A request for training

[Tobias]

"Aye...always am, senor."

Tobias readied himself.

[Silver Adept]

"Okay. Now, pay attention. When fighting someone with a different reach than you, if they're competent at all with their weapon, they will take advantage of that. If we stand apart as far as my weapon will reach, there's no way that his will come close to hitting me. However, once we get in closer enough that he can swing his weapon..." Silver moved in "then the extra range can prove to be a problem, because now, what pointy bits I have will swing past him. I might hurt his sword arm, but I won't be cutting him to ribbons. The first rule of fighting polearms with anything shorter than that is to get inside their range. As we'll demonstrate, however, this is not an easy task."

Silver went back out to his range and said, "Okay, Tobs. Imagine this is a partisan with a blade on the end. Try and get far enough inside that I'll hit you with the stick rather than the edge."

[Tobias]

Tobias nodded, and dashed forward, kicking in a bit of extra speed on the initial dash to propell him inside the range of the pole-arm

[Silver Adept]

Silver swung the other end around at Tobs as he dashed in, instead of the "Edge" end, moving off at an angle so that even if Tob'as dash went through, he would still be out at the end of the range. The "edge" end followed the swing as Silver whirled so that the "point" would once again be pointing at Tobs.

"Beginning fighters tend to concentrate on the opponent's weaponry. While this is something to keep an eye on, a master fighter is aware of his surroundings as well as his opponent. In a wide space like this, a polearm fighter has an advantage of being able to swing and manoeuver freely. So long as he does not fall into the illusion of fighting in a line, as many duelists do, but instead conceives of his space as a circle or a dome, any fighter imrpoves his technique instantly."

Silver smiles. "Now, if Tobs and I were fighting in a crowded alley, it would be much to my benefit to find a shorter weapon or to get to more open ground."

[Tobias]

Tobias nods, then puts Eden onto his back: "One must also remember, sometimes its better to use your hands, since they are your direct attacks, and are unhindered. Be sure to rely on your own body in some cases. Also, typing your body into a fight can sometimes change the outcome. A fighter who completely relies on his weapon will never experience all of the benefits of moment."

"Also, you want to incorporate your elemental attacks with your physical attacks. Much like in my case, using a swing powered by lightning, rather than a regular swing, will not only add electrical energy to my attack, but can also be used with my steel sword to speed up the slash, sending the blade much faster towards the opponent. These types of things are invaluable to a fighter. Just don't get carried away, or else your opponent can find a way around it. Hence the style of Vagrancy, and the way of ways."

[Silver Adept]

"Indeed. In that last pass, you'll notice that I didn't try to block Tobs's advance. Instead, I simply stepped aside. Knowing how to use the body along with the weapon makes the weapon far more effective in both attacking and defending. Try it again, Tobs. This time, I will try to block your momentum without moving my own body out of its path."

[Tobias]

Tobias dashes forward

[Silver Adept]

*CLANG* Silver's staff slips off his guard as Tobs attacks, and he smiles a bit as the sword stops a few inches away from his gut.

"It takes a lot of strength to stand and block someone. This is why heavily-armored fighters have to have obscene amounts of endurance. In my case, it's much easier to simply sidestep the problem."

[Tobias]

"Don't forget...if you are fast enough to evade an attack, your sure as hell fast enough to get around them as well and find other places to strike"

The sword slid off of silver's staff as Tobias spun around, stopping the sword 2 or 3 inches off of Silver's neck.

[Silver Adept]

"Very true. Of course, speed can be negated. Often by treachery." Silver's staff snakes out and hooks behind one of Tobias's legs. He tugs gently, not enough to actually try to throw Tob's balance off.

"A friend of mine is very good at hurting his pursuit without actually killing them. He figures that if they're stupid enough to keep coming after him, they'll die, but that everyone always deserves a warning."