Happy New Year everyone from all of us at Academie Duello!

Thanks for being part of our community and helping us provide a place where people can push out of their comfort zones, do fun and exciting things, find confidence and strength, become fitter and healthier, and meet great new friends and supporters.

We have lots of fun plans for this year including even more archery and mounted combat (starting this month in fact)! We're relaunching our stage combat program to include a greater emphasis on both drama and excellent fighting. We're launching a whole new set of Taste of Swordplay experiences for people who want to dive into these beautiful arts for the first time. And of course, our Mastery and Fitness programs are starting up again today!

Fifth Annual 30-for-30 Swordplay Challenge Starts Today!

To help us all knock off some of the holiday rust, today is the first day of the 30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge. Even if you're new to swordplay you can join us.

Here's how it works:

Starting today (January 2nd) and for the next 30 days, we are challenging every sword fighter (new or experienced) to commit to at least 30 minutes per day of practice (solo or partnered).

To help support the challenge we have created a Facebook group where you can report each day about your progress and we can all help hold each other accountable.

We've also created a 30-for-30 resource page on Duello.TV that will feature weekly drills and training advice for Rapier, Longsword, and Sidesword. You can check that out here!

So join us on the Facebook group, read more about the challenge, and get started! Even if you're reading this post late, nothing says you can't join on day 2 or 10!

Happy new year and happy training everyone!

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.