July, 2012 | The DrillMaster

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Pieces Parts

July 30, 2012 in Ask DrillMaster, Commentary, Drill Teams, DrillCenter News, Instructional

Drill Life: rifles break or lose a screw. Where does a Driller go to find parts for his/her rifle? Need a butt plate for your M1? An upper band with a bayonet lug for your Daisy Drill Rifle? Look no further!

If you have a demilitarized M1 Garand, M1903, DrillAmerica 1903 or a Daisy Drill Rifle, Numrich Gun Parts Corporation, Old Western Scrounger SARCO, Inc., Liberty Tree Collectors and Battlefield Relics (BFR) are your best choices for parts.

Tags: bayonet lug, daisy drill rifle, drill team, driller, honor guard, m1, m1903, rifle parts, upper band No Comments »

by DrillMaster

Improvisation or What We Call, “Monkey Drill”

July 29, 2012 in Commentary, DrillCenter News, Instructional

In the military drill world improvisation is called “Monkey Drill.” If you ask any Driller who has competed more than once they will probably admit that one of their routines was “Monkeyed,” meaning that they made it up on the spot as they were performing.

Angel Solis just finished the Texas Drill Competition (TXDC) and won with a Monkeyed routine. It was not 100% improvised, the sequence from start to report-in was the only thing he had programed. The rest was made up on the spot!

Maybe right now you are thinking, “If Solis can do it, then I don’t need to create a routine ever again and I can win all of the competitions I enter!” Not so fast. The majority of Drillers will not be able to do this because drill improv requires the following:

A high level of comfort with your piece of equipment (sword/saber, rifle, etc.)
A very wide vocabulary of moves/tricks
The ability to not think and just create while moving- no hesitation

When I spoke with him, Angel said that as a young man, he could remember every detail of every day. He seemed to have a type of photographic memory, but only for a certain time; without regular use, some memories would fade. This is how he has the ability to constantly practice (he does put hours into practicing) and create a routine seemingly out of thin air. “When I drill, tell a story. I don’t know how, I just do.”

I do not recommend trying to emulate Angel on the Monkeying part, but the practice and telling a story- go for it.

Tags: competition, exhibition drill, improvisation, monkey drill, routine construction, routine creation No Comments »

by DrillMaster

Special Report: US Flag Not Dipped During Parade of Nations

July 29, 2012 in Commentary, DrillCenter News

That’s right, the American flag was not dipped to the “royal” box during the 2012 Olympics Parade of Nations in London, England.

“Disrespect!” you say? Nonsense. Our Flag Code give us the guidance of not dipping the flag. Other countries are different and that’s fine. America not wiping the ground with Old Glory means we hold our flag in high esteem as the symbol of our nation.

Here is a picture of gold medal-winning fencer, Mariel Zagunis, carrying the American flag from last Friday. Click on the image and you can read about her at Guideposts.

Tags: dipping flag, flag code, olympics, parade of nations 2 Comments »

by DrillMaster

Balance

July 27, 2012 in Drill Teams, Honor Guard, Instructional

If you had to do only one thing to improve your performance, what do you think it would be?

Improve Your Balance

Balance is the equal distribution of weight. When you perform, through each movement that you execute, you need to have that equal distribution of weight- or at least the appearance of it. This is the greatest factor in performance- and even more so if you drill armed.

Take a dance class or start doing exercises that work on your balance. Photo from fitnessmart.com.

Dance your way to balance

Here is an interesting article: Dancing Makes You Smarter

And another: Dance and Ballet Training for Sports

All Drillers need to read this article: Good Dancers Make it Look Easy

1. Flexibility

Flexibility is an important part of being healthy. Dance requires a great amount of flexibility. Most dance classes begin with a warm-up including several stretching exercises. Dancers must strive to achieve full range of motion for all the major muscle groups. The greater the range of motion, the more muscles can flex and extend. Most forms of dance require dancers to perform moves that require bending and stretching, so dancers naturally become more flexible by simply dancing.

2. Strength

Strength is defined as the ability of a muscle to exert a force against resistance. Dancing builds strength by forcing the muscles to resist against a dancer’s own body weight. Many styles of dance, including jazz and ballet, require jumping and leaping high into the air. Jumping and leaping require tremendous strength of the major leg muscles. Ballroom dancing builds strength. Consider the muscle mass a male ballroom dancer develops by lifting his partner above his head!

3. Endurance

Dance is physical exercise. Exercise increases endurance. Endurance is the ability of muscles to work hard for increasingly longer periods of time without fatigue. Regular dancing is great for improving endurance, especially vigorous dancing such as line and ballroom dancing. Elevating the heart rate can increase stamina. Just as in any form of exercise, regular dancing will build endurance. From http://dance.about.com/od/danceandyourhealth/tp/Health-Benefits.htm

4. Better Balance

Dancing can require fast movement it can also require slower, more deliberate movement and always good posture. Frequent dancing will help you stabilize and gain better control of your body.

