Academie Duello

Many Hands Make Light Work

posterousauthor — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:05:09 +0000

Open Barn & Work Party this Weekend

Light work at a farm? Is that an oxymoron, you ask? Not necessarily. We have a new shelter to put up. While it is not a job requiring lots of muscle it does take a minimum of eight people to ‘walk’ it into place, so we could sure use your help down in Richmond on Sunday. If you’re good with heights there’s a tarp that needs to be nailed to the roof of the outdoor stalls. And of course if you were looking for something you could get your back into there’s always gravel to move or ditches to dig.

Not that you need to work. Open Barn will be running from 2-4pm and you’re welcome to come down and practise your horsemanship and swordsmanship, or just socialize and hang out with horses!

Sunday 26 February
Work Party: 1 – 5pm
Open Barn: 2 – 4pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Rd, Richmond
(No 402 bus from Brighouse skytrain station)
Map: http://g.co/maps/cxqdy

Riding & Horsemanship Class 4

This week is also the last of our current series of Riding & Horsemanship, and therefore assessment day! If you are looking to either do your written tests or have your Riding or Horsemanship assessed you must let me know (jennifer@academieduello.com) ahead of time. Of course there will be class as usual that day for those not due for assessments.

Sunday 26 February
Horsemanship: 10am – 11:30am
Riding: 11:30am – 1:30pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Rd, Richmond
cost: $30 for Horsemanship only; $60 for Riding & Horsemanship

Coming up in March

Intro to Mounted Combat
Learn horsemanship, riding and swordwork basics in the morning of this 6 hour workshop, and join in with our regular Mounted Combat workshop in the afternoon.

Sunday 4 March, 10am – 4pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Rd, Richmond
cost: $149

Mounted Combat
Focus this month is on spear. Those with the Green Spur rank or equivalent riding experience may work from horseback.

Sunday 4 March, 1 – 4pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Rd, Richmond
cost: $60; $150 for three workshops

Riding & Horsemanship
The next series of four Riding & Horsemanship classes begins March 11th. In these classes you will work through the material necessary for your next level of Horsemanship, followed by a riding session targetted to your experience.

Sunday 11 & 25 March, 8 & 22 April
10am – 1:30pm
Red Colt Equestrian Farm Co-op, 12320 No 2 Rd, Richmond
cost: $60 ea; $200 for all four sessions

Integrated Training
Remember you can take all our Cavaliere classes for only $120 per month (effectively 3 classes for the price of 2), or book six months of training for only $675 for even more savings.

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Sword Press in Modern Times

posterousauthor — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:57:40 +0000

This week’s offering is eclectic in origin and subject, sometimes one just gets lucky. The major lesson that the Major would like you to take away today is that the cost of some of our kit can be substantial – take care of it – and each others’.

Making Swords in Modern Times

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (Hong Kong, China) February 12 Mania for swords makes blacksmith’s fortune

In the rice fields of the Philippines; farmers and ex-soldiers are turning old truck leaf-springs into creditable replicas of famous movie swords.

For one ex-soldier, a government retraining initiative allowed him to acquire the blacksmith skills necessary to become a blacksmith – which in turn led him into making kitchen knives. His proximity to a U.S. military base resulted in him doing specialised piece-work for specialised knives and swords – and then he hit ‘the big time’ helping to fulfill the demand for movie and fantasy swords in North America.

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a...

Losing Swords in Modern Times

DAILY NEWS (Taranaki, New Zealand) 13 February 12 Thieves pillage weapons, armour (John Anthony)

The New Zealand Viking-re-creation group ‘Midgard Vikingrs’ had two helmets and three swords were stolen from the Vikings’ camp during their warm-up run. Included in the stolen items was a $5000 English long sword built by Weta Workshop’s master swordsmith Peter Lyon.

One of the truly great things WMA groups can do for their art is to put on exciting, authentic and safe demonstrations of our studies for the others in public venues. Unfortunately, it does happen that when most eyes are turned to the action, some will use the occasion to steal from a temporarily neglected or improperly-stored cache of fighting kit.

