Thank you everyone for your continued support of our school and GoFundMe campaign. Everyone’s contributions have continued to make a difference in our ability to weather this challenging time. We are working our hardest to bring programs back to life and get Academie Duello back to a place of full health. We still need to…
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2020 marks ten years since Devon, Adam, and I started the Mounted Combat (Cavaliere) program at Academie Duello. And now, as of this summer, the program has a life of its own as Academie Cavallo! What's Changing Aside from the awesome new logo (thanks to my talented daughter Kate Landels), payment and registration for classes…
This past week has been exciting for Academie Duello. We have nearly reached the halfway mark in our GoFundMe campaign, we’re coming to the close of our So You Think You Can Sword? online forms competition, we just hosted our first in-person classes since we closed down, we are expanding online offerings, and we’re hard…
We're delighted to announce the return of scheduled Riding, Horsemanship, and Mounted Combat classes at Cornwall Ridge Equestrian, starting June 7th! COVID-19 Precautions We have always had small class sizes and plenty of open space at our stables. Riding class size will remain at the maximum of four, and we are restricting Mounted Combat classes…
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This past week we launched a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe to help support Academie Duello through this difficult time. Since Friday we have raised over $20,000 of our $75,000 goal! Our centre is one of only a few institutions of its kind in the world that are seeking to revive the martial arts of Europe…
Greetings Academie Duello members, friends, and followers! It’s been a while since we posted to the blog. I’m sure you can understand that we’ve been a bit occupied as have all of you. It’s about time that we reach out to all of you and let you know that we’re still alive and swinging! On…
Good news! For those of you who want more swordplay practice and who can't make it downtown, there are now swordplay classes almost every Sunday at Cornwall Ridge. Mounted Combat Mastery continues to run twice a month, and now Mounted Combat Fundamentals has a twice monthly section open to apprentice level (green cord or green…
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The Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium is taking place March 6th to 8th, 2020 and this year's theme is our most exciting yet: East Meets West! We're bringing together the martial arts traditions of countries from across the globe in the spirit of collaboration and learning. This year we have 10 intensives in 5 paired tracks…
Classes start up again on January 12th after our December hiatus. If you missed our Christmas playday and therefore haven't been on a horse since November ... or perhaps even longer ... here are some quick exercises and stretches to prime your body for riding once more. Five Easy Exercises for Equestrians Plank. Core strength…
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Greetings Academie Duello friends and family! I hope that you have all had a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to a special 2020. It is pretty amazing to me to be moving into the second decade of the new millennium already. Academie Duello marked its 15th anniversary in 2019 and it has been…
The seventh annual 30-for-30 Swordplay Challenge is just about to start on January 2nd. If you’ve heard of yoga challenges, you know what this is about. It’s like that, but with swords! The challenge: practice swordplay for 30 minutes per day for 30 days in January from the 2nd to the 31st. This requires no…
Sometimes the most you can muster is a single mindful breath. And sometimes that's all the meditation you need. One set of crunches. One line on your manuscript. One walk around the block. We often overestimate what we can accomplish in one day, while we underestimate what we can accomplish in five years if we…
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Last week I was an instructor and director (referee) at the South East Renaissance Fencing Open (SERFO) in Atlanta, Georgia. This excellent event was put on by Keith Cotter-Reilly of the Atlanta Freifechters and David Coblentz of Decatur School of Arms and their respective crews. This is definitely one of the smoother and more professionally…