Welcome everyone to another week of Duello.TV. This week we have videos on the rapier receiving, sidesword guards, and longsword pressure sensitivity and we'll be continuing with all three weapons throughout the month. This week at Academie Duello several of our instructors are preparing to go to Armizare Academy in Racine, Wisconsin. Devon Boorman will…
Read More... from Rapier Receiving, Sidesword Guards, and Longsword Thrusts
We had rank examinations in the Mastery program just this past Friday. Congratulations to all who tested, whether you succeeded or not. Congratulations to you because you have each put in a lot of effort to achieve level that you're at. For those readers not aware of how the Mastery program works: students must meet…
It's September already! Many of our students in Vancouver are heading back to University for their new year and many old faces return after summer vacations. It's a great time to get back to fundamentals. This week we are focusing on rapier movement fundamentals, cutting technique with the sidesword, and core skills of giocco stretto…
Read More... from [Videos] Rapier, Sidesword, and Longsword oh my!
Welcome to your training for this week at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV. Green cords continue their work on cutting, in this week using cuts to recover from bad positions; Blues recover from disadvantaged positions by passing back into refused; and Reds will be using two swords to cover against powerful cuts. Green Cord (Level…
The core theme of this week across all class is strategic constraint. In Green cord (level 1) we explore the constraining capacity of the cut with the rapier, in Blue (level 2) how to create dominant positions when the sword begins from a withdrawn position, and in Red Cord (level 3) we explore how to…
Read More... from Video Lessons: Rapier cuts, refused, and two swords plus longsword thrusts
Learn how to strike on the pass (aka passing lunge). I find that practicing some finer movements in slow practice can be very challenging with lunges. There's a point in a lunge where you lose all control until you stop lunging. This makes it very hard execute techniques that occur close to the start of…
This is a momentous week for Duello.TV and Academie Duello: We recorded the last videos of our entire Level 1 to 3 curriculum! This project began mid-last year with us diligently recording classes each week as they were taught and it's amazing how quickly it has all built up. We're already hard at work recording…
This week at Academie Duello we are looking at a fundamental strategy with the rapier, known as the True Fight; we are exploring deceptive attacks with the sidesword, designed to draw the opponent out of position; and we're employing the blow or strike with the side of the staff and learning how to counter them.…
Read More... from Swordplay Training Videos for July 23 to 29
"So... why didn't that work the way you wanted to?" "I didn't move fast enough." This is a conversation I often have with my students in class. The student has correctly identified an issue in tempo (typically everything else is being done correctly) but they've made a mistake in the aspect of tempo that…
Read More... from What's the most important thing in comedy?
This post provides links to videos for every lesson we covered in the Mastery Program at Academie Duello for July 16 to 22. This week Green Cords (level 1) learn about control of the opponent's sword and take advantage of their opponent's movement to strike. Blue Cords (level 2) continue their work on provocations by…
Read More... from This week in class at Academie Duello - Vids
Welcome everyone to a new week in swordplay at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV! We just celebrated Canada day this past weekend by participating in the Vancouver Canada Day Parade. We had more than 60 fighters with longswords, sideswords, rapiers, and bows fighting their way through the streets of downtown. There's no better way to…
Welcome to another week of curriculum at Academie Duello. We have had a lot of interesting things going on including a tournament this past weekend that featured competitions with the longsword, sidesword, and rapier for beginners and advanced practitioners. We haven't put out our own official recap yet (we're editing lots of video) but you…
Read More... from Instructional Videos for this week at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV
Welcome everyone to another excellent week at Academie Duello and Duello.TV. This week we have some exciting news to report -- we have over 250 videos on Duello.TV about over 40 hours of content now available. We're also nearly all the way through creating lessons for our full Mastery Program calendar, which means we'll be…
Read More... from Sword fighting videos for this week at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV
Back in the spring, Clint reminded us about the importance of reading - and understanding - the texts necessary to progress within the Academie Duello ranks. Further, as an Instructor, he also reminded us of the importance to read, and possibly re-read the required texts whenever we have new experiences or knowledge. Reading should not…
As of this week on Duello.TV we have over 250 videos posted! We have content on longsword, sidesword, rapier and dagger, cloak, buckler, and more. It's been exciting getting to this stage and we're looking froward to bringing even more cool stuff soon. This month all three levels of the Mastery Program are focusing on…
Read More... from Sword Fighting Lessons on Duello.TV This Week
When it comes to head protection, most of us use fencing masks, whether we're fighting with rapiers, knives, longswords, or anything else. Anyone who's done this for a while, however, will be well acquainted with the idea of mask failure. All masks have a limited lifespan: over time, and with repeated blows, the mesh loses…
Rank examinations have just finished up today for the Mastery Program with two new Blue Cords entering the ranks. They have a whole new set of topics to look forward to as we roll over into the next month of curriculum at Academie Duello. Green Cord - Rapier and Offhand This month in Green Cord…
Read More... from This month at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV
Hey everyone, We have another guest blogger this week. Ivan Sim has been teaching the Taste of the Renaissance program for several months now.I asked him to put together a blog post directed more towards our newer students though in truth it's just as valuable for veteran students. Catch Ivan Saturdays for some fun sparring and…