Fencing competitively at all times is tiring and restricting. You cannot view every pass that you have with someone as a life or death encounter. If you do, you’ll never allow yourself to bring new material to bear. Experimentation without consequence is an essential part of opening up your swordplay. It is one of many…
A true swordplay bout might be as binary as survivor and vanquished. However, in our modern times, no bout is final and all provide an opportunity for practice and growth. Though winning can be thrilling, I recommend setting your sights on different targets for the best long-term success in becoming a master of these arts.…
Read More... from Define Your Own Criteria for Swordplay Success
I have noted a phenomenon in sparring, especially when fencing someone who feels themselves to be less experienced or less skilled than me, of someone giving up before the hit is made. Perhaps my point is winding its way toward home, and two inches before it touches I feel their whole body relax and their…
Read More... from Combat Mindset: Fight All The Way to the End
Our psychology has a tremendous impact on our performance whether in a competition, or even in practice sparring or drilling. Many people who are perfectly capable performers on one day or in one environment can find themselves falling apart in different circumstances. A large contributor to this is one’s internal dialogue. Mindset can feel chemical…
What makes a technique in swordplay appear graceful, fast, and -- most of all -- effective, is usually the efficiency and precision of the movement. Being able to perform a technique with the least amount of extra movement and in a manner that does the job as directly as possible is essential to high level…
Blue Spur Spear Fundamentals: Basic Attacks from the Ground The second checklist item in Spear section of your Blue Spur guide is Demonstrate the basic attacks and defences of the spear in the extended position. This week we'll look at attacks, and cover defences next week. There are five types of attacks of the spear…
Sometimes we have some fun during all the seriousness of swordfighting. Just sometimes. Fun with Fiore This week's video is a Vancouver B Movie Factory episode, "The Flower of Battle", filmed at our riding facility, Red Colt Farm, in Richmond. With Oscar-worthy performances by students Michael Molnar, Ben Davis, Chris Richardson and Mounted Combat Program…
Read More... from This Week in HEMA Video - Fun with Fiore and The Vancouver B Movie Factory
A specialist martial artist, at their most focused, tunes their training toward a single discipline and a single context. This type of specialization is something that perhaps came first to us in the Western Martial Arts with duels. For these one-on-one conflicts, individuals would train to fight within a fixed set of rules and conventions,…
Read More... from Specialization versus Generalization in Martial Arts
Welcome to the first Historical European Martial Arts Video blog post on the Academie Duello blog! Our new weekly Monday post will feature awesome video content from our school and the broader community. Look forward to sparring videos, performances, great educational content, and more. This Week In Sparring To kick things off with a bang we're…
Read More... from This Week in HEMA Video - 360 Degrees of Awesome
This weekend was a momentous event for Academie Duello: our first Silver Cord (aka Provost) examination. A provost is one step below Maestro/Master and it represents an enormous achievement. Provosts are expected to demonstrate a high level of effectiveness within the school’s system, a demonstrable and defensible understanding of the school's pedagogy and theoretical approach,…
I have loosely followed a couple of different conversations that have touched on this topic within the HEMA community. The first is about a Trans woman who has been denied entry into the Pacific Northwest HEMA gathering Women’s Longsword tournament. (In short on this: I am in support of her inclusion. I think that at best…
My Introduction to the Italian Rapier DVD has finished post-production and is on its way to print! This is a pretty exciting moment for me as this project has been three years in the making. It’s being published through Freelance Academy Press and is due to be available within the next two weeks. The DVD is…
Why go Slow? I have written several posts on the merits of “slow work”, which is the act of fencing at a slow and consistent speed. In summary, slow fencing gives you the opportunity to be more observant of the tactical environment. From this state of greater observance you can move more easily in time with…
Read More... from Soft Work -- Be Receptive and Adaptive In Your Practice Sparring
Learning physical skills is a tricky thing. It’s important as a student that you’re practicing in the most effective and efficient manner for getting results in your desired performance environment (e.g. a duel, a tournament, a melee, etc.). Two Types of Practice There are two primary practice schema that can be applied when acquiring new…
Read More... from Optimising Your Learning: Blocked and Varied Practice Environments
Every year the Vancouver institution that is the Georgia Straight runs an open poll to determine the "Best of Vancouver" in a variety of different categories, and for many businesses it is the measure of success and recognition in the city. Whereas restaurants and hotels have comprehensively recognised marks of excellence, in a lot of cases…
Academie Duello was founded on two tenets: Proper Arms Proper Respect The purpose of these tenets was to provide a guiding light and governing principle for the way we pursue and practise our art, as well as remind us to do so more authentically. What I mean is, our goal was to get as close…
Day Seven Today is poleaxe day! My excitement abates slightly when I discover that we don’t actually get to use real ones. Adrian insists that our waivers do not cover that level of damage. The trainers we use are just as heavy with nice hardwood poles and tough rubber end bits to pierce and crush…
Day Five I have a confession to make. I was neither able to attend Class 5 nor was I able to take advantage of the evening classes to make up for it. What’s a sword-fighting student to do? Thankfully, my trusty blade-wielding comrades filled me in on the general content for the class, and, wonderfully,…