This Spring Academie Duello is bringing our Falconry program back! With a pirate twist!
Academie Duello’s Parrot Taming and Training program is under development with our first course to be offered in June. Advanced registration will be opening up next week. Details to be announced.
About the Program’s Origins
For many centuries, the taming and training of birds has been developed and practiced, to serve many purposes. In many areas of the world, birds of prey are still used for hunting. When we first offered Falconry we felt that it fit into our overall program offerings because Falconry was one of the core skills of many nobles who also studied swordplay and the other martial disciplines we teach. The Falconry Book of Frederick II, from 1240 (with pages shown above and below) highlights the importance of this facet of medieval noble culture, and is one other contextual layer that adds to our overall understanding of the original practitioners of our arts.
Academie Duello’s core martial disciplines originate primarily in the Renaissance from the 1400s to 1600s. As we looked at pursuing a new bird taming program we investigated the development of this discipline in that time period.
With the tremendous development of great naval exploration in the Renaissance, new avenues of bird taming opened up, and new uses for old skills were corrupted, expanded, altered, stolen, and ultimately transformed. In one area especially, the sport of kings developed an entirely different culture among pirate kings. While most of us are familiar with popular images of famous fictional pirates (like R.L. Stevenson's “Long John Silver”), the real art of taming and training parrots is quite challenging, unique, and rewarding but often more practical and easier to practice than with most birds of prey.
In recent decades, the IAF (International Association for Falconry) has been able to work in collaboration with the Falconry Heritage Trust (based in Britain) to form the British Archives of Falconry, which has now become one of the most expansive and thorough sources of historical documents on ancient, modern, standardized, and nonstandard falconry practices.
A few modern practitioners are now revisiting and enhancing the more specialized practice of falconry using parrots. Branches of the US Falconry Association are increasingly starting to teach this art as new research is revealing how rich this tradition and historical practice is.
Of course, not being birds of prey, they are not trained to hunt, but can be used for reconnaissance and as messengers. Parrots are more intelligent than pigeons, and weren't used as abundantly as carrier pigeons mostly just because carrier pigeons were far more available and more expendable. Most ornithologists will also confess that parrots make good companions for humans, regardless of their inclinations towards piracy of any sort.
Parrots and Swordplay
Pirates, swordplay, and parrots were companions for more than 200 years. Many parrot breeds were specifically selected for their ability to balance and manoeuvre on an owners shoulder while they performed athletic activities such as swordplay.
Parrots can also be trained to act as defensive secondaries of sorts both distracting and attacking opponents as well as hurling a good insult or two.
In many ways Parrotry is an even more fitting addition to Academie Duello programs than other forms of bird training.
Parrotry at Academie Duello
Academie Duello has partnered with the training arm of US Falconry Association and the Parrot Rescue Centre to create a unique program for learning this historic and noble art. Courses will teach:
- Care and safe interaction techniques
- Speech and communication training
- Poniard and parrot partnered practice (4P)
We've long wanted to restart our falconry program at Duello and with these new connections and developments in this art we are looking forward to our first offering in the late Spring.
Keep posted for registration options in the coming week.
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.