“The duel took place on Easter Eve, and Herr von Kotze was slightly wounded and taken to hospital. The next morning he received the congratulations of the Kaiser and an Easter egg, …”[1] Ah yes, Easter Bunnies with blades Hares and HEMA Rabbits …. well, you get the idea! Sting like a Hummingbird … a…
Read More... from Festive Easter Sword Press News for March 2018
There is an interesting phrase pair I have been hearing from a lot of instructors recently. I hear: “Practice makes perfect.” Then an admonishment: “No. Practice makes permanent. So make sure you don’t practice poorly!” The first is a message of hope and resilience. If you practice and stay the course, you can find mastery.…
Red Spur Swordplay from the Ground: the True Fight As a scholar or Blue Spur within Academie Duello you should be already familiar with the the qualities of the true fight. That is, you seek control of your opponent's sword, advancing or striking when you have control, retreating and seeking to regain control when you…
Read More... from Staying True: Playing Through the True Fight
In light of our upcoming Online Collaborative Longsword Course, I thought it would be a good occasion to revisit this post on the five minutes per day practice regimen. Rhythm is the most important thing to cultivate on the path to mastery. Whether you leverage this course or simply get started with your own practice…
The Masters of Fence? Who came to your mind first? Ridolfo Capo Ferro of Italy? Hieronimo de Caranza of Spain? Joseph Swetnam of England? Richard Sheridan of Ireland? Wait a minute … Who? From Where? A Broad Overview If the latter country, let alone the personality, does not resonate with a vision of civilised small…
Read More... from Book Review: “Irish Swordsmanship” by Miller
To acquire the first rank of the Mounted Combat program, the Green Spur, you will need to be assessed on the Green Spur Mounted Combat skills. These include Swordplay from the Ground, Swordplay Knowledge, and Mounted Combat Knowledge. The knowledge sections are covered in past sections of this blog, and can be studied on your…
Read More... from Fundamental FAQs: Mounted Combat Fundamentals
“A characteristic of adolescent games is that they are preparation for adult games and sport. Organized tournaments, for instance, were for adults, but adolescent males began to train for ritualized or real fighting. The city fathers were against such training, because … it would simply lead to a disruption of civic order if urban youth…
Read More... from Youthful Sword Press News for February 2018
Recently, many female identified practitioners in my life have been bravely and gracefully sharing with me their challenges in being students in martial arts. One of the main things that comes up time and time again is how difficult it is to be a student when their, typically male, partners seem eager to constantly offer…
Due to unseasonably late snow, we have decided to delay starting the Riding Level 3, Jumping and Riding Level 4+, Jumping courses at Red Colt for two weeks. This will give the ring time to recover from its late-season slush and firm up enough for jumping. These courses will now start on Saturday March 17th. Note that all…
Read More... from Schedule Change: Jumping Courses Postponed
In his Jogo do Pau training seminar in Vancouver in 2016, instructor Luis Preto demonstrated a basic fact of learning. To get good at catching a ball, there's little utility in rehearsing the catching action in isolation; you need to have a ball thrown at you. The mind is an incredible problem-solving machine. It can…
Snow may have fallen this week, but that didn't keep us from riding and practising mounted combat. And with spring just around the corner, we have many more course offerings to get you out of the salle and into the saddle. Spring Courses at Red Colt Mounted Combat Mastery February is sword & shield month,…
Cutlasses. A lot of people talk about cutlasses, but nobody does anything about them. Few people in society practice a form of HEMA; and of those, even fewer are sailors. Which could account for the dearth of credible information on historical cutlass combat within our community. British Naval Swords & Swordsmanship brings to our attention…
Read More... from Book Review: “British Naval Swords & Swordsmanship” by McGrath & Barton
This past weekend, I was on an examination board for the first Provost of Armizare at the Chicago Swordplay Guild (CSG), Jesse Kulla. Provost is the rank before Master in most schools that follow an Italian martial arts tradition. I sat on a board with Sean Hayes, Maestro of Northwest Fencing Academy, Marco Quarta, Maestro…
Read More... from Student Trials: Examination and Initiation