Exactly one year less a day after our first ever Cavaliere workshop, Academie Duello hosted its first ever Mounted Tournament. The weather was beautiful, the crowds enthusiastic, the volunteers awesome, and the competition both fierce and friendly. We started our day with the Team Groom Competition, in which teams of two had 45 minutes to…
A Fighting ‘faux pas’ or a Fencing Fashion? News from the world of Western Martial Arts
Things were quiet of late, but there should be at least one following that can provide water cooler talk between bouts. A Press Gang in Polite Action BBC (London, UK) 09 June 11 Shoppers cross swords with Olympic hopefuls A short news-time video on the efforts of two of Britain’s fencing team to increase…
Fight-night Mini-focus!
Exciting news for those who've ever wondered "I wonder if I should bring my X to Open Floor"; we'll be introducing a mini-focus to Open Floors! It's something I've been thinking about for a while: a regular day for everyone who wants to practice with, say, longswords, to come out. We're going to reserve off…
Bartitsu 11-June-2011
This week in bartitsu: Review of savate: closing distance with the chasse and how short-range kicks work in combinations. Boxing: It seems like a while since we had a pugilism class, so we'll go over fundamentals and get some sparring done at the end. Integration: Strike straight, strike quickly. Hand and foot combinations to overwhelm…
Targeting Families
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." - Groucho Marx Family Archery Workshop Sunday, June 19, 2011 10am-2pm Archery has been a family business since ancient times. From Cyrus the Great of Persia teaching his son and heir Cambyses to 'draw a mighty bow' to Henry the VII teaching a young Henry…
DNTO's Sook Yin Lee at Duello
Sook-Yin Lee, host of CBC Radio's Definitely Not the Opera, popped into Duello yesterday evening and learned a few sword wielding skills for her program this Saturday that asks "what do we create when we recreate the past?"Sook-Yin was a lot of fun to talk with and we had a good time with the little…
Rapier Clinic this Friday!
At tomorrow's Open Floor I will be running some timed rapier sparring from 8-9pm. Two or three fighters will hold the field against all comers for five minutes (in a rank-exam style format), which will be followed by five minutes of feedback and review. Then another set of fighters holds the field for another five…
Intro to Bartitsu next Saturday
Mark your calendar: next Saturday, 18 June, is our Introduction to Bartitsu workshop. From 1pm to 5pm you'll learn the core techniques of Victorian martial arts, and fight like Sherlock Holmes. We'll explore: the basic punches of scientific boxing and the first defensive moves of pugilism, the first throw from jujitsu and how to land…