Early in my days of swordplay, I remember a common piece of training advice was to "never give anything less than 100% to your training partner". Because the only form of training our practice group really did at the time was sparring, this often lead to situations where a more experienced opponent just hit a…
Read More... from Collaborative vs Competitive Practice Environments
Yes, August. Somewhere following, there are three items that are not necessarily ‘HEMA-heavy’ as they are reflective of some assessments of why people undertake martial arts … including swordplay in various forms. We have one Chinese assessment of what HEMA is, and a Ukraine piece describing how various celebrations of martial arts disciplines can contribute…
Read More... from Reflective Sword Press News for August 2017
Many martial traditions, including ours, use martial forms (series of attacks and defences for solo or partnered practice) to help train martial precision, flow, and fitness. Having a form that you can practice without a training partner provides structure for improving and maintaining your martial ability when you don't have the option of training with…
Before I put swords in the hands of participants on horseback during our Intro to Mounted Combat workshop, I have people high-five each other. I tell them it's the friendly way to start hitting one another. The comment is light-hearted, but the principle and the practice is important. Co-operative riding is a key part of mounted…
So this past weekend I attended the bi-annual Western Martial Arts Workshop in Racine, Wisconsin. Hosted by the Chicago Swordplay Guild, this is one of North America's oldest European swordplay and martial arts events. The weekend features workshops, social activities, a feast, and copious amounts of free sparring and sharing between attendees. It's also held…
Another amazingly fun and exciting Carosella has passed us by. Congratulations to our high-point tournament winner Robert Borsos, and all the other riders who took home prizes! Here are a few photos from Sunday courtesy of Double Exposure Photography. Enjoy! A huge thank you to all the instructors, assistants, and volunteers who worked to make…
To get out of danger. Self-defence is one of the oldest reasons for conflict. To uphold honour, right wrong, and make just. Both noble aims and righteous justifications. To tell a story. To explore characters, their conflicts, and their motivations and take the audience along for the journey. To challenge ourselves. Keeping the body in…
The last day of Carosella is always special, as the competition is the culmination of the weekend's -- and the year's -- work in the Mounted Combat Program. This Sunday was even more special as we had our first cohort of apprentices challenge the scholar level of our program, the Blue Spur. For the Blue…
Read More... from Congratulations to Our Blue Spur Pioneers!
This morning Greg and I met at a print shop in Vancouver to go over the latest proofs of my Introduction to Italian Rapier book. A pre-print copy of it is going to be coming with me to the Western Martial Arts Workshop this coming weekend. It has been a labour of love to produce…
Although the primary focus of Carosella is mounted combat, there are many opportunities to increase your martial skills or equine knowledge while keeping your feet on the ground. And because you aren't using a horse, the cost is only $75 for a full day. Here are some of the great offerings available on Friday and…
People often try to use the term HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts), often pronounced phonetically as "hee-mah", as if it were a specific martial art such as karate (technically a family of martial arts), or taekwondo (a martial art, practiced in the Olympics, of Korean origin). However, HEMA is truly a much broader term that…
Read More... from What is a Part of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA)?
Carosella will be here in less than a fortnight! If you haven't registered yet, don't delay — there are only 20 spaces each day for mounted activities. (That said, if you are on the wait list for Mounted, there is plenty to keep you busy from the ground all weekend). You can sign up here.…
I don't believe in tough love. Yet, for some reason, society treasures it. We love the anti-hero archetype that speaks their mind and doesn’t bullshit (hey, people used this as a reason to vote for Trump), and there is something in that: The truth is important. We should value the truth. However, the truth is…