I'm on my way to Chicago at the moment, chilling out in Toronto. This is actually one of my favourite parts of travel, I'm away from all my usual activities and distractions and it gives me the opportunity to work on special heads down projects. It's not quite as beautiful as being on the top of a mountain around Vancouver, but it is snowy!
I'll be teaching a 2-day seminar on Applied Combatives at Forteza Fitness for the Chicago Swordplay Guild this weekend (there may still be some spots available if you're in the area). This is a workshop I have delivered in many forms over the last few years, including at Armizare Academy in Chicago this last September, but I'm particularly looking forward to this weekend's event for a few reasons:
1. Multi-Disciplinary. I've invited students to bring longsword, rapiers, spears, swords and bucklers, whatever they want to work with. The focus of this workshop is on taking techniques you have already learned from drill into effective use in combat. At Academie Duello I teach a multi-disciplinary system where we use the same teaching constructs across all of our weapons and I enjoy bringing this approach when I travel and this workshop is an ideal environment to do so.
2. Two days. 1-hour workshops, 3-hour workshops, and even 1-day workshops are all relatively limited. The best you can do is give your students inspiration they can apply later, or perhaps make a meaningful addition to their technique in a specific area. With two days we won't necessarily cover tons more material, but what we will do is spend meaningful time on the material we have, which will give students the opportunity to really start the discovery and internalization process.
3. Great students. The Chicago Swordplay Guild/Forteza Fitness is definitely one of my favourite groups to visit. Greg Mele and his team have done a tremendous job over the last 12 years of building a school that has a great work ethic and a friendly atmosphere. I'm looking forward to seeing friends of old and meeting new ones on this trip.
A little about the workshop
The workshop is thematically governed by Fiore's 4 "animals". These four totems represent the key internal and external principles of a successful combatant.
The Elephant (Fortitude)
Representative of physical conditioning, stability, and internal strength. In this section we will explore conditioning and drilling that will prepare your body for technical application in combat, we will then use partner exercises to apply pressure to techniques both physically and mentally to see what breaks down.
The Lynx (Prudence)
Representative of combative awareness and judgment, as well as strategic and tactical application. Here exercises will focus on combative perception, learning how to break down a fight into its component parts, and how to build meaningful drills for yourself that focus on your weak areas.
The Tiger (Celerity)
Representative of both quickness and the ability to control one's speed and the tempo of combat. It's not a high top speed but control of many speeds that makes a great fighter. In this section we'll explore exercises that play with speed and tempo and challenge students to control themselves and the fight regardless of how rattled their opponent may get them.
The Lion (Audacity)
Representative of the mental integrity and daring required to face a fight for your life. Here we'll conclude our workshop by working on drills and sparring exercises that tax you mentally and help you discover and face your own mental and emotional barriers that may hold you back from succeeding at technique in combat.
It's going to be a fun time. If you are around and interested, contact Forteza Fitness. The workshop will be running on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm.
Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques. Read more from Devon Boorman.