Another episode of our stage combat feature: action movie trailers. What we're looking forward to and why. You may have noticed the text in there: From the Director of the Original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. That's what we're going to talk about today: Niels Arden Oplev. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009)…
...and you can bet we're in for more rain before Summer hits! This time of year, it is wise to always carry an umbrella with you. We all know that umbrellas are invaluable for keeping dry and for impromptu Gene Kelly impersonations, but did you know your umbrella could also be used as a self-defense…
It's about time I make an official post-VISS post. Truth is it has taken me weeks to recover from what shaped up to be a fantastic event! Thank you to everyone who made it to Vancouver to teach, train, help, and share. This was a tremendous year and I am honoured you all were there…
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Celebrate the extra hour by kick-starting your Spring with some of our exciting workshops! Begin your journey from Novice to Knight by learning the fundamentals of Medieval Swordplay with Instructor Greg Reimer: Intro to Medieval Swordplay Date: Saturday, March 16, 2013 Time: 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm Description: Over the course of four hours you…
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We interrupt our schedule of educational posts once more to let you know there are only three days left to take advantage of the Cavaliere Program's Shedding Season Special! Sign up for any number of the following classes, workshops or packages before March 1st and receive a 10% discount: Intro to Mounted CombatMounted Combat WorkshopMounted…
Here begins a new series on the PlayFighting blog: I'm going to take a trailer for an upcoming action movie, and pair it with footage and commentary from its predecessors. The trajectory may bounce around a bit, but in the collateral damage you'll have a better idea about the potential of the upcoming action film.…
As wonderful as all our venues for the Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium last weekend were, none of them were quite large -- or rustic -- enough to host a mounted combat workshop. Though we were sad not to be able to offer swordplay from horseback to the conference attendees, we did manage to bring a…
These are the workshops I'll be leading at VISS, the Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium. The conference runs 15-17 February. You can get a pass to participate in all workshops and events, or you can get a auditor rate to quietly watch. Information on tickets, schedules and everything else is at the Vancouver Swordplay Website. Bringing…
Read More... from VISS: PlayFighting Films and Giant Felling
This past weekend I taught a 2 day seminar in Chicago on Applied Combatives for the Chicago Swordplay Guild (CSG) at their home Forteza Fitness. I was pleased as always with an excellent group of students with a passion for the art, insightful questions, and a superbly welcoming nature. The seminar was an extended version…
I'm going to VISS and I'm really excited for it.With all due respect to the other instructors I'll probably spend the majority of my time in Tom Leoni's 3-day workshop on Italian Rapier. This is a topic that I've spent the past 8 years or so studying but I'm still looking forward to spending somewhere close…
I'm on my way to Chicago at the moment, chilling out in Toronto. This is actually one of my favourite parts of travel, I'm away from all my usual activities and distractions and it gives me the opportunity to work on special heads down projects. It's not quite as beautiful as being on the top…
Read More... from On my way to Chicago to teach an Applied Combatives seminar
It has been such a busy start to the year I've barely had time to write about cool stuff going on, let alone actually participate in it. I wanted to share some info on a few cool things that are coming up or in fact going on right now. Don Juan As you may have…
Read More... from Don Juan, Tournaments, Sword Fighters, and Awesome Authours
The Paddy Crean Conference in Banff is a week of some of the greatest fight instructors and stunt people teaching an incredible group of enthusiasts. So every two years we get the newest innovations in stage combat and stunt work in one venue. And the food is fantastic. I want to share some of what…
Short answer: absolutely. A few of our newer students who feel a little anxious about registering for the 2013 Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium(VISS). There are several reasons for this feeling and I'll address some of them here. "It's kind of expensive" This applies to beginners and "veterans" alike. And, actually it's not. At a cost…
This past Friday, Academie Duello hosted a small but vigorous rank examination for two of our members in the Mastery Program. About 25 fellow students came on the first Friday of the new year to help Gareth test for the rank of Blue Cord (our second rank of five) and Michael to test for the rank…
VISS 2013 is approaching, and we’re excited to announce a first look at our workshop lineup! We are proud to offer two styles of workshops at VISS. The first style offers a more in-depth look into various topics, with work that will build across three days of classes. Topics for this style of workshop include:…
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The month of December is like a gift of stage combat. It ends with the Paddy Crean, and everyone is preparing for it for the weeks leading up to it. The Paddy Crean Workshop I've written about Paddy Crean and the workshop in his honour before. It's one jam-packed week of stunts, stage combat, and…
If you're a fan of theatre, you should mark your calendar for a very cool event coming up at the end of December in Vancouver; Blackbird Theatre Productions is putting on a rendition of Moliere's Don Juan set to hit the stage from December 26th to January 26th at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. If you're…
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