Mounted Combat from the Ground Up

by Jennifer Landels

Mounted Combat Classes

This week we're excited to launch a brand new Mounted Combat Class for participants of all levels.  The five-week course will prepare students to take part in our annual tournament at Carosella 2015.  There are two levels to the course:

Beginner

Participants at this level will practise from the ground and the falsemount to achieve the combat skills needed to attain the rank of Green Spur and participate in Mounted Sparring clinics and tournaments.  Students will learn the basics of single-handed longsword, including:

  • eight cuts and four thrusts
  • movement and posture
  • three turns of the sword
  • cutting mechanics and timing
  • parries and deflections

Students who have their Riding and Horsemanship Level 1 and who attend all five classes can reasonably expect to attain their Green Spur by the end of the series.

Prequisites: none

cost: $120 + gst

Intermediate

Students who already have their Green Spurs will practise from both the ground and from horseback as they work towards the combat skills for the rank of Blue Spur. These include:

 

  • armed and unarmed grappling
  • multiple attacks and defenses with single-handed longsword
  • spear fundamentals
  • mounted combat guards
Participants who do not own or lease a horse may use a school horse for an additional $40 for the series.

 

Prerequisites: Green Spur
cost (own horse): $120 + gst
cost (school horse): $160 + gst

 

Individual classes at either level, space permitting: $35 each + $15 for use of horse if required.
For a little taste of what our Green Spur tournaments look like, here's a montage of clips from our playday on Sunday as well as Carosella 2013 & 2014:

Dates are Sundays Aug 9 – Sep 6, 1:30 – 3pm
Space is limited to 12 people.  Register here!

Playday Results

For our August Playday last Sunday we ran Mounted Games in two-rider teams, and then added individual rankings from Horseback Archery and Mounted Sparring to determine the overall victors of the day.

Mounted Games:  We ran Bending, Sword, Stick Pegging, 2-Flag, 3-Mug and Litter.  Scores were awarded in reverse order of placing and added for a total.  There was a tie for first between the teams of Christian Deron & Eleanor Landels on Jack & Flavie, and Karissa King & Isabel Landels on Chicco & Princess, with Chris Richardson & Laura Ambrosiano on Winnie & Chicco in 3rd.  The tie-breaker for first was total time, and Karissa & Isabel edged the other team out by 5 seconds.

Horseback Archery: This was best of two timed rounds to hit the target with a single arrow.  First place went to Isabel Landels on Princess, with a time of 7.63 seconds, Eleanor Landels was in 2nd with a time of 7.70 s and I was 3rd on Winnie with a time of 8.48 s.

Mounted Sparring: Due to missing equipment only two of us were equipped for sparring, so Karissa and I ended the day with a friendly match of three 30 second bouts.

This meant our overall winners for the day was the team of Karissa & Isabel, who win bragging rights and free entry into our next playday.  Congratulations to all!

Special thanks to Ben Davies who was our timer and score keeper, and to Christian and Laura who helped with set-up, take-down and referreeing.

 

 

Jennifer Landels heads up Academie Duello's Cavaliere Program. She has been swordfighting since 2008, and riding since before she could walk. She started the program as an excuse to combine those passions.
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