First, if you can’t lock-up your kit, have it ‘guarded’ by someone not involved with inter-acting with the public (those Renaissance-style bodice lacings can be so-o-o distracting). Second, carry photos of your kit – and etch/indelibly mark it if possible (without detracting from neither utility nor value) – this makes recovery – and a quick return much easier for the local sheriff.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/6406239/Thieves-pillage-weapo...

Symbols in Modern Times

EL UNIVERSO (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 05 February 12 Las espadas de Eloy Alfaro, un símbolo político recurrente

In Ecuador, former members of the AVC anti-government group returned to the government the swords that they had stolen in 1983. The subsequent guardianship of the blades of 19th century presidents Eloy Alfaro and Pedro J. Montero are now a point of contention between rival federal and municipal leaders in that country.

Story and Photos at URL below.

http://www.eluniverso.com/2012/02/05/1/1355/espadas-eloy-alfaro-un-simbolo-po...

and

http://www.eluniverso.com/2012/02/02/1/1355/ministra-espinoza-dice-estado-cus...

Everybody Loves Swords! (Yes, in Modern Times)

HUFFINGTON POST (UK) 15 February 12 Ministry Of Defence Lose £527,879 In Items Over 10 Months

Photo at URL … you’ll see it!

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/02/ministry-of-defence-lost-items_n_1...

Our Parthian Shot for Modern Times

SUNDAY ZAMAN (Istanbul, Turkey) 09 October 11 Traditional Ottoman archery revived at Biga (Mehmet Ali Poyraz)

And for those of you who caught the Borsos Torz Horse Archery Club’s invitation within Jennifer’s previous Cavaliere Program post, here’s a slightly stale-dated piece on the state of the art …

Turkey is attempting to revive historical horse archer skills with the annual Osman Bey Traditional Archery Competition held in Biga. Apparently, the West, the Orient and the Persian Gulf are not alone in trying to revive ‘uniquely cultural’ martial arts.

Hundreds of competitors, men and women from seven nations; over sixty dressed as traditional janissaries, some as samurai and even some as Mohican warriors, demonstrated their skills in both ‘foot’ and ‘kabak’ or mounted shooting.

Biga District Governor Fatih Genel who oversaw the creation of the archery event: “Each and every Turk has a penchant for horseback riding and archery in their soul. What we should do is to trigger this hidden yearning”.

http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=259281

You can see additional coverage of this keystone martial arts event at:

Biga atlı okçuluk ve okçuluk müsabakası Ekim 2011

http://www.atli-okculuk.com/2012/01/biga-atl-okculuk-ve-okculuk-musabakas.html

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Your two jobs

posterousauthor — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:03:26 +0000

Regardless of what kind of combat you're in, you always have two jobs

defend yourself
position yourself to strike

and strike

Job 1 is easy. Wild swings can easily knock aside opponent's attacks but they leave you poorly able to deliver a strike of your own (or defend yourself from your opponent's second strike). That is, Job 2 may not be easily done.

In your practice always be sure that you're keeping both of your jobs in mind.

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Gentry, Children and The Sort of People Who Like to Sweat at 7am…

posterousauthor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:57:03 +0000

Academie Duello is calling!

“All I want is a gentleman. I’m sick to bloddy death of bastards!” -Katie Price

Intro to Bartitsu Workshop

Saturday, February 25, 2012 1pm-5pm

Learn the mixed martial art of the Victorian English Gentleman. In this four-hour workshop, you’ll acquire the essential Bartitsu skills of Boxing, Jujitsu, Savate and Cane fighting:

- the basic punches of scientific boxing and the first defensive moves of pugilism

- the first throw from jujitsu and how to land without hurting yourself when thrown

- the foundations of walking stick self-defence, and the essential kicks of savate

This Introduction to Bartitsu is a pre-requisite for the ongoing Bartitsu class. We want all newcomers to the weekly class to have some familiarity with the core techniques, and to get some practice in an easy environment where all of the students are learning the skills together.

So, whether you’re interested in studying Bartitsu on an ongoing basis, or if you just want to learn the essential elements, the Introduction to Bartitsu covers the fundamentals. Fun and self-defense without getting your spats dirty!

Instructor: David McCormick

$60 (15%off for members)

“The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.” – Mark Twain

Spring Break Knight Camps!

