Weapons Mastery
After you have completed Taste of the Renaissance, students of the Mastery Program will engage in activities and exercises to help them progress towards total proficiency of the Italian system of swordplay. At the advanced level, the curriculum engages both mind and body, comprising conditioning exercises, as well as the study of the technical forms of the art, combative and sparring applications, strategy and tactics in duelling, and even the historical primary sources of the fighting systems themselves.
The program begins with further study of the rapier, as well as continued study of the sidesword and longsword, and introduction to the polearm, dagger and more unarmed combat. The Mastery Program will take students upward from the Green Cord rank and gives them the opportunity to work at new techniques of specific rank levels, as well as to continue to hone the basics to finesse.
Class Content
• WARM-UP: Fun group exercises to get your blood pumping and mobilize your joints.
• UNARMED: In pairs, practice of various unarmed manoeuvres to complement your swordplay.
• PARTNER DRILLS: Basic practice of core guards and lunging with hand targets.
• RANK-BASED EXERCISES/DRILLS: Depending on your rank, work on specific rapier techniques, with or without secondaries (dagger, buckler), to perfect your techniques and help you work steadily towards your next cord exam. At higher cord ranks, more practice with the sidesword and longsword.
• CLINIC: An opportunity to get one-on-one coaching from senior students and instructors.
• FREE SPARRING TIME: The opportunity to spar with everyone else in class that day and acquire a sense of fighting different opponents.
Program Ranks
Completion of the Mastery Program is a 5- to 10-year journey depending on the intensity of your study. The 5 ranks of the program are:
• GREEN CORD: Apprentice. Weapons: Rapier, rapier and offhand, and unarmed. Principles: Familiar with body mechanics, distance, and control. Achieving Green Cord will take most people only the completion of the Taste of the Renaissance course or about a month of study.
• BLUE CORD: Scholar. Weapons: Rapier, rapier and dagger, sidesword, sidesword and shield, and unarmed. Principles: Angle, line, cutting mechanics, timing and proportion. On average, students progress from Green Cord to Blue Cord in 6-8 months of training.
• RED CORD: Free Scholar. Weapons: Rapier and secondaries, sidesword and secondaries, longsword, quarterstaff, knife, and unarmed. Principles: Timing, tempo, power generation, strategy, and tactics. On average, students progress from Blue Cord to Red Cord in 1-1.5 years of training.
• SILVER CORD: Provost. Weapons: Rapier, sidesword, longsword, pole weapons, smallsword, knife, and unarmed. Principles: Centres and tempo.
• GOLD CORD: Master. Masterful with two chosen weapons. Proficient in combat both unarmed and armed with all weapons.