Mace Flow Tutorial - The Four Friends Flow

[@dekar5]

Perfect content for my beginner needs ❤

[@flowmadesimple]

Very happy to hear that! Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions! Happy flowing :)

[@SteveKaplan-c2v]

I have been working at this flow for a while, I feel comfortable and smooth as I flow from one move to the next. I started with a light mace so I could focus on learning the individual moves and gradually building the flow. Now that I have all four moves flowing well, I am going to start increasing the weight of the mace. By increasing the weight it will make me focus more on hand positioning on the shaft of the mace and rotation of my body as I go through the flow.

[@flowmadesimple]

Congratulations, my friend! Very very well done. It's incredible to hear about your journey with this flow - which I'm sure has taken weeks, if not much longer. I commend your patience and commitment to performing the flow evenly before increasing the mace weight. It's also very cool to hear you describe what you will focus on next and why. Major kudos to you and I'm so glad that this flow has been valuable. Good luck on mastering the hand placement and rotation!

[@eleis9380]

Tahnk you.

[@flowmadesimple]

You're very welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting 🙏

[@waza8204]

Amazing thanks 🙏

[@flowmadesimple]

You're welcome, thanks for watching! I'm glad you dig it. Let me know if I can answer any questions as you master the flow!

[@Ashroar-s7j]

Great flow style. Thanks.

[@flowmadesimple]

You’re very welcome! Glad you like it, thanks for your comment!

[@dbosavage]

Excellent content my man! Love your stuff!

[@flowmadesimple]

Thank you very much! I'm honored to hear that this content is valuable for you 🙏 Thanks so much for your comment :)

[@Totobogui]

Excellent tutorial, greetings from Chile!

[@flowmadesimple]

Wow, Chile?? That's so cool! I can't wait to travel there one day to meet the people and see the landscapes. And thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed this tutorial! Cheers my friend :)

[@swingcorekettlebell]

thank you ! very good demo you go through the details ! it really help for flowing

[@flowmadesimple]

Amazing to hear! Thank you very much for the compliment. Happy flowing!

[@josmarser]

Nice video. Always the best tips bro 🔨👌🏻

[@flowmadesimple]

Thank you so much! Means a ton to hear that :) Thanks for your comment!

[@ofribi]

brother thank you for this video! i am in my first days of learning the mechanics of the mace and you are very helpful for my understanding @}---

[@flowmadesimple]

You are very welcome! Congratulations on starting your steel mace journey! It’s been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Let me know if you ever have any questions! Cheers brother

[@ofribi]

@@flowmadesimple actually i do have a question or two... so... integrating the 10-2 with the drop swing... ive noticed that your not switching hands... meaning' you start with the right hand leading(upper position on the mace, left hand is lower on the mace) and it stays up(leading) the entire integration (from min 1:33 till 3:02) from what i think i understand, both in the 360 and 2-10 you whod like to switch the hands position when switching sides of the mace(hope im clear enough english is not my native tongue) so could you clarify a bit more about that? is there a long term side effect to the wrist if we "lead" with the wrong hand, lets say doing a 360 with the right hand leading but going over the right shoulder instead of the left shoulder? much appreciated @}----

[@flowmadesimple]

Good day! Thank you for your patience on this reply, I just saw your comment. Great questions! Your english is great and I think I understand your question completely! Basically, you are asking if not switching the top hand as you swing the mace will have negative impacts on your wrists. And you reference this as I was doing the 360 and 10-2s. Here's my answer: Firstly, while I have 5 years of experience with steel mace training, there are many things I don't know. I know other coaches believe switching hands is important, and I totally respect their opinion. That said, my wrists have never been adversely affected by not switching hands. Switching hands will INCREASE the leverage you have while performing a 360, but it does not change the fundamental movement at all. It is tricky to explain why, but I will do my best: Let's say you are doing a 360 over your left shoulder. Your right arm will be pulling more of the weight than your left arm because it is bio-mechanically more advantageous to do so. Try this out with a two hand 360 and then a one hand 360 and you'll see what I mean. Drop the mace over your left shoulder, and you'll notice your right arm pulls the mace back up with more power than your left arm. Now do a one handed 360 again, but this time, alternate between holding your hand at the very bottom of the mace vs 10-15cm from the bottom of the mace. When you're hand is higher, it's a little easier right? That's because the amount of weight you are pulling during the swing is actually a little less (because the centrifugal force is less). SO, when you do a 360, whichever hand is higher is in a mechanically more advantageous position. So if the arm pulling more strongly in the 360 is on bottom, it will work harder than if it were on top. It's tricky to explain, but I hope my answer makes sense. Overall, just try it out for yourself and see what works best for you and your body! Let me know if you have any other questions!

[@SpiritualHypertrophy]

It took me a few attempts over 3 days but I finally got it. Feels great! Thanks for the clear tutorial 🙏

[@flowmadesimple]

Nicely done!! I'm stoked for you, it's a tricky but rewarding flow. You're very welcome for the tutorial, thank you for watching and commenting!