March 12-16 2012 10am-3:30pm

March 19-23 2012 10am-3:30pm

Knight Camp is a yearly camp that runs in the Spring and throughout Summer. Returning students have the opportunity to advance through ranks of Knighthood every time they come back to camp, starting as a Page, advancing to Squire, Man/Lady at Arms, then Knight.

Knight Camp isn’t just about learning to fight with swords, there is much more to being a knight. Kids learn and practice knightly virtues every day such as mercy, integrity, and courage, learn about heraldry and create a coat of arms which they paint on their own battle-ready shields, and even get a chance to build armour. The broader skills of the knight are also taught such as medieval games, dance, courtly presentation, and even how to command a siege.

$299 + HST per child, per week

“Eight percent of success is showing up.” -Woody Allen

Swordfit Boot Camp Begins! Monday, March 5, 2012 7am-8am

Develop the strength, fitness, and agility of a medieval warrior in our 6-week swordfighting bootcamp program. This program combines the best in modern athletic conditioning with age-old warrior training techniques and swordplay skills. Using the medieval longsword, you will practice solo exercises that challenge your mind and body through attack, defense, movement, and the battlefield skills required to emerge victorious. Swordfighting is one of the most effective forms of cross-training available. It combines aerobic and anaerobic exercise with a diverse workout that builds core strength, cardiovascular fitness, hand eye coordination, balance, and timing. Our trained fitness and swordplay experts make every day of the SwordFit Bootcamp a unique, fun and exciting way to build fitness, bust stress, and get in touch with your inner warrior. Start the New Year off right! Join us January 9th, 2012, for your first session, and visit us online to see upcoming dates. The four week program will run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7am-8am. Cost: $169 + HST

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Bartitsu 18-February

posterousauthor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:05:04 +0000

This week in Bartitsu:

Savate Review: Round kick or coup de pied horizontale
Jujitsu Lesson: Kick defence into throw
Integration: Using the round kick to improve throws

Remember the slightly modified new format: 15 mins warm-up, 30 minutes for each of the three sections above, then 15 minutes at the end for sparring or conditioning.

See you tomorrow at 3pm!

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Longsword Fight Night is Tonight!

posterousauthor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:26:25 +0000

Come one come all to Longsword Fight Night! Bring your gambesons,
helmets, armour, gauntlets or padded gloves, and longswords. We will
be doing free sparring and slow work. There will also be lots of
floor for exercises. If you don’t have all your gear together, that’s
alright come out and do some drills or slow work and take advantage of
the opportunity to ‘put it all together’.

Floor opens at 7pm, longsword sparring at 8pm.

This is also a great night to bring out your sideswords and arming
swords. Rapiers are of course always welcome and the floor will be
open to regular fight night activities.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

DevonComment on this post on our Posterous Blog.

Cross-Training for Stage Combat

posterousauthor — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:50:31 +0000

The actor-combatant (a professional actor who can also perform fight scenes) who actually gets work must be versatile enough to work with the needs of each production, so is cross-training in several martial arts a good thing?

Two Kinds of People

I hate to be one of those people who divides the world into two kinds of people, but in this case, there really are:

People who learn actions through physical repetition
People with general body-control

Students often begin to study physical movement from an awkward phase of rejecting the physical play of their childhood and turning to books and the stage as an intellectual or emotional pursuit. They forget how to swing on monkey-bars or climb a tree.

The awkward young adult who has not played sports wants to make their stage movement an intellectual pursuit, and it makes sense to repeat like memorization the leg and arm displacements.

With enough practice in various directions, varying speeds and different goals, the repeater can become a generalist who can quickly learn a new hand position or stance or balance point. However, many adults remain stuck in the Repeater phase.

You Can’t Rehearse Versatility

If you’re the kind of person who gets into a certain way of moving, and you have trouble changing the pattern, you should stick with stage combat as your single pursuit.

If you’ve recently said “Sorry I did that step wrong, I’m too used to stepping like that in Karate,” then you should stick with as few distractions as possible until you feel mastery.

