Yes, but.... It is enough to be ahead, 'a little ahead' meaning a knee ahead at least, on either side. While a normal player would prefer to take an off-side shot while riding off the other guy, anybody 4 goals or more can take a near-side shot with almost the same ease.
What matters is how balanced your pony is, and how calm you are in a ride-off (I've seen Jaipur cantering in a slow circle, riding off somebody charging in at a gallop, and calmly taking his shot after the other guy went rattling off helplessly, unable to pull up in time). 'A little ahead' is exactly correct; too far ahead, you might be crossing the man, and there's no telling how the guy with the whistle will interpret who had the line of the ball. --- On Tue, 1/6/10, Dave Long <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Dave Long <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [silk] The Mongoliad > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, 1 June, 2010, 18:14 > Can't say I'm likely to participate > in anything where the barrier to entry is iPhone > acquisition, but as I happen to believe many current > equestrian disciplines are the ossified remnants of what was > previously useful at different epochs in mounted combat, you > might just tempt me, if you can provide interesting enough > samples[0]. > > We've started playing around with sabers and bows > recently. The difference between being "in the saddle" > in polo and in saber is that in polo one wants to be a > little ahead and to the right of one's man, while in saber > one wants to be a little behind and to the left[1]. I > find nocking with a thumb release much easier at gallop, but > Kassai apparently uses the pedestrian release, and he > maintains an impressive rate of fire; this may matter more > at higher draw weights. > > The biggest disappointments I've had in searching for > mounted games have been overly[2] constrained situations and > lack of speed[3]. After all, for most antagonistic > endeavors, footwork and timing are key, even if (especially > if?) the footwork isn't with one's own feet... > > -Dave > > [0] even if the state of practice weren't necessarily at > the level of this garrocha kata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9Y1F_f87F0 > [1] this folk wisdom no doubt predates RAND corporation > pursuit-evasion contours by millennia > [2] Patton, in his cavalry manual, notes with > understatement that T-boning, however effective in melee, is > not easily practiced > [3] notable exceptions thus far being portuguese bullfights > and crazy turks playing Cirit > > >
