I have pledged to do better this week. I am inspired by my latest Cornwell book, as well as by the lovely bottle of mead I was presented with by one of my shield mates. He offered it in exchange for a promise that I would not overly bludgeon him during our training. Day Three…
Category: Programs
Beginners' Courses July 2015
Just like the sun, we are coming back with our beginner's courses! Enjoy your summer with three different ways to approach to Western Martial Arts. Bartitsu is a complex martial art with many interlocking skills and is still very useful for learning practical self-defence today. Its introductory course, Fight Like Sherlock Holmes, runs once a week for four weeks.…
Book Review: "Deeds of Arms" by S. Muhlberger
“They are stories about stories.” [1] It does my heart good when I hear competent people say that they’ve recreated the essence of some medieval martial art event to the best of their ability, because they followed the descriptions of medieval combat "exactly" from period texts. It’s a good ... start. But what if the…
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Questions and Secrets; Understanding Martial Art
No matter how many classes you come to you will never fully discover my art this way. The art is not contained within a syllabus or a curriculum. I’m not saying there isn’t value in classes and teachers. There is tremendous value. Without them there would be nothing. It’s simply that classes are only the…
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Jumping Basics
Riding Level 3: Jumping position and small courses For Level 3 Riding you will need to: 13. Trot poles to a small jump showing good position and mane or crest release. and 14. Jump a small cross-rail course (18” high) of 2 jumps and 1 or 2 sets of poles. When we are looking at…
Warrior Fundamentals - Week 1
The following is the first in a four-part series from a student contributor. If you enjoy this and wish to read more from Angella, you can start with her four-part series on her experience taking another one of our introductory courses, Taste of the Renaissance. Day One It feels great to be back at Academie Duello…
Criticality versus Judgment
Criticality is the process of analyzing how you could do something better. Judgment is the process of applying a subjective, emotional value to that something. In critical analysis you view the facts of the situation to understand your current reality. You can then measure those facts against your goals. From here you can understand the…
Friday Clinics at Red Colt
Once more we are offering a variety of special clinics related to the Mounted Combat Program at Red Colt throughout the summer. Clinics start up this Friday June 12th and continue through August with a variety of instructors and topics, from 6:00pm - 7:30pm each week. Some classes may run a half hour longer if…
How Top Performers Cope with Bad Training Days
Not every training day is a brilliant one. Not every tournament is your best. Not every performance shows all that you’re capable of. Sometimes things are just plain crappy. You can’t get in the zone, you’re in your head, or you feel sloppy, flat footed, slow, out of shape, etc. Top performers are not devoid…
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Why Jump?
Riding Level 3: Trot Poles and Cross Rails I have been asked why, in the Cavaliere program, we require our riders learn to jump. After all, it's not a skill you need for mounted sparring or knightly games within our modern, arena-bound context. However, we believe jumping has value and deserves a place in the…
Don't Judge Your Performance Based on One Training Event
I’ve had many frustrating training and combat encounters. Ones where I have felt suddenly incapable of accomplishing something that may have seemed simple weeks before. It’s easy to jump to a conclusion: “I’m just not practicing enough”, “I’m not learning”, “My opponent is just way better than me.” Yet there are so many factors that…
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Horse Day in Canada
The first Saturday in June is Horse Day in Canada. This is a unique moment once a year where all Canadians are invited to honour, explore and discover the world of horse, and may for many Canadians be their first time experiencing the wonder and majesty of Canada's equine partner. In the spirit of Horse…
Consistency is Vital
About 18 years ago I took over running a rapier practice and class for the Society for Creative Anachronism. I was new to being in a leadership role and I sought out the advice of one of the senior members in the area about how to run a successful group. He gave me one piece…
Look Ma, No Hands!
Riding Level 3: Riding without Reins and Stirrups Our curriculum is liberally dosed with tests of your independent seat, as you can see from these previous blog posts on dropping the reins and stirrups (which in turn link to other blog posts on related topics). This is because a secure independent seat from which you…
Why you should wrestle, and everyone throughout history thought so as well!
There is a fallacy that is often presented in martial arts (and physical culture as a whole) that for people on the outside looking in there is no point to practicing. Why learn to fight with a sword, choke a person out, or lift a heavy weight if those things do not translate to a…
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Let Your Subconscious Work On It
Research has shown that we humans use a tremendous amount of our brains in spaces beyond our conscious awareness. Learning is a process that is far broader than simply the conscious practice of new skills. I have found many situations in my personal experience where, after having worked on a problem extensively one day, I…
A Taste of the Renaissance - Week 4
I can’t believe it's the last week of our Taste of the Renaissance series. The four weeks have gone by like the lightning slash of a sidesword. I have to determine which class to sign up for next. The noon time slots work best, but the biggest question is what to try next…? Today in…
Stepping up the Single-hand Reining
Riding Level 3: Cantering Single-handed For Riding Levels 1 and 2 you have already been asked to demonstrate single-handed reining at walk and trot respectively, so the next logical step at Level 3 is 11. Single hand reining: walk, trot and canter. The mechanics are the same, so first go and review these posts on…