Stage combat skills are designed to be generic, so that the actor with little time or limited training can apply the same motions to different weapons. Your best path to better movement and especially improved stage fighting is to devote more time to practicing stage combat.

Plasticity

You don’t need to be flexible to display your plasticity: it’s your ability to conform to a new pattern. With enough general skills, your body will be ready to refine existing movements, or creatively invent new positions.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to observe a stunt, and can reproduce it pretty well without much coaching, then seek out as many different experiences in physical expression and combat as you can:

dance styles
Western swordplay
Eastern martial arts
yoga, gymnastics, running and parkour

Should I Specialize?

There’s no doubt that having more skills is better, and above the Basic Actor-Combatant level, FDC expects your plasticity to improve.

But once a performer has several martial arts in their “bag of tricks” and the ability to learn new ones fast, is it better to focus, or to keep expanding that base?

There are two logical arguments:

More skills = more types of shows = more work (reputation: Can Do Anything)
Higher skills = directed marketing = work that I like (reputation: Master Of Thing)

In an article for FDC’s newsletter, Daniel Levinson once related that Fight Master Simon Fon told him that stage combat is not a speciality, and every high-level performer should decide on a further refinement.

It’s the answer to the question: What’s your favourite weapon? In a way, it’s a silly question. In another way, it’s a good marketing tactic.

Can’t It Be Both?

I believe that an Advanced Actor-Combatant should have a speciality in mind, as well as a wide base of skills.

Here’s your carrer path:

Learn Basic stage combat
Pick a martial art in which you can get local training, and study that for a year or two (while taking Intermediate stage combat)
Pick another martial art or dance or movement style to practice, while reading about and testing out other skills from videos, online and books (while taking Advanced stage combat)
Keep researching until you feel that you could mimic pretty much anything new someone demonstrates to you.
Re-focus on your favourite style or combination of styles to show off your best skills, and have clear ideas about how you’d choreograph an ideal fight.

You’ll find that all fight choreographers are expected to know all historical eras, and duplicate any martial art worldwide. Therefore, generalized skills are indispensable. But you’ll never get work by saying “I can do anything, really!”

Instead, build on your general skills by telling people that you’re especially good at X. That way, you are top-of-mind when anyone needs that particular art. If you’re lucky, a director may even design a production to show off your speciality.

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Announcing Duello.TV

posterousauthor — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:00:10 +0000

On March 1st we will be launching a new Academie Duello website: Duello.TV. This is the evolution of the Academie Duello learning channelon youtube, that we have been experimenting with over the past 6 months. This will be a subscription based online fencing academy that will give users access to a library of organized lessons on the art of the rapier and eventually the longsword, sidesword, mounted combat, stage combat, bartitsu, archery, and any other awesome things that Academie Duello dips its toes into. Eventually I envision Duello.TV providing streaming access to workshops and seminars, offering live Q&A sessions, ability for people to follow the Duello curriculum and examinations from abroad and many more like features.

Don’t Worry There’s Still Free Stuff

For those who have been enjoying following this content up until now for free, don’t worry that won’t be going away. We will be continuing to offer videos pertinent to what we’re teaching in class for free each week. The archive of past lessons will however only be accessible to subscribers and the subscription fee will be modest.

We will also be expanding what is in the free area to include a collection of exercises and drills pertinent to all of Academie Duello’s disciplines. It’s important to us to share this content with our students in Vancouver and abroad and to give others an opportunity to experience Western Martial Arts if they’re unable to come out to a class in person.

Why Charge a Fee?

The Duello Learning channel had very humble beginnings last summer, it was just me and an iPad doing one take wonders and posting straight to the Internet. Since then we have taken on volunteers who have been contributing an increasing amount of their time to make sure that the sound and lighting are solid (and improving), that the videos are edited and sensibly put together, and that I have a demonstration partner. To keep this going and to expand it to all the other disciplines of Duello we need to recoup our costs. Also provided that the service is a hit, we can use the proceeds to offer more features like those that I spoke about above.

The Future

Who knows where Duello.TV will go, we hope that it will provide an opportunity for swordplay enthusiasts around the globe to connect with our school and for those who are only able to attend Duello for a short time to have a means to stay connected even when they are abroad. It’s an exciting project and we’re opent o your feedback. If you have thoughts on how this can be done well, what types of content and delivery you would like, or any other thoughts on how to do this right, please fire them off by email or in the comments.

