My grandma visited Academie Duello last week while she was in town for my birthday. This is the first time she’s ever been to Academie Duello and as you can see from the photo she took to it right away!
My grandma's visit and her excitement at being able to put on gauntlets and wield a sword and a dagger really hit home for me how universal the appeal of swordplay is. At the Academie our youngest members are 8 and our oldest in their 60s. This is quite an impressive range for a martial art and part of what I think makes the environment at the Academie so excellent. I personally feel our western culture has become far to compartmentalized between age groups. Our youth no longer connect with the lessons and wisdom of our elders and our elders lose the opportunity to be reinspired by our youth.
Though I was inspired to pursue swordplay from a young age, I enjoy that the sophistication and maturity of swordplay has been able ot attract and interest a more mature audience who realize that experience and cunning have their place here. Many martial arts schools exist purely in the realm of youth involvement and their adult members are only those who have risen up in the ranks from a young age. I love that so many have been able to connect with swordplay as a new passion or perhaps a rediscovered old one, even years beyond perhaps the standard time that people become involved in martial arts.
Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques. Read more from Devon Boorman.