I am hoping the title alone will draw some interest. Motus, the school I train at, has just reached its 10th year of existence. We now have a lot of beginners, intermediates, and a handful of well trained advanced students, and also a junior instructor. We have a complete and clear curriculum, clear advancement (although without official ranks) and thorough, practical and simple training process. I am not saying all this to brag – although I am proud to have been a small part of this evolution, from a group to a club, to a school. What I am most happy about is how many students we have that keep coming back. We have about 25 active members, and about 10 not so active – be it work, university in a different country, or work in a different country keeping them away. In those 10 years maybe over a hundred people have trained in the school, which means about a quarter have remained. I am outlining these facts, because they show that we have the amount of people and time to produce enough data.

What is this data about?

Well, let’s clear up the title – students in our school do not use masks for the first 6 to 9 months. In general. And after that, they use them about 30% of the time. They do drills, binds, plays, and slow free work without it. How does that happen?

Well, unlike many others, we believe that early sparring builds up too much bad behaviour. I’ve heard of many groups that give a mask and a nylon simulator on the first day and let them go wild. Or after an 8-week beginner course.

We do not have beginner courses.

Beginners train with everyone else, during the same sessions, and in the same room. They start with footwork and work with the stick. Why the stick? Because it is biomechanically the simplest tool in the lineage of the sword. Chimpanzees use sticks against each other. It was the first weapon of the cavemen. And what do our beginners do with those? They hit the tire. One of three we have. Before learning any guards, although after they are taught the way to stand correctly, they start hitting the tire. From the left and the right shoulder.

Amazingly (!:)), soon they develop both footwork and striking mechanics. Of course, there are other footwork exercises, but they are not the sole focus of the training.

Beginners also play the “zombie”. It is a simple exercise – someone is just moving around and you are hitting in the air in front of him, targeting the basic openings. In front of him, so you would not hit him, striking something with intent as learned at the tire. This is done with both single sword and stick.

Than you do hits against a shield (padded, like for muai thai) – someone is holding it and moving it accordingly, so you have to hit it left from right, or right from left, or stab. Or the stick – one person is holding the stick in Longpoint, while the other one is hitting it with either normal Zornhau-like diagonal hit, or a more Krump-ish strike. And so on.

There is also a handful of floryshes, done alone or with a partner as a dummy. They still do not require masks.

How would you expect people to fight if they do not know how to hit and move? That has always baffled me.

I know that many groups want to keep people around, to keep them interested. We try that too. But not by throwing them in the deep where they would learn a handful of useful things and a myriad of mistakes, but by slowly building up a foundation.

As you can imagine, this does not require a mask.

Then it comes to basic drills

Attacks, where one guys is the mannequin and the other delivers hit in a controlled way. This teaches him – yep, control. The tire already has taught him what it is to hit, and it is still teaching him. We, the advanced students, still go through the tires every time.

Than, the counters. They are all made to target the hands. They are the first natural targets. Some of them are 100% from the manual – for example, Talhoffer’s messer/arming sword counter from low against high. People do not need masks, just arm and elbow protection, and gloves.

And than, there is the bind. First, against an attack from each guard in succession, later, when they have the basics down, in a circle with one people attacking everyone else with simple, controlled and ample strikes. This is still no mask. But right after this is the moment when you add the masks and everything makes a full circle.

Well why do you continue to work without masks from there on? Because it is still meaningful – to do free flow exercises, binds, flourishes, zombies, counters, etc.

And than you start sparring.

What have we gained from this?

1. For the last 15 years, a couple of bruises, three or four surface cuts, two broken fingers.

2. Three people have successfully defended themselves in a real situation against a real threat, i.e. on the streets. Crime rates are not exactly low here. Two of them have managed so by hitting with a sword or a stick, the third case was even better – the confrontation was avoided just when she drew her stick.

3. Everyone is with a high level of personal control, which means injuries are to the minimum.

4. Everyone over the intermediate level has very well formed body-mechanics – footwork, bodywork, handwork, swordwork.

5. Everyone over that imaginary intermediate level is very capable in defending themselves in a real situation with a stick (or anything like it). Technically capable, I should add. Psychologically, it depends on the person and the situation.

So those are my 2 cents in the whole no mask thing.