Over the month of January, Academie Duello and Duello.TV (our online video learning channel) hosted a 30-day swordplay training challenge. Each participant engaged in the goal of at least 30 minutes of swordplay training per day for 30 days. Participants represented dozens of schools from all over the world and the range of disciplines practised was…
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Red Spur Swordplay from the Ground: Playbuilding When you were earning your Blue Spur, you demonstrated the ability to conduct isolated plays using attacks and defences from all quadrants. Now we want you to show the ability to connect a series of attacks and defences, or in other words: Demonstrate the ability to carry on…
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Dawn came to Marylebone Fields and found Albemarle and his second waiting with swords and pistols. Townshend arrived late and apologized. "Men of spirit don't want apologies", said the 'showy man'. "Come, let us begin what we came for."[1] Yes, we’re late with both January ‘and’ December, Allons-y ! Release the Kraken! THE GUARDIAN (Charlottetown,…
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Last Saturday morning at 5:30am I began a trip from Vancouver to the town of Monroe in Washington state, about 3 hours south of Vancouver, with five of my students from Academie Duello. It was our yearly trip to a rapier tournament held by the Society for Creative Anachronism called Ursulmas. This particular tournament gets…
Competitiveness plays a big role in sport. Cultivating the competitive spirit is often used to drive one to harder training and to overcoming one's opponents in a game or tournament. It can be a font of energy positively harnessed. Yet, if it's based on making negative comparisons to others, I think competition is something you…
Red Spur Swordplay from the Ground Last week we looked at the general advantages and disadvantages the combatant on the ground faces when up against a rider. This week I'll get a little more specific and give you some plays you can use. This is a sample only, not an all-encompassing toolbox of tactics, but…
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Martial arts have been a big part of my life since I was a child. I started first with Kung Fu then Arnis/Eskrima and then I began my longest-term exploration, Western Martial Arts. I am often asked why people practice martial arts or why I practice swordplay specifically – considering it’s unlikely that I’ll be…
Red Spur Swordplay from the Ground The first section of the Red Spur Mounted Combat Skills section is Swordplay from the Ground. Your first checkbox is: Demonstrate five plays from the ground against a mounted opponent. Facing the Mounted Opponent from the Ground To a foot soldier, I can imagine very few more frightening sights…
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Mastery — the pursuit of something to a high level of proficiency — is a challenging and hard to plot journey. Our capacity to stay on the road and move through its various stages is highly connected to our relationship with ignorance. How comfortable are you with not knowing? How at ease are you with…
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you're all feeling rested and ready to hop back in the saddle again. We have lots of exciting courses coming up for everyone from total beginners to Blue Spurs. Mounted Combat Mastery classes resume January 7th, there is a rare Intro to Mounted Combat course happening Sunday January 14th…
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…
It’s only Christmas Day and we’re already missing swordplay! We hope you’re having a wonderful time with your families in whatever holiday traditions you celebrate. It’s been a special year at Academie Duello from our fourth (and largest!) Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium in the Spring to our fourth Carosella Mounted Combat symposium in the Fall!…
One of the things I focus on in my recent book, Introduction to Italian Rapier, is healthy biomechanics. These are important not just for performance but for your long-term health. Martial arts done well can improve your strength, endurance, and physical comfort. However, done poorly, they can have the exact opposite effect, leading to strain, pain,…
Read More... from 3 Injury Prevention Tips for Rapier Fighters