my dog has wanted to meet and love on cats.  It started when she discovered my friend Cindy’s kitten Elbie and tried to give her a sniff.  Elbie whapped Shakti on the nose so quickly that my dog had no idea what hit her.

She hasn’t had any luck sniffing or loving on cats since then and you can imagine how an affectionate 140-pound dog might intimidate a cat.  Shakti tends to show her affection by bumping you with her nose or leaning on you and most cats hate that kind of thing.

Shakti has been staying with my wife’s parent’s this year and by a happy coincidence some kittens were born this year at the house.  The Great Dane has finally gotten a chance to play with some cats that were not intimidated and you can see the results below.

Moving into a New House…

Filed as General with 2 replies

(8/10/2009)

I’ve been slow posting any kind of blog material since I am moving into a new house this month.  Mary’s research trip to Spain ends on August 20, 2009 and she will be driving back to California with our Great Dane.

All in all, a pretty nice place.

~P.

Touring Southern Spain One Archive at a Time

Filed as Destreza (Spanish swordplay), Fencing, Geek Stuff, General, Historical Fencing with 1 reply

(7/2/2009)

Mary and I are currently in the Archivo de la Real Chancilleria in Granada in the South of Spain. 
 
Yesterday we toured the Alhambra and I have good pictures of the fortifications and plenty of pictures of the amazing architecture and carving as well.  As we travel through Southern Spain, Mary is hitting the archives and she is currently flipping through a hand written manuscript. 
 
Later today we hop a train to Sevilla and then from there it is a bus to Sanlucar de Barrameda.  Sanlucar is where the greatest fencing author in Spain, Jeronimo Sanchez de Carranza wrote his book.
 
Truly we live a charmed life.