This post is part of a series on martial development through the metaphor of Fiore's Four Animals. "No creature can see better than I, the lynx. And this virtue puts everything in its right place and its measure." Tom Leoni translation - Fior di Battaglia, Getty Museum A technique could be mechanically correct in its…
The script will inform the actor and the audience why two characters want to kill each other. However, even with the clearest scenes, as peaceful people it can be difficult to emotionally understand a fight to the death. So as a performer, how do we interpret and justify the stakes of a fight scene with…
Within his 1409 manual Fior di Batagglia, Fiore dei Liberi provides us with an effective guide for reviewing our successful execution of martial technique: surrounding his diagram of blows are a series of 4 animals, each representing an essential quality of successful execution in the art: The Lynx - Positioned above the figure’s head represents…
Read More... from Fiore's Four Animals - Achieving Martial Success
Luck: Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. (Oxford dictionary) And how lucky we are as HEMA/WMA students: Swords of iron and steel survive ‘centuries’ of abuse, neglect, climatic conditions causing near total structural decay, ‘resource recycling’, etc … and we still have many examples of what medieval and…
The requirements of service may have your paperboy posted near immediately into Stuttgart until the New Year, so We thought that we’d take a look in at what’s going on over there with swordplay, WMA/HEMA and related events. Full Metal Impact … in two directions! BADISCHE ZEITUNG (Freiburg, Germany) 05 July 14 So wie…
Happy Canada Day, and congratulations to all our Cavaliers who did Riding and Horsemanship tests last Saturday! For our bi-monthly Cavaliere assessment day we ran a total of 15 full and partial practical tests. Some people were doing partial tests, some challenging multiple levels, and we had four level 4 Riding and Horsemanship tests to…
It’s 28°C/83°C in your nations capital as We type … and somewhere nearby we have peers dressed in full armour, demonstrating what we do to an appreciative Canada Day audience. Honking huge falchions and arming swords, heavy shields, hot and heavy helmets protecting eyes full of dripping sweat, slippery gauntlets dripping with the same ……
The lantern jaw and the brow ridge aren’t accidentally related to testosterone production. We know that during development, testosterone levels during critical phases will determine certain male-dominated bone structures. Recently, a new hypothesis explains why the human face evolved the way it did. On the Face of It The researchers examined skulls of human ancestors,…
Canada Day is upon us and what better way to celebrate the "true North strong and free" by taking a look into our country's history. We've come a long way from July 1st, 1867 when just three colonies were united under the British North American Act. 147 years later we now have a nation…
The drone of uniformly delivered content to rows of kids locked into desks is the initiation into formal learning that many of us come from. A system designed to output little industrial cogs who are themselves uniform. This is a system that is unfortunately devoid of passion and builds a habit for learning that places…
The last item on the falsemount checklist for the Blue Spur is Demonstrate the mounted combat guards and show their use. To review the 13 mounted combat guards take a quick look at this video: You don't need to know all the many uses of each guard, or the alternate names, but should be able…
The demands of service took us away on short notice for three weeks, … but We’ll grovel in apology later. First … Hodor! Or rather … ‘Bohurt’! HEMA/WMA matches. I hurt. You hurt. Bohurt! Curriculum – bringing dignity to what otherwise is a vulgar brawl. LA WEEKLY (California) 13 June 14 An L.A. School for…
As a SwordFit coach one of the concepts that I try to drill into my students is that their body is the most important weapon they use in their study, training and application of Western Martial Arts. We oil our swords, but what about basic body maintenance? Our bodies are the most crucial part of our…
Read More... from Conditioning and Foundational Movement Skills: Essentials for Every Swordfighter