Though safety may seem boring, uncool, or like an unnecessary consideration, it is a vital foundation for pursuing excellence in martial arts in both the short- and long-term. Having a solid approach to safety in your group is important for retaining members, keeping your body healthy, and for creating the space for experimentation. At Academie…
These days, there is very little impetus to end up in a duel with sharp swords or even a true in-earnest fist fight on the street. In fact, I'm quite happy to live in a time and place where I do not need to defend my life on the regular. However, I am a teacher and…
At the end of January, we finished up the fourth 30-for-30 Swordplay Challenge. The Facebook group this year had over 250 members with reports coming from at least 100 of them throughout the entire month. I enjoyed reading posts from practitioners throughout the world with varying levels of experience and coming from different backgrounds and…
Not everyone has the luxury of being able to regularly attend classes at a school like Academie Duello or get together with regular training partners. So, how do you train on your own in a way that is effective? In this last week's DTV Livestream we discussed just that. Here's a round-up of some of…
This past Friday, Academie Duello held a rank exam with 14 students across both adult and youth programs examining for Scholar and Free Scholar levels. We had a tremendously full house with somewhere between 60 and 70 fighters on the floor and dozens of observers. Exams are challenging affairs and we are not afraid to put…
"That is a really inefficient way to attack. What are they doing?" I think as my opponent winds up some particularly arduous looking strike. "Ah. Hitting me." This is a scenario I have encountered on many occasions in my development. I've entered into combat with an opponent expecting a particular type of response, only to have…
This is the second part in a series on Awareness. Part 1 explored how to develop your ability to recall and diagnose what’s happening in combat through three games. In this post I’m going to delve into the second definition of awareness: Feeling, experiencing, or noticing something (such as a sound or sensation). Tactics Being…
When I first started going to the gym, it was with a colleague from work. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays instead of going home from work we would head to the gym together. We were generally there for an hour, sometimes we’d work out together, sometimes we would follow different routines. Though our approach to…
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Training is at least 50% mental and 50% physical. If you’re truly down-and-out sick, then just let yourself be sick. No sense resisting the sleep you need and prolonging the pain. But if you’re just out with the sniffles, or you have an injury that prevents you from physically training, then here are some things you…
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For the past many years my focus in the pursuit of Historical European Martial Arts has been very much on safely exploring the “martial" aspect. I want to get as close to the original martial art as I realistically can without actually putting myself, my training partners, or my students in mortal danger. Yet that is…
Read More... from Ways To Test Your Art — Triangulating on Life and Death
Objective measures can be compelling. They’re easy to inspect and they can allow you to see progress in a way you can graph. However, often people choose the wrong goals to measure and this has a detrimental effect on their development. For example, when a student gets focused on winning or “getting hits”, a few…
Read More... from Seven Ideas for Setting Useful Sword Training Goals
Even if you’re part of a vibrant school or club and have lots of training partners to practice with, keeping a daily rhythm is an essential part of the path of mastery. That means you’re going to have a lot of solo training occasions to fill. Most partner drills don’t effectively translate into a solitary…
A few weeks ago I delivered a talk at TEDx EastVan. The talk focused on something I am passionate about: inspiring others to pursue and master movement. Swordplay and the Lost Art of Knighthood | Devon Boorman | TEDxEastVanWatch this video on YouTube In the talk I delve into why I believe it’s vital to…
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This past week during my polearms class one of my students, who is hard of hearing, asked me to put on a wireless microphone (worn as a necklace). This microphone connects to a receiver in his hearing aids that allows him to hear me more clearly regardless of where I am in class, which way…
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“You see first with your mind, then with your eyes, then finally it is in your body." -- Yagyu Munenori. Family Traditions on the Art of War, 17th century. Stuck In Your Head Whether it’s swordplay, dancing, or driving a car, when you first learn a skill it exists within the conscious learning part of the…
From June 3rd to 5th, Academie Duello will be hosting the first Vancouver Martial Challenge. This event is part of an alternative type of event I want to promote within the Historical European Martial Arts community: events that focus on combat within the realm of the martial art rather than the martial sport. Here’s a…
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Provost, what is better: practicing barefoot or in shoes? I prefer and recommend practicing in shoes (keep reading; some students prefer barefoot which is fine). Ultimately, there are pitfalls to be aware of (and avoid) with either. The biggest consideration I make is for personal health. That is, will your decision (shoes or no shoes)…
The route from learning a new skill to pulling it off in combat is not a simple process. Though you can take many skills immediately into combat and make some progress, it is more effective to follow a formal process that targets the skill in a focused manner at each stage of its development. Stage…