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…
Here’s a selection of items of note from the Bartitsu Society of late. Salford Scuttlers Check out this two-part video on the Scuttlers problem of 1890s Manchester: Scuttlers of Manchester 1/2Watch this video on YouTube This is exactly the sort of street violence that Bartitsu was intended to counter. Comparing Vigny and Barton-Wright I highly…
Before I get into more conversations about mastery, and what this means when I apply the term to swordplay, I want to share some information about our next instructor course, which I’m very excited about. Registration for our next Instructor Intensive (taking place from June 20th to 24th) will be opening on April 10th at…
Read More... from June Instructor Intensive, and Some More Thoughts on Mastery
March is heading out like a lamb, leaving us with lovely riding weather and double the opportunities to get in the saddle. Starting this week we will be running extra series of Riding & Horsemanship on Saturday afternoons from 4pm onwards, while the current Sunday series continues through April 17th. In addition there is a…
The arts that fit under the umbrella of Historical European Martial Arts or Western Martial Arts are still young in their return to the world. It has really only been about 20 years that there has been earnest pursuit and only in the last decade has there been a serious increase in practitioners. There is…
Recently, the most effective tip I’ve been giving actors again and again is “take a moment”. It’s very easy to go to the next move in the fight choreography. However, there are important times to pause for effect. Laugh Lines You shouldn’t build a pause into your performance expecting that the audience will laugh. However,…
One of the slowest ways to build a new combat skill is to try to practice that skill in combat. Yet I have many people who take a class from me in my school or at a workshop, and then attempt to bring that skill into their repertoire through sparring alone. The problem is that…
Horsemanship Level 4: Conformation & Unsoundness pt I Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but good conformation is a matter of physics. A horse that is well-built for his job will stay sound and perform better than one that has poor conformation. For Level 4 we want you to be able to…
St. Patrick's Day was this week, so let's celebrate the shillelagh, or blackthorn walking stick and its fighting style. As Jon Mills explained in his post, the general Irish term for stick fighting is Bataireacht. The shillelagh itself is a single piece of blackthorn or oak about three feet long. Longer sticks were called wattles…
My blood began to boil, my temper I was losing. And poor old Erin's Isle, they all began abusing. "Hurrah! my boys," says I, my shillelagh I let fly. Some Galway boys were by, they saw I was a hobble in; Then with a loud "hurrah !" they joined me in the fray. …