The day is winding down at Stavbear Studio. During our final training session of the day, we practiced the Foundation exercises and some of their applications. The Foundation exercises have been developed recently, and are intended to establish skills that will be further developed in the Animal Exercises and their hand-to-hand combat applications. After training all day, we are a weary bunch! More tomorrow!

Tea time. Over the past two hours we moved slowly through the first two of the Five Principles drills, Trel and Karl. The Trel principle is that of the person of lowest status, the individual who owns no land and is dependent on working for others to maintain basic survival. The Trel drill reflects that the Trel individual has nothing of his/her own to defend, and when attacked prefers to back away and avoid conflict. The Karl principle is that of the small freeholder who works his/her land and must defend it if necessary. It is Karl’s job to keep the attacker at bay, protecting those for whom s/he is responsible.

Finally took a break for lunch at 2:30 p.m. Graham is keeping us moving! We have been doing two-person drills and advanced staff exercises. Like the basic staff exercises, the advanced improve strength and flexibility. Beyond that, they allow students to become accustomed to movements that will be employed in weapons work. The staff itself is not so much a weapon as a training tool. Most importantly, the exercises allow one to begin to work with the Web. More on the Web in another post!

Graham Butcher is in Annapolis! He is leading a group of us in a Stav training weekend, April 30th through May 2nd. Six of us are participating. This morning we have completed the basic stances and the basic staff exercises. To see a video of Graham doing the basic stances, check out this YouTube video. The basic staff exercises assist one in learning the stances and build strength and flexibility.