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
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
It's been just over a year since we launched our Mounted Combat Membership program. Here's what some of those fees have paid for: Keeping Jack's tender toes happy with giant shoes Chiropractor visits for Tilly Making horse use and stall rental free of charge at Carosella 2017 Orange-bin rental for our renolition party this summer…
I'm partway through writing part 2 of my series on training in multiple weapon disciplines, but sometimes the craziness of running a sword school holds you up. So while that gets finished, I thought I'd reach back to a post from 2014 that I was reminded of today. This post explores how our desire to…
The Mounted Combat Skills curriculum for the Red Spur comprises six sections: Swordplay from the ground Swordplay from horseback Sword and shield Spear versus sword Mounted Games Knowledge In the next few months of this blog we'll be looking at the first section, swordplay from the ground. Red Spur: Swordplay from the Ground For this…
Recently, I was asked why we teach rapier and longsword together in our Instructor Intensives. The questioner postulated that it was like teaching sky diving and skin diving in the same program. Sure rapiers and longswords are both swords but aren't they as distinct as these two types of "diving"? I think it's a great…
Read More... from An Argument for Training with Diverse Weapons, Part 1
In September, I posted on the importance of team riding to develop mounted combat skills and delved into how to make successful hand-offs. Today I'm focussing on precision over speed as we look at drill team riding. Riding Level 4: Team Riding, pt II For Riding Level 4 you will need to demonstrate: 15. Simple…