The second item on the Horsemanship Level 1 checklist is: 2. Enter, approach and safely halter horse in stall or paddock There are a myriad of videos out there, but really, you can't do it much better than this little girl: (Just watch to about 1:35 -- it gets a bit chaotic when her sister…
Read More... from A Horse in Hand is Worth Two in the Field: catching & haltering
No matter how much fun you're having, foam swords are not swords. Wasters, Foils, and S(word)L(ike)O(objects)s Sword simulators, specifically for longsword and arming/side sword, fall into three categories: wood, synthetic, and steel. There are, of course, some gray areas that don't fall directly into these categories, such as bamboo trainers built around some manner of…
My friends Greg Mele and Keith Jennings as well as associated others, including Tony Wolf, have setup a new salle of swordsmanship, Bartitsu and much more in Chicago. The centre is called Forteza Fitness and it is the new home of the Chicago Swordplay Guild and the Bartitsu Club of Chicago. They recently got some…
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Last week I looked at the benefit of being happy when you're training or as one commenter expressed it: "Always train with a feeling of pleasurable exhilaration." Now lets take a look at a few reasons that get in the way of people enjoying their training: Disconnect from Training or Training Environment I figured…
Take a look at this video.Now take a few moments to get over how bizarre it is... ... ... ... All right, let's move on. As bizarre as it is, the chicken demonstrates an important principle: we can move parts of our body while leaving other parts stationary. The implications of this are pretty big…
Here's an excerpt from Ring of Truth: In Studio Theatre’s Sucker Punch, the Sweet Science Is an Art by Chris Klimek Roy Williams’ script sketches most of its fights lightly, using only few words of stage direction. Not until the climactic bout does the 44-year-old British playwright offer a round-by-round prescription of how goes the war.…
What emotion do you experience when you're training or taking a class? Are you aware of it? What's the expression that you have on your face while you're struggling to implement a new technique or honing the precise movements of a cut with a longsword or lunge with a rapier? This may seem like an…
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You've taken a break from class for a little while. There's a few things you can expect. One, you may find that things get easier. A little break every now and then can relax your fencing muscles. But, if you've taken an extended break from classes you may find your perceived abilities are not…
Every Thursday I get together with a few of my senior students and we work on drills, sparring exercises, and body mechanics. Generally I have us stick to fairly fundamental exercises. I personally just love working on fundamentals and have found that this is always where the greatest opportunity for improvement lies, no matter…
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We all have fond memories of this: And recently on Bartitsu.org, Tony Wolf reprinted an article from 1893 entitled "The Kangaroo as Prize Fighter" which discusses the change from the Kangaroo's natural defenses into a human-like stance. It looks like this (not pretty): I think the appaling part of the 1893 article is the closing:…
On March 1st we will be launching a new Academie Duello website: Duello.TV. This is the evolution of the Academie Duello learning channelon youtube, that we have been experimenting with over the past 6 months. This will be a subscription based online fencing academy that will give users access to a library of organized lessons…
Needs of the Horse part III: Security In the first part of this series I stated that horses need food, shelter, and security. At first glace creating a secure environment for a horse seems fairly straightforward. After all, there aren't that many large predators left in most places where we keep horses (though losing a…
So yesterday we embarked on the adventure of shooting our first instructional rapier DVD. And I can proudly report that we're at least 60% through principal photography and only about 8 hours behind schedule! 🙂 It was actually a fun and successful day, though as with many things you often find yourself at the end…
If you heard a rumour that the Princess Bride was going to be remade by the director of Juno, you'll be relieved (or god forbid, disappointed) to hear that it was a fabrication of overactive Internet imaginations. More can be read on TNT Magazine here - http://www.tntmagazine.com/entertainment/film/princess-bride-remake-rumours-h...So are you happy or disappointed about the news?…
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Last week I posted about the 10,000 hours it takes to master an activity and how you must savour the journey and not the destination. One of the biggest challenges that people face in putting in their 10,000 hours of mastery is the feeling of the plateau in learning. Where you don't feel like you're…
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Armour serves two purposes, as does most clothing: protection and fashion. On stage and in film, if you can see the armour, it's for fashion, and if you can't, then it's for protection. The Illusion of Practicality From the blindingly reflective plate on Zeus to the leather scraps on orcs, armour should match the character…
I'm often asked why we use English saddles in our Cavaliere program. After all, doesn't the western saddle, with it's high pommel and cantle, better mimic the shape of the medieval jousting saddle? Isn't it easier for beginners to stay secure in the embrace of all that extra leather? The short answer to both these…
Over the winter holiday I have been reading a book on the subject of personal mastery called The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. It is a good and relevant read for those interested in mastering fencing (and not just because of the title!) or really any type of new year's resolution or goal you might…
Read More... from New Year's Resolutions for Fencing - A Review of the Slight Edge