Exercise your way to balance

Balance: you must develop your core muscles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWuKEt96Jjs

Here is a long list of different balance exercises.

Now, go practice!

Tags: DrillFit No Comments »

by DrillMaster

WDA Adjudication System

July 27, 2012 in Ask DrillMaster, Drill Teams, Honor Guard, Instructional

‘We won with 13 million points! Second place had a score of 12,000.”

I pose this question to you all: In all of the military drill competitions across the USA, and probably into other countries as well, what do the scores mean? What do the point gaps mean?

I have an answer: The scores and point spreads mean nothing.

Then why have a competition? Just to find a “winner”? Or could there be a better reason for having a competition? Granted, competitions bring people together and that is a great thing: socialization, learning from each other, etc.

But is there more? I think the answer to that is a resounding “yes, there is more!” But what is that more? Let’s briefly explore the World Drill Association (WDA) Adjudication System.

The WDA judging system is quite complex and yet easy to use. One must study to be a judge, and every Driller and drill team should obtain a copy of the manual and read it thoroughly. And here is why.

There are four captions in the WDA system (overall effect, composition analysis, movement, and equipment) each of these captions has a sub caption (for the “what” and the “how” of the performance).
The scoring is on a scale of 100, much like the grading system in a school (A, B, C etc.)
Scores are grouped into ranges called “Boxes.”

The WDA Boxes

To see exactly what a score means, all one has to do is look at the back of the score sheet and also look in the WDA Manual. Here you will find a brief description of what a performance should look like in each score range. Boxes are also broken down into thirds to increase the accuracy of the scoring system.

Scores spreads in each caption and overall are based on tenths of a point and those point spreads have great significance.

WDA Point Spread Significance

The WDA also employs a classification system for Drillers, teams and honor guards:

Novice- beginning
Junior- limited
A-Class- intermediate
Open- advanced
Ceremonial Class- for honor guard units

When judging, stay in caption! There is a There is a natural tendency to react to the overall effect of the performance. That’s why judges must be trained in their caption. Judges must concentrate on only their specific caption.

This judging system was designed by experts in visual adjudication in sister pageantry arts of the military drill world. I developed it for use in the military drill world.

Tags: adjudication, judging, summer competition series, WDA 3 Comments »

by DrillMaster

Learning to Drop

July 27, 2012 in Ask DrillMaster, Commentary, Drill Teams, Honor Guard, Instructional

Apparently, some Drillers don’t plan for mistakes. This is not good! For some reason, some Drillers are taught that they’re not supposed to pick up their piece of equipment (rifle, saber/sword, guidon) when they are dropped even when performing i a competition! Unless you are part of the Marine Corps’ Silent Drill Platoon (see picture at right borrowed from Flickster), this is silly! What is worse is a Driller saluting their rifle before picking it up! Stop it!

I understand the reasoning behind this: The service honor guard drill teams do this (mostly the SDP, now) and this is an example to follow. OK. Got it. Now, stop following this guidance. It works for the SDP because of the type of show they put on; their performance is one of top-notch perfection with zero confusion and a single focus point throughout the majority of their routine. The commander of the drill team or the sergeant who is in charge at any point during the routine, are the ones who move to break ranks and fix whatever needs to be fixed. That’s the SDP way and it works well. Below is a picture of the changing of the guard at the San Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taiwan. Drops happen and when they do, other guards in civilian clothing pick up the rifle.

Meanwhile back with Agua Fria High School (my high school) JROTC’s drill team at a competition:

Oh no, a drop! How about we have the whole team stop what the routine so that the commander can walk over and pick up the rifle and hand it back to the team member.

Or how about this:

A drop! We will have the driller stop, walkover to the rifle at attention, stop in front of the rifle, render a salute and then bend over and pick up the rifle.*

*This is an embarrassing situation for the driller and also for the audience. There is absolutely no need for this kind of action. If you use this in training, it should never see the light of day in a public performance.

Do these scenarios sound like the best use of time? No. Do they add to the flow of the routine? No. Both of these scenarios detract from completely performance and offer nothing but confusion to the audience. The eye is always going to follow what is moving or what is moving faster. This is something to keep in mind when a piece of equipment is dropped. In a situation where a piece of equipment is dropped it should be taken care of as quickly as possible so as to not draw attention to the problem and keep the focus on the routine.

What does a Driller do when a drop or hit occurs?

First, a drop is where the rifle completely leaves the hands and rests on the ground. A hit is where the rifle leaves the hands and may hit or brush the ground or the body but is still recovered. You could say that a hit is more like a fumbling.

A driller needs to take care of the drop or the hit as quickly as possible. In the case of a drop including it into your routine; having the audience wonder whether it was part of your routine or not, is the best way to recover from a drop.

