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,…
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Who doesn’t want a pony for Christmas? Give the next best thing with a six-week course of Riding & Horsemanship at Red Colt Farm, where students learn to care for and ride Academie Duello’s gentle school horses. If the thought of knighthood lights up your loved-one’s eyes, include the Mounted Combat Fundamentals course for only…
Recently, I began a blog series answering, in broad form, why we teach the rapier and longsword as part of one system at Academie Duello. I started in the first post by looking at the historical precedent for multi-weapon study that spans many original fighting manuals from both the medieval period and the Renaissance, as…
Being relaxed is a key component to good fencing. Relaxed muscles are quicker to respond, easier to adapt and change, and more capable of feeling connections through your weapon. Yet, so many of us have a difficult time being relaxed or even being aware of our current state of tension. In this article I'd like…
Our last Riding, Horsemanship, and Mounted Combat classes for 2017 wrapped up on the weekend, but that doesn't mean activities have stopped for the year. Here are some of the things you can do at Red Colt in December Get a Mounted Combat Membership Get your 2018 Membership now and you can use it in…
“Put two kids in a room with long cardboard tubes and within seconds an epic sword fight begins. Kids love the idea of swordplay., and you heard that it looks great on a college application.”[1] How many of us delivered our first ‘sword cut’ with an empty roll of ‘wrap’ (be it of Christmas, birthday,…
Read More... from Spontaneous Sword Press News for November 2017
I no longer teach students. I teach teachers. I say this not because I only teach people who intend to share the art with others. I say this because over time I have realized that every student is a teacher, at least of themselves. All I can do from the head of the class is…
Read More... from Three Things to Say to Yourself and Your Students