Devon

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Horsebows and Handoffs

posterousauthor — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:05:05 +0000

Cupid’s arrow miss its mark? Maybe you were just moving too fast! For those with a need for speed there are two events coming up this spring that are likely to set your heart a-flutter.

Mounted Games Clinic

Date: March 30^th to April 1st

Closing date: February 24th

Place: Maple Ridge Equi-Sport Centre, 21973 132^nd Avenue, Maple Ridge, BC

Clinicians: Pola Anastasia Preugle (Germany) & Jim Dunn (Guelph)

The newly minted Mounted Games Association of BC is hosting a clinic and competition with Jim Dunn, head coach of the Canadian MGA, and Pola Preugel of the International MGA, rider and coach for German and European teams. The two clinicians will be teaching advanced and beginner groups simultaneously. The clinic consists of 1.5 days of work with the clinicians and a 1-day competition.

You do not need to be a member of CMGA in order to take part, and the clinic is open to riders of all ages. There are indoor and outdoor rings, so the clinic will run rain or shine. Stabling will be available on site. For more information and entry forms contact fuzzyholly(at)telus(dot)net.

Even if you’re not able to take part in the clinic, this is a fabulous opportunity to watch and learn many of the skills that have evolved from knightly games and still have direct application to mounted combat.

Note that the above promo was with footage from World competitions. If you’re intimidated by the speed, here’s some footage from the clinic that took place in Maple Ridge last fall. Bonus points if you can spot a Red Colt denizen!

Kassai Horseback Archery World Cup

See the full gallery on Posterous

Our friends at Borsos Torz Horse Archery Club in Mount Currie are hosting a weekend of competition and demonstrations on May 26th & 27th.

Saturday the 26th features a member-only Horseback Archery competition, followed by an Open on-foot competition, as well as sword, spear, tomahawk and whip demonstrations, and an evening cooking contest.

On Sunday is the Open Kassai Archery World Cup. It is open to anyone who can demonstrate a single shot from a cantering horse. (Note that horses are not provided, but making friends on site might land you a borrowed mount).

For details go to the web page, www.horsebackarchery.ca, and click on the ‘news’ tab, or chat to Robert or Zoltan next time you’re at Mounted Combat. It looks to be a fabulous weekend!

Coming up in the Cavaliere Program

Riding & Horsemanship

February 26th is Assessment Day in the Riding & Horsemanship series. If you are wanting to do your written tests or assess for either Horsemanship or Riding levels please let me know a week in advance, and sign up at the front desk for class #4. The cost for the class is $30 for Horsemanship (includes written and/or practical tests); $60 to include a riding as well.

The next series of four begins Sunday March 11th.

Open Barn & Work Party

The 26th is also a chance to come out to Open Barn and practise your Cavaliere skills from 2-4pm. We will also be holding a work party that day, so all hands are welcome and appreciated as we put together a new shelter (we need at least 8 bodies for this), tarp the roof of the outdoor stalls, and ready the paddocks for newcomers.

Intro to Mounted Combat & Mounted Combat

The next intro course on Sunday March 4th is already more than half full, so don’t delay if you were hoping to sign up for that one. Curriculum focus for the regular Mounted Combat in March is spear, which is loads of fun if you’ve never done it before (and even if you have).

Jennifer Landels, Maestra di Scuderia
Academie Duello Cavaliere Program

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Sword Press from the Atlantic

posterousauthor — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:10:46 +0000

WMA on the Atlantic Coast dominates this cull – along with Wes’s wistful musing for the week.

Recreating a ‘fun’ death?

THE RECORD (Woodland Park, New Jersey) 09 February 12 Swordsmanship on display in Leonia (Melinda Aranda and Carol Karels)

WEMA authority, author and stage fight instructor Jack Kirby was recently interviewed about how he came to the art and his vision of it.

Q: Can you recommend movies with authentic sword fighting scenes?

