Greatsword Judo: A Journey of Discovery - Exanima

Feet weren't the only things looked at in 0.8.4! Consulting the sacred texts, the prophet spoke of "improved greatsword handling". Having previously only used them to strike (like an amateur), I set out to discover a method more in line with my values; styling on the haters. Writeup below.

The songs are Arena Hub from Exanima,
Viator, from Street Fighter 6,
Mr. Fantastic from the BOTY 2000 soundtrack,
Battle Hymn by DJ M@R, and
Warming Up with Doc from Punch Out on the NES.

Knowing shields were prone to creating wacky physics situations, I started by trying to cause a few. After pushing my sword into shield arms and wiggling around for a while, the levering toss was obviously the most reliable and easiest to reproduce. I practiced until I could do it some of the time, it didn't have to be perfect yet.

Next stop, two-handers. Whereas shield users have the shorter weapons and come at you face first, the 2Hs created a different challenge in which closing the distance was on me. If they were going to run, so was I. I hated how effective the combat sprint was but it was a nice release of stress.

Solving the distance problem was in the footwork and the way I chased my blade in would become the Ding N' Fling. Trying to refine the technique created more accidents like swinging past the target, trying to False Edge, and catching the target's dome with my hilt and messing THAT up led to the hilt push.

Still trying to refine the Ding N' Fling method, I eventually stuck my blade between my target's legs and lifted them off the ground by accident. The muscle memory of diving in behind my blade for the Ding N' Fling was the key to getting deep enough inside to lift from between the legs on purpose but it still wasn't enough. They had two legs but I was only hooking one!

Knowing the legs were a fine target, it was only a matter of time before I made like a rogue and got 'em from behind, uncovering the technique that sang a siren song to my warrior's soul from beyond the confines of space, time, or reason.

None of these techniques are done on purpose the first time, but as Willie D put it, "anythang I do twice, I can do it again".