This week in Bartitsu: 1. Review of boxing: combos 2. Cane lesson: bayonnet position 3. Integration: unarmed defence versus cane, cane combos with fisticuffs See you at 3pm!
Last Chance: Sean Hayes Weekend!
"Who would win in a fight, a samurai or a medieval knight? The answer is: the better fighter." - Maestro Sean Hayes Guest Instructor Sean Hayes' workshop series is selling out fast. Right now there are only 4 spots left! This is your last chance! Friday, December 2, 2011 7pm-9pm Developing Solo Drills for Armizare…
Ladies and Safety
Another combination of my favourite subjects: stage combat and Edwardian self-defense. To add "...and ladies" would have been very sexist, why would you think I'd say something so rude? Oh yeah, the title of this article. Let me just say at the outset that women tend to be more concerned with personal safety than men…
DuelloLearning videos have been put into playlists
If you are following the videos we are producing for our beta Duello Learning channel, you'll be happy to know that they have been organized into playlists. The lists are not all in order as of yet but like content has been grouped with like content so its easier to follow all the lessons of…
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War Horse
I don't think I'll be going to see the movie "War Horse". Not because I tend to find most Spielberg movies a bit too treacly, and not because most horse movies make me yell at the screen (why do movie makers think we won't notice when they swap a 16 hand bay for a chestnut…
International Sword Press & Dance Lessons
We’re all over the map this week, but we have selected a ‘dominant theme’ for this slightly lengthy effort! Respects, Wes Romantic Sword BIRMINGHAM WEEKLY (Alabama) 13 October 11 Garden Variety Gallantry We often read of European knights swearing oaths on their hilts – the sword representing the very best of honour and…
Molasses
Some words on going slow today. Those of you were at Longsword Focus (Mon @ 5:30; Wed @ 12:00) were given homework: cut 30 fendenti and accompanying falso riverso sotanifor a week. It's really easy to do; 30 cuts takes about 1 minute. If you're going fast. And, if you're only concerned about going fast…
Start Something New!
"What then is chivalry? So strong a thing, and of such hardihood, and so costly in the learning, that a wicked man or low dare not undertake it... Whoso would enjoy high honor first must suitably display that he has been well-schooled in such arts..." - The Biography of Sir William Marshall Intro to the…
Stage Combat Priorities 1: Safety... Boring!
This is really the first post in my series on the basics of stage combat and how it is applied in real productions. Last time, I talked about the illusion of violence, and how the effect to the audience must match the rest of the production (a fairy tale should be magical and melodramatic, while…
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Guest Instructor: Sean Hayes!
Hello folks, Exciting news today! We have what a special guest instructor from the WMA community coming to town. Sean Hayes is Maestro D'Armi of the Northwest Fencing Academy in Eugene, OR. Maestro Hayes' school focuses on Armizare, the martial art practiced by Italy's knightly class and draws his teaching from the Fiore de' Liberi…
Test your knowledge
The UK Pony Club has just launched a new 'Pony Prep' website: http://www.ponyprep.org/training.php While it is quite obviously aimed at the younger set, it nonetheless has some good instructional videos and simple quizzes you can take to test your knowledge: especially useful for those assessing Horsemanship level 1 on the 27th. You don't need to…
A Fistful of International Sword Press
We offer an eclectic mixture for this round and though not all of them are useful in our ‘studies’ – hopefully, they will appeal to your ‘interests’. Respects all, Wes In Memory THE PROVINCE (Vancouver, British Columbia) 13 November 11 Surrey Sikhs offer sword to military Sikhs of the Surrey Dasmesh Darbar Gurudwara…
Off-hand drills
No big news today. Just thought I'd share another drill. It's from this past month's Green Cord curriculum. The patiente stands in terza. The agente makes strikes to the patiente, who defends against them primarily with the off-hand, unless it makes super-good sense to defend them with the sword. For added complexity: The agente can…