XMA Sword Form 1

This spring, we started learning to do kata with swords. We're doing an XMA inspired kata.



We learn the form as initially, three different sequences which are then strung together. In the initial sequences, each one starts with drawing the sword and ends with resheathing it.  In the combined sequence, we only put it away at the end. I found that confusing personally.

XMA Sword Form 1

chop right

slow tension left hard bow

batto (draw the sword) to the right to hardbow right

add left hand to sword, strike to left on down diagonal

pull sword overhead and strike down forward stepping with with right foot

aieasa

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hard tension to right bow doing a upward block with sword

strike to left on down diagonal

strike to right on horizontal

pull sword overhead and strike down forward stepping with with right foot

aieasa

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right hand chiburi strike down on the sword handle

bring it back up over left shoulder around head and strike to right on horizontal

strike down to left on diagonal

raise sword over head (don't let it hang down in back), step forward and across with right and finish 360 spin in two steps with a right to left diagonal down strike

draw back with sword over head and blade in left hand

strike to left down on diagonal

pull sword overhead and strike down forward stepping with with right foot

aieasa

step foward with right so you're sideways with a dramatic chiburi flick in front of you.

No-to (return sword to saya - sheath) by pulling it forward and thrusting it back in

step back with right, punch down with right, tia.

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Sword Vocabulary list - now mostly complete!

bokkens - a wooden substitute for a sword used in training in the martial arts. It's cheaper and heavier, so harder to move around elegantly.

Tsuba (rhymes with tuba) - the hand guard on the bokken
Tsuka - the handle of the bokken
Saya - the sheath for the sword
Batto - the action of drawing the sword
Chiburi - the action of cleaning the blood from the sword by either flicking the sword or striking the sword
No-to - Returning the sword to the saya

Editors note. I googled martial arts sword parts to see if I could find a list of terms used in our dojo for the hilt, hand protector, scabbard etc. I found a surprising number of really detailed sword part descriptions, none of which coincided with our inhouse lingo. But, thanks t0 Philip from the Rochester dojo, I've now got all these terms. I'd still like to know what language we are using. Is it Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, or Chinese? If it was a kempo or kung fu kata, I could make an educated guess but since we are learning an XMA-inspired kata, I'm not sure what the likely language would be.



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XMA Form 2

Extreme Martial Arts - XMA - is a blend of martial arts styles with gymnastics and theatrics. Lavallee's has very impressive A & B XMA performance teams. Lavallees has also integrated some XMA-style (without the gymnastics) into core curriculum. This is the context of our XMA forms.

The XMA write-up has four sections: the Youtube video (with a few annotations), a summary of the moves, a detailed write-up, and a few details to focus on.
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Summary Version

Kata, XMA 2, bow, turn right
tia - X block up forward, double downward punch (hands open), look left
tia -  hardbow left, chop left, triple punch left (rhythm: chop-punch, pause, punch-punch)
look right, hardbow right, chop right, triple punch right (ditto on rhythm)
punch forward, reach back and shift to back hardbow, double punch forward.

Turn left pushing down with the right, double side kick forward, spin 360, chop forward left, punch forward.

Front kick, skip front kick, spring 360 chop forward again, punch forward onto a knee.
Xblock up, spin 360, spread arms out like wings, fall to the kneee
standup, return to position facing right from the start
tia - face forward, double block down, softbow left, XMA, assaa

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XMA 2 - Detailed Description

Stand with the legs together, hands at your side. Attitude.

Teicho says: Kata. Kata XMA Form Two, XMA Form Two.
Bow.

Step back with your right leg so that you face sideways while continuing to look forward (now over your left shoulder). Legs shoulder width apart. Arms stiff slightly out from the side. Here you need ALOT of attitude. Long pause.

Tia. Quickly, Right foot steps forward so we're facing forward, legs apart, X block up, double block down with open hands. Tia. Another long pause while you sllowly curl the fingers, start look forward to the left and dishing out a double-helping of attitude. I'm not kidding about this attitude. This extreme martial arts kata (XMA) involve some extreme acting.

Tia. Step forward to the left while chopping left in a reverse hard bow, then punch left with the right hand into a regular hard bow, slight pause, punch left, punch right. tia on each punch.

Now the opposite: stay in the hardbow left, chop and look right. Then hard bow right, punch right, slight pause, left, and right. tia on each punch.

Step forward with the left, punch right pulling the left hand into chamber. You are in a hard bow. Kiyah.

Keeping feet in place, turn back to your right putting both fists behind you (shifting into kindof a backwards hardbow), then double punch forward back into regular hard bow. aieeea

Step forward with the right leg while turning left so that you are standing with your legs together and facing left but looking forward.
Push down with your right hand.
Right side kick forward low, then high, plant the foot next to the other one. Spin left around as in 360 and then left chop forward, right punch, into hard bow.

Right front kick, jump front right kick, landing with your right leg crossed in front of the left. Spin on your right foot 360 again.

Finish 360 by stepping back with the right foot with the arms and hands outspread. In a ballet move, you lower to your left knee with both arms out to the sides. Your look shifts from forward to down and your hands shift from horizontal to the ground.

As your hands touch the ground, look forward and slowly move back to the starting stance where you are facing to the right with both hands in fists down by your side and you are looking over your left shoulder to the front with attitude.

Step forward with your right, double punch down to the side. Kiyah.

Put the right elbow down into the back of the open left hand while lowering a little: XMA form one.

Punch up in the air with the right. asssaaaaaaaae

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XMA2 Details. .It's all drama and details....It's a good one for those of us that can't do high kicks or acrobatics and so I really enjoy this one.  So, lets review the details....

X Block over your head : hands are open, fingers tight together, it's slightly in front of the head
Double downward: It's actually a push down with the hands open and ending with them still open with the palms facing the ground and somewhat horizontal (as if you had pushed). During the next few seconds, the fist is slowly made, a finger at a time, while the look intensifies and shifts to the 45 left....
Punch forward, reach back: In the reach back, the forward hardbow is momentarily reversed into a rear hardbow and for a second, you actually look back. The emphasis is on the double front page and return to the forward hard bow.
Double side kick forward, spin 360, chop forward left, punch forward: After the side kicks, plant your right foot and spin off it. When you finish, be sure to plant your left foot forward and to a little off to the left, this gives you a better base for the chop.