I love taking workshops with experts who have a lot of experience like Marco Quarta. The value of their coaching is immense, but I get even more from their explanations, their unique perspectives and the insights about why we choose certain movements. Maestro Quarta is an expert in Italian martial arts, especially traditional and modern…
Swords and Hilt Weapons is a beautifully illustrated, introductory compendium of 4000 years of sword and hilted-weapon development as it has evolved in both time and space. Developments from the Bronze Age through to modern times are briefly explored and concurrent areas of geographic or cultural "uniqueness" are featured. And while this book concentrates on European…
Read More... from Book Review: Swords and Hilt Weapons by Connolly, Coe, et al
From June 3rd to 5th, Academie Duello will be hosting the first Vancouver Martial Challenge. This event is part of an alternative type of event I want to promote within the Historical European Martial Arts community: events that focus on combat within the realm of the martial art rather than the martial sport. Here’s a…
Read More... from Martial Challenges and Sparring Gatherings
Horsemanship Level 4: Identifying Lameness When you deepen your study of conformation you will begin to look at its effects on a horse's movement, which can tell you much about its ability, soundness, and scope. For Level 4 Horsemanship, we ask you to begin sharpening your eye by identifying unsoundness and distinguishing which leg is…
Read More... from Conformation and Unsoundness: Pick a Leg, Any Leg
A sword fight is NOT a fight between two swords. Always remember that the two people are fighting to the death, and they're using very effective tools to do so. Otherwise, your fights become dances. I hope in these clips you can see that most of the time, the actors look like they're choreographed because…
Provost, what is better: practicing barefoot or in shoes? I prefer and recommend practicing in shoes (keep reading; some students prefer barefoot which is fine). Ultimately, there are pitfalls to be aware of (and avoid) with either. The biggest consideration I make is for personal health. That is, will your decision (shoes or no shoes)…
The route from learning a new skill to pulling it off in combat is not a simple process. Though you can take many skills immediately into combat and make some progress, it is more effective to follow a formal process that targets the skill in a focused manner at each stage of its development. Stage…
Horseback Archery returns to Red Colt Sunday, May 1st. These workshops with Robert Borsos of Borsos Torzs Horse Archery are loads of fun, and there is no experience needed to take the Beginner course. Don’t miss out — sign up today! Beginner Horseback Archery Whether you are an expert rider or archer, or a complete…
In speaking generally about kinds of martial arts and how to compare Bartitsu to other more familiar systems, sometimes we have to clarify our terms and classifications. One way to think about combat practice is to consider where the philosophy that underpins its rules and methods fits on a spectrum. Abstraction vs. Pragmatism One spectrum…
My apologies for the brevity of this edition of Sword Press, but the recent world situation and the concurrent obligations of service took my attention elsewhere for most of the month! Polite Parasols & Prima METRO (Vancouver, British Columbia). 10 March 16. Vancouver workshop offers lessons on umbrella etiquette, self-defence. The home salle (Academie Duello) hosted manners-maven Jason Sarai, supporting…
Read More... from Truncated Sword Press: News for March 2016
One thing I’ve noticed among my Vancouver-based foreign friends is that so many of them have good, workable, English, but not great English. Many of these people have been speaking English for more than 20 years, they’ve put in tons of hours of practice, yet they’re not getting any better — one friend told me…
Read More... from When Getting Better Stops -- Overcoming Plateaus
Horsemanship Level 4: Conformation & Unsoundness pt II Previously we looked at types of horses, their differing builds and their abilities. This week we'll examine general conformation, and what to look for when assessing any horse. Over centuries of domestication, selective breeding has created the variety of breeds and types we looked at in the…
I’m excited to announce that Academie Duello has set dates for our next Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) instructor training program. The 50 hour Rapier and Longsword Instructor Intensive will be starting up with an intensive from June 20th to 24th, 2016. The last intensive filled up in less than a week, so I wanted…