News

Bartitsu: Fight Like Sherlock Holmes
Sunday, July 26th, 10am-5pm
Boxing, walking-stick, umbrella

Garibaldi Sword Camp
Adult camp Sept 18 - 20

Knight Camp
Spring Break Knight Camp was our best yet! Sign up for summer now!

Beginner's Classes
Beginner series starts July 4, 6, 7

July Jump Start Stage Combat

June 28, 2009

Actors! Stage combat is much overlooked today, but it is undoubtedly a skill needed for a solid foundation as a performer. Get the essentials at our July Stage Combat Class. This three-week course will cover sword, quarterstaff and unarmed techniques while emphasizing the needs of the actor: safety, storytelling and style. Students starting a film/theatre program in September will benefit from a headstart, as will actors auditioning for Bard in August.

Time is short to register - first class is July 13! Call our office at 604-568-9907 or email us at info @ academieduello.com to sign-up now.

Anime Evolution Wrap-up

June 16, 2009

Academie Duello again attended Anime Evolution this past weekend at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. The conference devoted to all things Japanese Animation had approximately 5000 attendees and featured programming panels on everything from Creating Anime Costumes and How to do Animation to panels on Sword Fighting! -- Which is where we come in.

Academie Duello's two sword fighting workshops, one on Saturday on the Rapier, and the other on Sunday for the Longsword each had more than 100 attendees with 80 or so on the floor at a time wielding swords and learning the fundamental movements and postures of the art.

The workshops went great and we expect to see a lot of new faces at the Academie over the next few weeks. If anyone has any photos or videos of the workshops, please send them our way.

Over the weekend we also conducted a raffle from our conference booth and at closing ceremonies we announced our three winners:

1st Place - Functional Hand and a Half Sword: Rissa Paff

2nd Place - Taste the Renaissance Gift Certificate: Adam Kropf

3rd Place - July 18th Swordplay Workshop: Ellis Rennie

We're still trying to reach Ellis, so if you know him, tell him to come and pickup his prize!

We're looking forward to Anime Evolution 2010!

Warrior Program - SwordFit

May 6, 2009

Want to learn to sword fight with a longsword, sword and shield, or spear? Academie Duello's new warrior program combines our sword fighting technical program with SwordFit, our swordplay circuit training system, to teach you how to wield the knightly weapons. The warrior program is a physically focused program that will help you develop core strength, speed, and endurance while giving you the fundamental skills of sword fighting.

Warrior Program beginner classes start June 1st at 6:30pm for 4 weeks, running on Mondays and Wednesdays. Call our office at 604-568-9907 or email us at info @ academieduello.com to sign-up now.

Sidesword and Longsword Weekend

April 23, 2009

On Saturday May 2nd and 3rd Academie Duello is hosting a Weekend of Swordplay. On Saturday May 2nd starting at 3:00 pm we will have Round Robin Tournaments in Rapier, Sidesword and Longsword combat. After the tournaments are complete the official Academie Duello Move Night will begin. We're kicking things off with the Spanish movie Captain Alatriste then watching a film from the golden age of fencing cinema (title to be announced later). The cost for the day is $10 to cover tournament costs and snacks.

On Sunday May 3rd we will be holding two workshops, one for Sidesword and one for Longsword. Check out the longsword and sidesword workshop teaser videos. The Sidesword Workshop will be from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm and the Longsword Workshop will be from 2:00pm until 6:00 pm. Each will cost $60 ($45 for members). Check out our Events Page for more details.

New after-work Fundamentals Class time

March 26th, 2009

In response to growing demand from our customers, Academie Duello will be offering two new class times per week starting in March. Classes will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we'll be running classes on the fundamentals of form and tactics, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.

These classes are intended for both current students and interested new students; the Taste the Renaissance program will be taught during this class time in addition to the regular evening and Saturday classes.

Beginning and experienced students alike will benefit from this hour and a half in which we'll go back to the basics of rapier and longsword combat. The lighter conditioning and convenient after-work time slot make this class a great choice for fencers with a full schedule.

New and expanded falconry workshops

March 3rd, 2009

We welcome 'Cabal', a Sonoran Harris hawk, to our falconry program. We are currently revamping and expanding our falconry workshops for 2009, with the first workshops of the year scheduled for March. Keep checking the homepage for updates.

Check our falconry page for an introduction to the program.

About Academie Duello

Academie Duello is a martial arts school of European swordplay and historical fencing based in downtown Vancouver, BC. We specialize in providing lessons in the rapier, longsword, and sidesword, as well as traditional Italian grappling, pole weapons, knife, and other knightly arts.

Visit us at #200 - 422 Richards St. or call for more info: 604.568.9907.