This past weekend I taught a 2 day seminar in Chicago on Applied Combatives for the Chicago Swordplay Guild (CSG) at their home Forteza Fitness. I was pleased as always with an excellent group of students with a passion for the art, insightful questions, and a superbly welcoming nature. The seminar was an extended version…
Swordplay from the Ground: Cutting Mechanics & Timing In previous posts I discussed the eight lines and the three points of origin (shoulder, elbow and wrist) of cuts. To make your cuts effective, however, you need proper body mechanics and timing of hand and foot. Timing of Hand and Foot A cut is most powerful…
The Hero Sword A work of art. Any closeup of a sword in Lord of the Rings was a Hero Sword. Hero weapons are frequently made of stainless steel for its shine. Like your cookware, stainless steel will keep an edge well, but it's brittle. That means that hitting them can cause them to shatter…
Nikolaj Malnač receiving an award from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence. Now that we’ve all acquired the blades, books and besegew’s that we wanted for Christmas, it’s time to learn new WMA/HEMA techniques – or polish up those we already know. Given the near-universal access to excellent reference material here-to-fore-seldom seen – its stands to…
I'm going to VISS and I'm really excited for it.With all due respect to the other instructors I'll probably spend the majority of my time in Tom Leoni's 3-day workshop on Italian Rapier. This is a topic that I've spent the past 8 years or so studying but I'm still looking forward to spending somewhere close…
Hello everyone, better late than never I suppose. We had some technical challenges this week with our longsword video lesson because I was out of control and couldn't stop teaching for 15 minutes, so it's a bit of a monster and delayed our posting this week. And sadly we won't have it in till next…
I'm on my way to Chicago at the moment, chilling out in Toronto. This is actually one of my favourite parts of travel, I'm away from all my usual activities and distractions and it gives me the opportunity to work on special heads down projects. It's not quite as beautiful as being on the top…
Read More... from On my way to Chicago to teach an Applied Combatives seminar
The evening world., August 17, 1921, Wall Street Final Edition, Page 3. New York, N.Y. Using Jiu Jitsu on Time and Mashers, Mrs. De Hart Tells How to Master Pests In Three-Minute Hot Weather Interview Woman Who Has Laid Low 40 or 50 So-Called "Men" Proves She Is as Clever and Forceful in Speech as…
Swordplay from the Ground: The Four Thrusts of the Sword The knight's sword was not just a cutting weapon. A well-aimed thrust delivered with the impulsion of a moving horse was a deadly combat technique. It was also an effective attack from the ground. There are four basic types of thrust, defined by the orientation…
Pretty people and prettier poniards provide present-day press provender. It’s apparent that there have been from times historical, sword players that not only insisted on having functional swords – but they also demanded a blade that won’t clash with their fashionable hosiery! My precious-s-s-s! YORKSHIRE EVENING POST (UK) 13 January 13 Weird warfare…
Today's message: build the support you need before trying things you don't normally do. Green, Blue and Red cords are doing some actions outside of the ones we typically practice: reverse lunges, passing lunges, girati, sbassi, passes below, & unorthodox postures. These are all really cool when seen in action. It's not enough, however…
It has been such a busy start to the year I've barely had time to write about cool stuff going on, let alone actually participate in it. I wanted to share some info on a few cool things that are coming up or in fact going on right now. Don Juan As you may have…
Read More... from Don Juan, Tournaments, Sword Fighters, and Awesome Authours
The Paddy Crean Conference in Banff is a week of some of the greatest fight instructors and stunt people teaching an incredible group of enthusiasts. So every two years we get the newest innovations in stage combat and stunt work in one venue. And the food is fantastic. I want to share some of what…
Welcome to a new year of training and sword fighting! I hope that everyone has enjoyed their holiday and is ready to get back to their physical training regimes with a newly renewed passion. We are starting off this month we three rapier topics: receiving the opponent (for level 1), voids (for level 2), and…
Swordplay from the Ground: Wrist, Elbow & Shoulder Cuts Not only are there eight lines on which to cut, there are three places from which to cut, wrist, shoulder and elbow. For the Green Spur you are required to demonstrate all three types with the sword in one hand, and wrist and elbow cuts with…
Slim Spaniards wielding slimmer swords make up this week’s slim pickings. A resolution by ‘judicial duel’ would have been … quicker … and probably more entertaining … to say nothing of satisfying (for the winner). PÚBLICO (Madrid, Spain) 04 January 13 Condenado el marqués de Falces por vender la Tizona, la espada del Cid …
Short answer: absolutely. A few of our newer students who feel a little anxious about registering for the 2013 Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium(VISS). There are several reasons for this feeling and I'll address some of them here. "It's kind of expensive" This applies to beginners and "veterans" alike. And, actually it's not. At a cost…
This past Friday, Academie Duello hosted a small but vigorous rank examination for two of our members in the Mastery Program. About 25 fellow students came on the first Friday of the new year to help Gareth test for the rank of Blue Cord (our second rank of five) and Michael to test for the rank…