2013 was a fabulous year in the Cavaliere Program, full of new endeavours such as Mounted Archery, Carosella, and the first ever Green Spur Tournament. We're looking forward to a newyear with even more combat, more archery, and more fabulous events. Enjoy yourselves tonight as we bid farewell to 2013!
Year: 2013
Christmas Clashes Sword Press
Christmas-time traditions differ across the world. In Russia, December appears to be the time when you get together with good friends and exchange carefully selected and personally delivered blows across their armoured body! There is a lot of Russian press and blog activity which leads Us to believe that the winter season is when Our…
Have Any Fitness Resolutions?
We’re just a couple days from New Year’s and, I’m sure like many of you, I have been reviewing my goals for the coming year both mental and physical. One of my main physical goals last year was to make some significant progress with removing pain from my body in a few nagging areas --…
The Rapier Wit
I can't say enough good things about my alma mater: Rapier Wit studio in downtown Toronto. FDC Fight Master Daniel Levinson runs the longest-running independent stage combat school in Canada. After taking a one-semester stage combat course in university, I was looking for more opportunities to learn stage combat, and I was so fortunate to…
Keeping up the Practice Regimen over the Holidays
So I'm away visiting family in Victoria, BC during the Holidays. I enjoy holidays not really as a chance to get away from working but as an opportunity to work on things I don't normally get a chance to focus on when I'm at the Academie. On this trip I'm focusing on writing, editing (I'm…
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Horsey Yule!
In this season of kindness and giving, please remember: don't roast your chestnuts ... ... give them carrots and a good grooming instead. Happy Yule to you and yours!
Christmas Sword – Sword Press
We’re going to deviate from our usual introduction of the subsequent HEMA/WMA press by going straight to ‘swords as symbols’ … symbols of Christmas actually. Christmas? Fidelity, yes. Strength, absolutely. Honour, generally. But a Christmas related virtue? Specifically, those of compassion, generosity and humility? One version of the Christmas Sword is attributed to the story…
5 Strategies of Bartitsu
If one approaches Bartitsu as a series of tricks or techniques, one merely has to choose the correct response for the situation. This begs the question: How does one correctly assess the situation? For effective self-defence, a person must not only repeat effective movement patterns, but use them when the time is right. Tactics and…
Holiday Gift Ideas for the Young Swordfighter and Sword Enthusiast
This year I have been asked to dive into the treasures that the Academie Duello store has and to pick some some of the awesome and unique things that we have available for the young sword fighter (or swordfighter to-be) and history enthusiast on your holiday list. As a youth instructor, I like to think…
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How to Return to a Passion After a Break
Being a long-term instructor of anything means that you see a lot of students come and go and in many cases come again. It's these returners who often have the biggest challenge in being in the learning environment. These are the students who come back with a great passion and then become quickly despondent and…
Nailing the Dismount
Riding Level 2: The Vaulting Dismount There are many ways to get off a horse, but only a few that are deliberate and don't involve pain or embarrassment. When you first learn to ride that ground seems awfully far away, and it takes a while to learn to dismount with confidence and grace. That's why…
Frustrating Sword Press
From time to time; our community manages to get ‘good press’ by journalists that drop by a salle and participate in a HEMA/WMA program; or they are able to interview an enthusiastic public after a hard fought and dramatic, historical swordplay demonstration. That said, one of the frustrating elements about being interested and active in…
I'm Not Play-Fighting
PlayFighting is not play-fighting. Yes, we play fighting: pretend combat. But play fighting is not play-fighting: combat amusement. Well, it is for entertainment, but not for the performers; for the audience. Although staging combat is fun... stage combat is an essential skill for any actor, stage or screen. Because every play is fighting. Drama is…
December Workshop Highlights- Free workshops to keep your sword skills sharp over the holiday season
During the holiday break Academie Duello will be opening our doors Monday nights to allow our students to keep their swordplay skills sharp. We shall be offering two workshops that are free for all current Duello students. BODY MECHANICS Learn how to apply both power and efficiency to every strike, step, cut, and…
Four Examples of When Bringing a Sword to a Gunfight Was a Grand Idea
1.) The Samurai Servant of God One morning in 2006 when Bishop Kent Hendrix’s teenage son came barging into his bedroom screaming that a woman was being attacked out on the street, the Mormon man did not get on his knees and pray to god for help, but instead took matters into his own…
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A Comparison of Historical Music to Historical Swordplay
I remember a few years ago on a commute into Academie Duello I met a gentleman on the subway who was a researcher and player of Renaissance era music. Our conversation delved into the similarities of our two pursuits from the challenges of making modern interpretations from old written notations, to the changes the instruments…
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Gifts for the Hard-to-Get-For Swordfighter on Your List
I've always been a very hard person to buy for when December comes around- which is the month for Yuletide gift giving as well as when my birthday falls. As a crafty person who makes a of my own jewelry, accessories and DIYs a lot of day to day household items, I have often been…
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The Leading Hoof
Riding Level 2 - Identifying the Canter Lead Although we don't ask you to ride the canter on a particular lead at Level 2, we do want you to be visually able to identify the lead on which a horse is cantering . 12. Identify canter leads while watching another horse. What is a canter…