So, what a driller needs to do is practice recovering with style from a drop. There are several different ways one can do this it just depends on where the rifle is in relation to your body. Laying the rifle down on the ground at different points around you and experimenting with ways to recover the rifle will add to your movement vocabulary and creates loose recoveries.

Tags: drill team, rifle drop No Comments »

by DrillMaster

First Step- How to Step Off

July 26, 2012 in Ask DrillMaster, Drill Teams, Honor Guard, Instructional

One of the things I really did not like about Basic Training was my TI and/or DI yelling things like, “You look like trees in the wind!” “Stop be-bopping!” But, in Basic, there is not time for the “why” of what does not work. I’m going to explain the “why.”

“Stop be-bopping” is regarding vertical movement when marching and the “trees in the wind” comment has to do with beginning to march from the position of Attention when a flight or platoon leans into the first step because the Drillers know no other way.

I’ll address “be-bopping” in another article, but right now, let’s look at stopping the “trees in the wind.”

When I train others I start from the very beginning:

Standing Manual
First Step
Marching Technique
Etc.

Standing Manual: For more info on the complete honor guard (veteran, military, first responder) Standing Manual, see The Honor Guard Manual.

First Step: This is the isolated term I began using when working with Vanden High School (Fairfield, CA) Marching Band and continued to use when we moved to Germany and I was an instructor with the Spangdahlem Air Base Honor Guard.

I say “isolated” because the military drill world, as a whole, hasn’t considered this one small movement that has so much impact on a Driller, team and performance.

How to train this technique (for stepping off with the left foot- which is what we do in the military):

Stand at Attention using either Method.
Push down with the right heel while you- lift the left foot to bring it forward (see Force picture at right).
Stop when you are on your right platform (ball of the foot across to the little toe) and left heel; your center of balance should be exactly between each foot with your body centered over it (see First Step picture above).
Balance there for a moment (good balance training) to help muscle memory.
Go back to Attention.
Repeat as necessary and then begin this exercise: march a few steps, halt, march a few steps, halt.

Marching Technique: That’s another article!

Tags: marching technique 4 Comments »

by DrillMaster

“Open” or “Closed,” that is the Question

July 25, 2012 in Ask DrillMaster, Commentary, Drill Teams, Honor Guard, Instructional

There is a difference whether you and/or your team stands with the Closed Foot Method or Traditional Method and not just visually.

There are two ways of standing at Attention for the American military, drill teams and honor guards when referring to the position of the feet (the star is the center of balance):

Closed-Foot Method
Heels and toes together
Military Honor Guard Standard

Traditional Method

Which position is better?
The Closed-Foot Method creates a clean line and helps the honor guard member to balance all of their weight on the whole of both feet and bring the center of balance (the star) centered between the feet.

The Traditional Method, places more pressure on the heels and up through the spine. Subsequently, standing for longer periods can become quite difficult/painful.

When I teach, I show the difference between the two stances to each trainee from the side: stand using the Traditional Method and then, without moving your upper body, move to the Closed-Foot Method. As your center of gravity moves forward, those observing will see your upper body shift forward about two inches! Much more comfortable than an aching spine.

Tags: attention, closed toe, drill team, honor guard, marching technique, open toe 3 Comments »

by DrillMaster

Bugles Across America

July 25, 2012 in Commentary, DrillCenter News, Honor Guard, Instructional

Fellow honor guard colleagues, a military funeral with Taps played on a CD player or through an electronic adapter for a bugle just isn’t the same. That’s whay Bugles Across America was founded.

Bugles Across America, NFP was founded in 2000 by Tom Day, when Congress passed legislation stating that veterans have a right to at least 2 uniformed military people to fold the flag and play taps on a CD player. Bugles Across America was founded to take this a step further, and in recognition of the service these Veterans have provided to their country, we felt that every Veteran deserved a live rendition of taps played by a live Bugler. To this end, we are actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families. Read more here.

Click here to request a bugler

Please like their Facebook page by clicking the image above.

This great program provides a bugler for as many funerals as possible across the US and it even has a bugler in Germany, my friend and honor guard colleague Hartmut Hausser. In the picture, below, Hartmut (shortest) is in the US at the Tomb of the Unknowns for te 150th anniversary of the bugle call Taps.

Tags: bugler, bugles across america, honor guard 1 Comment »

by DrillMaster

The First DrillCenter Show

July 24, 2012 in Announcements, Drill Teams, DrillCenter News

My first attempt at The DrillMaster DrillCenter

http://youtu.be/H-dzKvASZBI

DrillCenter will be about news from across America from the military drill world- would you like to be a DrillCenter Reporter? Send me an email!

Tags: drill team, DrillCenter, idrill rifle No Comments »

The DrillMaster

You are browsing the archive for 2012 July.

Pieces Parts

Improvisation or What We Call, “Monkey Drill”

Special Report: US Flag Not Dipped During Parade of Nations