Academie Duello is the home of Duello Armizare, the Italian swordplay system taught by schools and instructors around the world. After teaching the first Duello Armizare instructor intensive in Asia, our founder and Maestro d’Armi, Devon Boorman, took the curriculum across Taiwan.
The swordplay taught every week at 412 West Hastings is the foundation of Duello Armizare. After five days in Taipei, Devon headed south to teach it in Taichung, at the CHIMEI Museum in Tainan, and in Kaohsiung.
At every stop, Devon had help. Tai Lee, a Senior Student and Duello Armizare Instructor, and the Sakura Sanguines team, who hosted the Taipei intensive, translated and assisted at every one of these workshops.
A Full House at Cold Steel Lab in Taichung
The first stop was Taichung, for a workshop at Cold Steel Lab, the school run by Ryan (方品鈞). Ryan was one of the participants in the Taipei intensive.
Ryan has built a beautifully put-together training space, and the workshop had a full house. It went really well.
Two Full Workshops at the CHIMEI Museum
In Tainan, Devon taught at the CHIMEI Museum, with two full groups of 30 people: a three-hour longsword workshop in the morning and a three-hour rapier workshop in the afternoon. The day also included tours of the museum’s medieval weapons and of its Renaissance and later weapons.
At CHIMEI, Tai and the Sakura Sanguines team were joined by a crew from a school in Tainan.
For Devon, it was a really rewarding experience. There was also a lot of interest in DuelloTV in Chinese, the translation of the DuelloTV online training platform that Devon is working on with Tai.
Tactics in Kaohsiung
The next day, Devon taught a combat workshop in Kaohsiung for a smaller group of nine. Much of it was about tactics, in particular the four attitudes, and about how to train from fundamental skills all the way up to performance in environments like tournaments.
The group brought a very broad range of skill, and the workshop went really well.
Next: Greatsword and Two Swords in Taipei
On November 7 and 8, Devon is back in Taipei to teach a greatsword workshop and a two-sword workshop.
Train at the Source
Every workshop on this trip came from the curriculum taught here in downtown Vancouver. Academie Duello is the headquarters of Duello Armizare: the curriculum, the rank system, and instructor certification all start here.
The longsword and rapier taught at the CHIMEI Museum are also where training starts at Academie Duello. Every student begins with one of our beginner courses in rapier or longsword. Already training and thinking about teaching? (Learn about Instructor Training)
Start Your Own Journey
Every swordfighter starts with a first class. Yours can start here.
About the Author
Academie Duello
Centre for Swordplay
Academie Duello is the home of Duello Armizare and Vancouver's centre for historical European martial arts. Since 2004 we've taught rapier, longsword, archery, and more to students of every level at 412 West Hastings Street.
