Welcome to this week in training at Academie Duello. In our training at the studio we are looking at counter-attacking as a method of defence (Green Cord), the second assault of sidesword (Blue Cord), and how to enter into grapples with the longsword when you've lost the crossing (Red Cord). On Duello.TV we have…
Read More... from Swordplay Videos this week: Counter-attacking, Second Assalto, Longsword Wrestling
Welcome everyone to another week of Duello.TV. This week we have videos on the rapier receiving, sidesword guards, and longsword pressure sensitivity and we'll be continuing with all three weapons throughout the month. This week at Academie Duello several of our instructors are preparing to go to Armizare Academy in Racine, Wisconsin. Devon Boorman will…
Read More... from Rapier Receiving, Sidesword Guards, and Longsword Thrusts
It's September already! Many of our students in Vancouver are heading back to University for their new year and many old faces return after summer vacations. It's a great time to get back to fundamentals. This week we are focusing on rapier movement fundamentals, cutting technique with the sidesword, and core skills of giocco stretto…
Read More... from [Videos] Rapier, Sidesword, and Longsword oh my!
Welcome to your training for this week at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV. Green cords continue their work on cutting, in this week using cuts to recover from bad positions; Blues recover from disadvantaged positions by passing back into refused; and Reds will be using two swords to cover against powerful cuts. Green Cord (Level…
This is a momentous week for Duello.TV and Academie Duello: We recorded the last videos of our entire Level 1 to 3 curriculum! This project began mid-last year with us diligently recording classes each week as they were taught and it's amazing how quickly it has all built up. We're already hard at work recording…
This week at Academie Duello we are looking at a fundamental strategy with the rapier, known as the True Fight; we are exploring deceptive attacks with the sidesword, designed to draw the opponent out of position; and we're employing the blow or strike with the side of the staff and learning how to counter them.…
Read More... from Swordplay Training Videos for July 23 to 29
This post provides links to videos for every lesson we covered in the Mastery Program at Academie Duello for July 16 to 22. This week Green Cords (level 1) learn about control of the opponent's sword and take advantage of their opponent's movement to strike. Blue Cords (level 2) continue their work on provocations by…
Read More... from This week in class at Academie Duello - Vids
Welcome everyone to a new week in swordplay at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV! We just celebrated Canada day this past weekend by participating in the Vancouver Canada Day Parade. We had more than 60 fighters with longswords, sideswords, rapiers, and bows fighting their way through the streets of downtown. There's no better way to…
Welcome everyone to another excellent week at Academie Duello and Duello.TV. This week we have some exciting news to report -- we have over 250 videos on Duello.TV about over 40 hours of content now available. We're also nearly all the way through creating lessons for our full Mastery Program calendar, which means we'll be…
Read More... from Sword fighting videos for this week at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV
As of this week on Duello.TV we have over 250 videos posted! We have content on longsword, sidesword, rapier and dagger, cloak, buckler, and more. It's been exciting getting to this stage and we're looking froward to bringing even more cool stuff soon. This month all three levels of the Mastery Program are focusing on…
Read More... from Sword Fighting Lessons on Duello.TV This Week
I wanted to write today on the interplay of speed between two people drilling together. Occasionally when a pair of students work on a set play at slow speed one of the pair may opt to move quicker than their partner. There are several reasons why this may occur: they're already familiar with the technique…
The rapier gets a lot of love around Duello being that it's the foundational weapon of our Mastery Program, but those of you who have advanced to the Red Cord or who are part of the Warrior Program or our Longsword Focus program, or are following along at home through our videos, deserve some attention…
Read More... from Some Longsword Love - Drills for Longsword Flow
Every Thursday I get together with a few of my senior students and we work on drills, sparring exercises, and body mechanics. Generally I have us stick to fairly fundamental exercises. I personally just love working on fundamentals and have found that this is always where the greatest opportunity for improvement lies, no matter…
Read More... from Thursday Drilling Recap: Rapier Collection Drills
A sometimes-heard phrase around the Academie is "doing things wrong will help you figure out when something's right." This is an often-understood but rarely appreciated concept. Truly understanding when things are most-definitely wrong will provide a deep understanding about when things are right. Think of all the things that you're doing right. Now…
You've all heard it (well, those of you attending class).Homework abounds at Academie Duello. Every rank in the Mastery program was assigned homework for the month of January. The homework we've assigned has two specific qualities simple: it can be explained easily in a sentence or two quick: it doesn't take long to do; about…
Some words on going slow today. Those of you were at Longsword Focus (Mon @ 5:30; Wed @ 12:00) were given homework: cut 30 fendenti and accompanying falso riverso sotanifor a week. It's really easy to do; 30 cuts takes about 1 minute. If you're going fast. And, if you're only concerned about going fast…
No big news today. Just thought I'd share another drill. It's from this past month's Green Cord curriculum. The patiente stands in terza. The agente makes strikes to the patiente, who defends against them primarily with the off-hand, unless it makes super-good sense to defend them with the sword. For added complexity: The agente can…