Cut and Step not Step and Cut (FIXED)

(Had a technical issue with the original submission. Thanks for y'all's patience!)
Beginners in systems which use passing steps often fall into the bad habit of "strolling along" while working their cuts. In this video, we explain why that's a problem, and what "better" looks like.
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[@roderickballance6960]

What about stepping into the cut ? Be it straight or diagonal ? When the cut's in its first quarter to third, the step flows to the path One has chosen.

[@russmitchellmovement]

There are times when you would want to, and times when you would want to avoid doing that like the plague. "It depends."

[@joco762]

Well put. Cool shirt.

[@losttransmission2747]

this exactly fits with silvers true time, any attack where the hand precedes the body or foot is true time and a just attack while any attack where the body or foot preceds the hand is a false time and will get you killed. By presenting the sword first you are presenting both a threat and defense, while if you enter your opponents range before your sword your opponent will strike you. amazing stuff!!!

[@LongswordRussia]

The concept of "hand before foot" is just a rough guideline for fencing. This is not the only reliable way to fight. Such an interpretation sometimes misleads people - that you cannot move if you are at a distance of a strike and you yourself cannot strike at that moment. But this is absolutely false. Combat isn't just about hitting your opponent, swordsmanship includes a lot of win situations where you gain an advantage by not hitting your opponent directly. For example, actions from the connection of swords or elements of wrestling techniques. You take advantage of the moments when you are within the range of the weapon, but for various reasons the weapon cannot be used at a particular moment in time. It is not for nothing that medieval textbooks included half of the content in the form of wrestling techniques and disarmaments. This is a clear signal that movement can be important at close range even when you are not cutting. subscribed to your channel with respect!

[@russmitchellmovement]

A tag-line I use from Moshe' Feldenkrais a lot is "when you know what you're doing, you can do what you want." Once you're fully fluent in the rules and can obey them, you can also break them for strategic purposes. But a beginner, in my opinion, absolutely MUST be taught proper "standard tempo and form" so that they can form proper, standard cuts, and also manipulate their tempo when the situation calls for setting up a throw or lock. Otherwise they're just asking to get stabbed in the face constantly without understanding why their technique is failing.
In my *opinion* the principle holds as well when grappling, because it creates better throws and protects your shoulder from getting tweaked when you're tossing somebody. But people who have forgotten more than I know about grappling might take me to the woodshed on that one.

[@LongswordRussia]

@@russmitchellmovement Thank you for your reply! The difficulty in understanding dogmas usually lies in the fact that the rule is taken out of the context of use, and the beginner will apply it even in those situations in which it is incorrect. Logic itself says that since a step takes longer, then it should begin well in advance, before a shorter movement of the hand comes with a step in one tempo.In the Russian segment of HEMA, there was a lot of controversy over the interpretation of this rule - that an arm or a leg should have some kind of preference. An additional factor sorting the sense of advantage to the arm or leg is the degree of force with which the cut is made. If the threat of a higher-quality cut canceled the oncoming advance attack, the question of "arm or leg time" would not be raised in discussions at all. And when we cannot predict in detail the result of the depth of the cut, the dubious idea of ​​"who touches first" comes to the fore. At the same time, the assessment of the level of effort is not even considered. Surely you have come across in martial arts with the reverse of the hips, which accelerate the next blow? Thus, part of all attacks is uniquely built on the initial effort from the legs. Fencing allows you to use strikes that do not necessarily include the largest muscles of the body in the cut. It's true, it's hard to disagree with that. But at the same time, it is impossible to ignore a wider range of situations where an earlier strike does not have the necessary striking or stopping power to become a sufficient obstacle to an attack prepared with a good resource of effort.

[@SamStuart07]

Could you keep your hand out of your pocket. I tell my athletes all the time to keep it out of their pocket; instead place their hand on their hip.

[@russmitchellmovement]

No, not really. It's become a club meme at this point.

[@SamStuart07]

@@russmitchellmovement Ok understood. Every club has their own thing :-)

[@GuySwords]

Little late to this, but did you teach your pupils why? Did you give them a a solid logical reason why they shouldn´t put their hand in the pockets? Just telling them not to do it makes no point, only that you don´t like it.