A: “The Duellists,” with Harvey Keitel, features six to eight duels. The small-sword duel is the most accurate I’ve seen in a movie. There are some really fun fights in Princess Bride or Rob Roy which are not historically accurate, but still entertaining.

Q: What special skills are required of a fight director?

A: You need to choreograph the fight so that it enhances the story. It must have a beginning, middle, climax and end, like a small play. You are a magician, tricking the audience, if only for a moment, into believing the character is hit or mortally wounded. To accomplish that, you need knowledge of anatomy and how people die, so that you can help the actor portray it correctly.

“My interest in stage combat began first at 15 when I attended a Renaissance Fair. I watched a human chess match in which two (human) chess pieces duel with swords over a square (all staged of course)*.”

*We were intrigued to see this quote, since it brought to mind some recollections from my own mis-spent past about how ‘neat’ it would be to actually recreate a ‘steel-on-steel’ chess match!

http://www.northjersey.com/community/139073729_Swordsmanship_on_display.html

Many Reasons to take up many Swords

THE CAPITAL (Annapolis, Maryland) 30 January 12 Club studies and fights with ancient weapons (Theresa Winslow)

Swordsmanship with it’s 20 regulars (six of which are women) meet twice-weekly to practice the 14th-century German longsword, 17th-century Italian rapier, 18th-century French smallsword, 19th-century Italian duelling sabre and 19th-century French and Italian duelling sword.

The article focuses on the raison and opinions of various group members as to why they chose WMA as their chosen discipline.

“I’m really a 5-year-old boy and I get to hit people with swords,” said Molly McClanahan, a Game Shop employee and graduate student from Shady Side.

“It’s athletic, it’s fun and there’s a lot it can teach us about history,” said Ed Toton, a systems engineer who came all the way from Virginia.

“This is my football,” said Brian Ames of Pasadena, who works at a Coast Guard yard. “It’s actually a much more elegant weapon than I thought,” he said, longsword in hand. “Everyone thinks it’s smash, smash, smash, but it’s not.”

Included in the report were two items near and dear to Our own heart; the fragile, law-and-order little thing that We are:

Bruises and a broken finger or two aren’t uncommon. “Man, it hurts when you get hit,” said McClanahan. “It’s physical in a way I’m not used to. Once you realize it hurts, you (try) not to let it happen to anyone else.”; and

“T-shirts and workout wear peeking out of gym bags is expected. The hilts of weapons are not”.

Personal Security AND Public Security are both important if the art is going to continue to attract new students within an supportive (and hopefully interested) society.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/lif/2012/01/29-07/Club-studies-and-fights-with-ancient-weapons.html

From the Dustbin of History – The Philosophy of Duelling

We try as best able and content allowing, to feature press that is ‘current’. However, from time-to-time, We stumble (much like most of my fencing) upon something relevant that may still be of modest interest to some.

THE AGE (Melbourne, Australia) 28 April 07 The duel life (Dr Jeremy Moss)

Philosopher/fencer Dr Moss offers us his interpretation of the history, ‘raison’ and appeal of fencing – from a refreshingly unique point of view!

“It is often said the reason people are fascinated by duelling with swords and other such violent confrontations is not because they offer the possibility of killing, but because of the thrill of facing death and living to tell the tale.

Perhaps this is why fencing, as the duel’s direct descendent, continues to retain its allure. People are drawn to swordplay in films, novels and on the fencing piste itself, as there is something fascinating about squaring off against an opponent, weapon in hand.”

“…duelling has often aroused fierce moral debates. Philosophers in particular (as custodians of morality) have had a charged relationship with duelling and fencing. Rousseau and Schopenhauer found duelling ridiculous and the physical requirements of fencing laughable. Jeremy Bentham, on the other hand, sided with Kant (a remarkable thing in itself) and Hobbes in thinking that killing someone in a duel was not the same as murder, and an acceptable way of settling a debt of honour. Rene Descartes wrote a treatise on fencing, now sadly lost.”

“Interestingly, it is not fear of getting hit that is hardest to overcome for the novice fencer, but fear of harming someone else. No matter how many swashbuckler films we see, a reluctance to thrust a length of steel into someone’s chest is hard to discard.”

http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/tradition-thrust-forward/2007/04/26/11…

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