30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge!

by Devon Boorman

It's common sense that if you want to get better at something, you need to practice. But practice takes time and commitment and setting a new habit can be challenging. That's where your friends can step in to help you. This June I am challenging you to join me and many others at Academie Duello and abroad to set a new habit for the practice of swordplay. The challenge:

Perform at least 30 minutes of swordplay practice per day for 30 days.

How does it work?

  1. Join the 30-Days of Swordplay Facebook event
  2. Add a comment to the Training Goal post with your personal training goal for the 30 days (it could be a focus for your training or simply the intention to get the sword in hand for 30 minutes)
  3. Each day I will create a check-in post where you will comment when you have finished your challenge for that day.

 

What you do with your 30 minutes of practice is up to you. You can practice lunges with a stick in your living room, longsword cuts at your school or training space, 30-minutes of goal-oriented sparring, 30 minutes of technique visualization, whatever you feel will best help you move toward your training goal.

Why do this?
It's a great way to improve your health, your fitness, and your swordplay skills, and its fun. I think you'll also find that a little bit of accountability can go a long way when setting a new habit.

Only Swordplay?
I wanted to keep the title short but any WMA discipline would be gladly welcomed. Archery, Mounted Combat, Bartitsu, Poleaxe, bring it on.

What if I fall off the wagon?
Get back on. Yes we all want to be able to say we did 30 days without a gap, but if you miss one, suck it up and get going. 29 days, 28 days or even 20 days is still awesome.

I have a pretty reasonable training schedule but I know I want to use this month to continue working on balancing my body. My goal is to have the same level of endurance on my non-dominant side as I do on my dominant side. I don't know if I can achieve that in a month but I can certainly make a good healthy step.

I look forward to seeing you in the challenge.

 

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.