[@mentos9102]

What weight your mace?

[@flowmadesimple]

Great question! I typically use a 10 lb mace, but I also use a 20lb mace for greater strength training (that’s the mace behind me in this video)

[@heckl0r]

Cue that you need to hike your shoulder OR hold the mace further up the mace if you are on the shorter end of the vertical scale… otherwise you risk smashing the floor (or worse your toes😅)

[@flowmadesimple]

Fair enough!! If you are on the shorter end of that vertical scale, another good option is to close your elbow joint more during the Samurai Swing (increase the bicep curl). Choking up on the mace is also great, though I’d advise hiking the shoulder up as a last resort to hold better shoulder position/stability throughout the flow. Great call out, thanks for commenting this!

[@kungfuzzzz]

For swinging clubs, mills are what you call samurai swings for the mace. And what you call mills for the mace, is called a reverse mill for swinging clubs.

[@flowmadesimple]

No kidding! How funny - sometimes I've heard the terms "inside mill" and "outside mill" which indicate if you're pulling the weight inside or extending outside of your body. So in that sense, very similar to your clubs with mill/reverse mill. Thanks for sharing this interesting insight!

[@Josh-z1m]

How much weight is your mace? Can a beginner do this?

[@flowmadesimple]

Great questions! The weight of this mace is 10lbs, and I recommend beginners start with 5-10lb maces. It seems light, but maces are deceptively heavy! And your second question is a bit more nuanced. The answer is yes, but you would need to learn progressively over time. You'd start by learning the 360 (I've linked my best tutorial for that below), then the Drop Swing, then the Mill, then the Samurai Swing. Does that make sense? 5-Step 360 Tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/opi0mmmDZrmXe6s

[@Josh-z1m]

Thanks I'll save the video.

[@flowmadesimple]

You're welcome, good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

[@cesarescotti1202]

this is the first flow I'm really struggling with.

[@flowmadesimple]

While it may feel frustrating, that's actually amazing news! Let me know if there is any one part that doesn't make sense to you :) It's a super tricky flow! The pivot is especially challenging. But if you can figure this flow out, there will be very few flows you can't tackle 👊

[@cesarescotti1202]

@@flowmadesimple I’m practicing the part from the mill to the swing. It’s difficult because during the mill I have the hand at the middle of the mace and when I go for the swing (so when I’m starting the sequence with the other hand) I’m not able to make a proper swing. Consider that I’m not working with the samurai yet. Thank you for your job, your channel deserve to grow up very fast.

[@flowmadesimple]

Thanks so much for your gratitude and for asking this great question! It sounds like you're doing the Three Friends Flow variant and are having a hard time transitioning between the mill of one side and the 360 of the other side. Is that correct? If so, there are three things you could do: 1. As you get stronger with your mills, choke down on the mace towards the tail. This will make it easier to swing across your body and into the next 360. 2. As you finish your mill and begin to swing the mace across your body to initiate the next 360, loosen your grip slightly to let the mace slide a few inches away then retighten your grip. This could also put the mace in a more optimal position for the next 360. 3. If neither of the above work, there is another way! Keep your grip in the middle of the mace, swing it across your body, and do the 360 as you would normally do in this flow. The 360 will feel different when you hold in center grip than when you hold it at the tail - so practice regular 2 handed 360s while holding in center grip. This will help your body figure out how to perform the movement more smoothly. Do these tips help? If not, please let me know what could be clarified :) thanks again for your support and encouragement! Happy flowing!

[@cesarescotti1202]

@@flowmadesimple These help me a lot! I was already practicing the "loosing grip" tip, because my body felt comfortable with that, but the other two are gold. Before that, after the swing I found me with the most of the tail in my hand during the drop, and that was super uncomfortable. I'm practicing every day and I can see the differences. But I have to repeat to you that we can see the passion and the profession you put in these lessons and I sincerely wish you the best.

[@flowmadesimple]

Your comment just made my week, a thousand thank you's! I'm so glad to hear that those tips were helpful and am over the moon that you're practicing every day and seeing differences. That's stellar! And I'm really touched by your words, they mean so much to me. I strive to give myself as fully as I can to each video and it's deeply fulfilling to hear that they are received that way. Thank you so much, my friend 🙏

[@_soulcraft_]

I’ve watched this like 40 times and still can’t make sense of your instructions. At the multi stage flow you piece the stages together but then don’t explain when the transition between hands starts. Then you use different grip positions in the full flow. All of which I can’t follow visually while you’re talking. 😅 …I’m gonna slow-mo this time around and see if I can decipher it.

[@flowmadesimple]

Many thanks for watching, practicing, and commenting. Which transitions are the most confusing for you? I think your plan to watch in slow motion is great. This is a really popular flow but I know it's a tricky one!