A good teacher doesn’t just impart information to their students, they empower their students to be excellent learners. In my classes, I’m thinking not just about how I can increase my students' ability with a given technique in that moment, but what I can give them that will help them meaningfully practice, implement, and build…
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Ephemera from the Old Countries No formal blog post this week since I'm on holiday, but here are a few horsey things of interest from the UK and Germany. -- Jen The Suffolk Punch Trust Dover Castle British Museum Early European Collection Brabants at the Belgian border Upcoming Classes Riding & Horsemanship Classes Get…
Bartitsu owes a lot to the stories about Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes is described as practicing Bartitsu, and makes use of that combat skill in several confrontations. The popularity of the series spread the fame of Bartitsu at the time, but more important is that their longevity was the only…
Swinging a steel sword at someone, even a blunted one, seems risky. That's because it is. How do we manage to practice an art that is traditionally deadly in a way that allows us to keep practicing it -- often rigorously -- for a long time? There are three primary ways that we mitigate risks…
This week I visited the Suffolk Punch Trust in Woodbridge, UK. The Suffolk Punch is the oldest registered horse breed in England, being first recorded as the Suffolk Sorrel in the 16th century. This magnificent animal is a heavy-bodied, medium-height draught horse, bred for farm work and hauling. Its broad chest, steep shoulder, and uphill build…
When we start to work on choreography, we don’t have specific scenes in mind. We don’t have a script to tell us our character’s motivations or what words to use. We often fall back on silly arguments to get our choreography started, and then we take the entire fight less seriously. What are some good,…
A study group is a group of peers devoted to helping each other get better in a particular martial practice. If you don’t have an experienced and savvy instructor in your area, or you want to pursue learning something that is not offered by your group or school, or you simply want to get in…
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Registration for Carosella 2016 will be open in a matter of days! This year we have new workshops and demos including Garrocha, Natural Horsemanship, and an all-Canadian Horse Drill Team, as well as Horseback Archery, Mounted Sparring, Classical Riding, Mounted Games, and our exciting Sunday tournament! Now it's time to answer some of those frequently…
What do you do if caught in a tightly packed group of people, some of whom become violent? You may watch the news and see a group of people gathered in a festival who are attacked from the outside, such as the tragedy in Nice on Bastille Day. You may be a peaceful protester who…
Training on your own and you can’t get that move right? Do it again. In class and you fail at a technique? Ask your partner to give you their part again. Sparring with a peer and they get around your defence? Ask them to back up and do it again. Do it again until you fully…
Horsemanship Level 4: Saddlery pt II For Level 4 Horsemanship you will need to be able to fit not just your own tack, but other common parts of saddlery as well. This week we'll consider nosebands. Why a noseband? The variety of nosebands used today is a relatively modern invention. Mediaeval and early modern riders…
In stage combat, we have three priorities: Safety: all movements must have built-in safety so the risk to actors is minimized. Simulation: every movement should look genuine and feature authentic-looking intent. Storytelling: the combination of movements should match each character's personality, level of aggression, goals and further the plot of the story if possible. The…
If one were to ask for a point of commonality between the mountains of the sub-arctic, the arid Highveld, the temperate lowlands of the Vistula, and the oceanic vista of the southern Meseta, HEMA would probably not be the first word that comes to mind. But thanks to the advantages of being a swordsperson in…
Read More... from Serviceable Sword Press: News for June 2016