Nothing Beats the Feeling of a Job Well Done
What do judges look for in a military drill team performance?
What do judges look for in a military drill team performance? I get this question quite often. Here is the answer: it doesn’t matter “what the judge is looking for,” it matters what the standard is. I put that in quotes, because obviously, a judge is going to be looking for something, but what that something is has nothing to …
Exhibition Drill: Who do you want to be?
Exhibition Drill: Who do you want to be?
Astronaut High School Drill Meet 2013 Performance Critiques
My critiques for each of the female performances (squad and platoon, RD and XD) at the first annual Astronaut High School Drill Meet. Click the titles for each school and the audio file should begin to download for you. Congratulations to all of the schools that participated! And a big thank you to all of the judges: local Army recruiters, …
Ask the DrillMaster: Saber Spinning
Q: Can you spin a saber in a competition? A: No. Yes. No, most drill meets will not allow a cadet to spin a saber or sword since both have a relatively sharp edge and a point. Safety is a big concern here, understandably. And now for the “Yes” of the question. Yes! Spin a color guard saber! Marching band …
How to Switch from Regualtion Drill to Exhibition Drill
A short time ago a student friend of mine sent me a video of his armed solo performance asking for feedback (I give real-time audio feedback on performances of Drillers and teams in the WDA Adjudication System: Overall Effect, Composition Analysis, Marching & Equipment- usually a combined critique of a little from each caption). To preface the video, he told …
Regarding Ambidexterity
The definition according to dictionary.com am·bi·dex·trous [am-bi-dek-struhs] 1. able to use both hands equally well: an ambidextrous surgeon. 2. unusually skillful; facile: an ambidextrous painter, familiar with all media. For the military drill world, having ambidexterity means 1. being able to use both hands/arms to manipulate your piece of equipment for armed exhibition drill and, 2. being able to use …
Basic “Tick-Tocks”
When beginning to explore armed exhibition drill (XD) many Drillers want to be able to execute a J-Hook (created by former New Guard America Driller, Jake Spiers) in the first hour of practice. That’s probably not going to happen- ever. It takes practice. Hour upon hour of practice. When starting out wanting to throw a rifle around, getting used to …
What is another rifle with which you could practice?
Great question! Here is the info: Standard for the military drill world (MDW) in America are the M1 Garand, M14, M1903A3 and, to a lesser extent the M1917 (Enfield). There are also some color teams/honor guards that use the Russian-made Krag rifle. Real, demilitarized rifles are listed here: Pssst, Hey Buddy Wanna Buy an M1903? Replica rifles are here: Armed …
The Opening Statement
When I judge, I create a commentary/critique of each performance during the performance and I then post it on my website here for the Drillers/teams to download and listen to. On many of my recordings, you can hear me talk about the Driller’s or team’s “opening statement.” But what is this opening statement? Defining the TermIn military exhibition drill visual …