This past weekend a crew consisting of me and five senior students from Academie Duello headed down to the 2015 Ursulmas Championship tournament in Monroe, Washington. This is a tournament hosted by the Society for Creative Anachronism, an organization devoted to re-enactment of the middle ages and renaissance in various forms, including combat. (In the…
A new year is coming so get into our next round of Beginner's Courses! Prepare for swinging swords and pulling punches. We offer three different courses which cover different avenues of Western Martial Arts: Fight Like Sherlock Holmes Bartitsu is a complex martial art with many interlocking skills. Our four-week Fight Like Sherlock Holmes course gives students…
Because winter is coming, our next round of Beginner's Courses are just around the corner! Prepare for winter by swinging swords and pulling punches. We offer three different courses which cover different aspects of Western Martial Arts: Fight Like Sherlock Holmes Bartitsu is a complex martial art with many interlocking skills. Our four-week Fight Like Sherlock Holmes course…
Read More... from Intro Courses beginning late October/ early November
"Arte, Ardore, Onore" is the motto of Academie Duello, which simply means: skill, passion, honour. These are the three guiding principles of our school. To practice the art as authentically as possible; to pursue and feed our passions for a happier, more fulfilling life; and to honour our teachers, training partners, and opponents. Arte, Ardore,…
This week, we take a short look at successful people and activities within the HEMA/WMA community. But what is “success” for a HEMA/WMA ‘guild’ or swordplay salle? Is it represented by numbers …. the number of students that show up consistently for class? The number that are ‘on the books’? The number of students that…
Here, read this, I’ll try to drop by later to chat … &^%$#@!! international situation! Unless stupid things explode overseas (or significantly more so than usual), We’ll be in Vancouver next week attending the 10th Anniversary ‘Duello Days’ and will not be updating the Press. 30 Shades of (registered) Swordplay JUNKEE (Sydney, Australia) 22 July…
Luck: Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. (Oxford dictionary) And how lucky we are as HEMA/WMA students: Swords of iron and steel survive ‘centuries’ of abuse, neglect, climatic conditions causing near total structural decay, ‘resource recycling’, etc … and we still have many examples of what medieval and…
The requirements of service may have your paperboy posted near immediately into Stuttgart until the New Year, so We thought that we’d take a look in at what’s going on over there with swordplay, WMA/HEMA and related events. Full Metal Impact … in two directions! BADISCHE ZEITUNG (Freiburg, Germany) 05 July 14 So wie…
It’s 28°C/83°C in your nations capital as We type … and somewhere nearby we have peers dressed in full armour, demonstrating what we do to an appreciative Canada Day audience. Honking huge falchions and arming swords, heavy shields, hot and heavy helmets protecting eyes full of dripping sweat, slippery gauntlets dripping with the same ……
The demands of service took us away on short notice for three weeks, … but We’ll grovel in apology later. First … Hodor! Or rather … ‘Bohurt’! HEMA/WMA matches. I hurt. You hurt. Bohurt! Curriculum – bringing dignity to what otherwise is a vulgar brawl. LA WEEKLY (California) 13 June 14 An L.A. School for…
‘Will you please pick that up Hagar! I swear, someday you’re going to forget where you put it down and somebody is going to trip over it and hurt themselves!’ As interesting as swords found in archaeological excavations are, we’re near always left wondering … “Just how did that sword come to be left there”?…
We all know that HEMA/WMA is flourishing … and for the greater part is dominated by Italian rapier play or German long sword – with significant amounts of English and Viking sword and shield work added when available. But what is just as impressive is the reappearance of ‘niche’ swordplay forms … Spanish dagger/scissors combat;…
“There is always strength in numbers. The more individuals or organizations that you can rally to your cause, the better”. Mark Shields, PBS NewsHour commentator Today, Our modest offering concentrates on numbers – or rather the growth in numbers of the art. Not only does HEMA/WMA have a international, cross-cultural and cross-gender reach, but from…
We seem to have a large number of peers engaged in some Easter-season hunt – be it for a new skill, a new experience, an old blade or even a national ranking! If ever you wondered if HEMA/WMA was just this seasons’ ‘flash in the pan’, We think that this weeks’ offering should demonstrate that…
For those of Us in Upper Canada that have recently dug out of a long winter, only to face the return of sub-zero temperatures tomorrow evening, We really envy those in the community that can practice their arts outdoors year round. Australia particularly. On the other hand, there is something to be said for one…
Swords in public venues? Under the right conditions, the public will flock (and sometimes pay) to see your historical swordplay demonstration or visit a historical exhibition of swords. But, display those very same blades in a park or dimly-lit alley, and the public reaction is apt to be significantly different – notwithstanding your best and…
I hope you’ll forgive Us, but the demands of the Ukraine-Russian situation have resulted in the total loss of my ‘free time’ of late (We just had a 71 hour work week … and We still have over a hundred herps to care for once we’re home!) So … We’ll just peddle our bike past…
Everybody is talking about season 2 of Vikings which premiered on History Channel just a few weeks ago. Loosely based on the famous Norse saga known as the Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, which was a sequel to the Völsung Saga, the series has gathered quite a following and various blogs and social media sites are a buzz…
Read More... from Facts and Foibles from History Channel's Series "Vikings"