October 27, 2024 Melee Practice - Ponte Alto

On October 27, 2024, we hijacked Ponte Alto's regular Sunday practice for some melee training. Scenarios:

1. We started with a brief discussion on the rules of engagement for melee and an overview of basic tactics. You can find the handout here.

2.  We then conducted a fighting drill called "Drift": Sides were divided into two pretty even teams for single death bouts. The losing side then gained the 1st person to die on the winning side to their team (they "drifted" over). If no one died on the winning side, the bout was run again. We ran this 2 sets of 4 times each. Why it's good:

• Less experienced fighters get a chance to be on a winning side

• Keeps sides relatively even and competitive

• Forces fighters to keep track of who is on their team and get to know them fighting-wise

• Requires re-strategizing for each bout because new people are on your side.

3. 3 lives/2 resurrections limited front battle in the trees. Why it's good:

• Resurrections give fighters more opportunities to improve (they aren't "one and done").

• Fighters have to strategize on how to work best with natural terrain and limited space.

• Allows for different weapons forms to really shine

4. Unlimited resurrection 3-minute control the center "bridge" style battle (with 3 time checks).

• Forces timing of pushes and charges to control the center and defensive maneuvers.  Sir Tash demonstrated a "kill pocket".

• Helps endurance conditioning

5. Individualized training and pick-ups. People benefitted from one-on-one spear and dual weapon tutelage specifically.