As with its cousin rank, the Red Cord, the Red Spur requires a concerted training and study effort to achieve, and will probably take you about three years to get there from the point at which you win your Blue Spur. However, it is the journey itself that is rewarding whether it takes you two…
Do you get stage fright? Have you ever delivered a performance, and thought that the audience hates you? Today, I want to remind you that it’s not about you. It's about the performance. The audience isn't judging you. Think about a clown. Laughing at a clown is not insulting to the clown. You’re not laughing…
This past Tuesday night, I got home from the school at about midnight. After class, which ends at 10pm, I spent another hour and a half with Greg committing more rapier and sidesword exercises to video. This is our third week of shooting this particular content. To support this month’s 30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge,…
Read More... from How to Create Tangible Results from Martial Arts training
The final item on your Blue Spur checklist is: Read and demonstrate an understanding of Xenophon’s On Horsemanship. Written around 300 BCE by Xenophon the Greek, On Horsemanship is the oldest known complete work on the care and training of riding horses. (There is an older Hittite treatise on conditioning chariot horses, and an incomplete…
It's both emotionally satisfying and productive to summarize the previous year and take stock. In this blog, it can also have a benefit to the reader to gather the links and events from the previous year in one place. So, I hope this retrospective benefits you as much as compiling it benefits me. Articles In…
"When one has taken for a long time lessons at the salle, it is outside, on the beaten dirt or on the gravel of the road that one has to make the rehearsal for combat. Prepare yourself, train at the salle. However, you will have abandoned success to mere chance if from time to…
Read More... from Fair Weather Sword Press: News from December 2015
We're one week into the 30 for 30 swordplay challenge and here are a few things I’ve been reflecting on: The appeal of swordplay is broad. Participants who have been reporting to our group have been from all over the world including Russia, Serbia, Germany, France, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, N. Ireland, Brazil, and…
Read More... from Reflections from 30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge Week 1
There's something a little bit artificial about New Years resolutions. Why pick January 1st to start changing your ways, and not any other random day of the year? Granted, we may have a few extra pounds to shed after two weeks of rich food and reduced exercise, but you're probably going to get back on…
The third annual 30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge is just about to start on January 2nd! If you’ve heard of yoga challenges, you know what this is about. It’s like that, but way cooler… there's swords. The challenge: practice swordplay for 30 minutes per day for 30 days in January from the 2nd to the 31st.…
Read More... from 30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge: January 2016 Edition!
It’s the first day of the holiday and it’s always a bit confusing when you don’t go about your usual routine. I find myself not at Academie Duello, as I have been nearly every day for the past two weeks, but instead at my in-laws' for the preparation of Christmas Eve dinner. Now we set…
Read More... from A Christmas Eve Reflection on the Past Year at Academie Duello
Blue Spur: Throwing a Spear from the Saddle The final Mounted Games item in the Blue Spear checklist is: Safely throw a javelin from the halt and walk without emphasis on accuracy. Since we don't even ask you to hit a target, this is, (in a sense) even easier than the earlier requirement of hitting…
Read More... from Throwing Your Weapon Away ... from Horseback
We'll have more whip cracking workshops in the new year, and your instructor, David McCormick, spends hours every week plaiting new whips out of nylon paracord. Hand-made paracord bullwhips are durable and have a great crack. The core is filled with steel balls (shot) to give the perfect heft and momentum. The outer 12-plait overlay…
Okay, so everyone got up in arms about the lightsaber with a crossguard from the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie set to release this week. The lightsaber, wielded in the trailers by villain Kylo Ren, has spurred a number of arguments -- most of which fell directly into either the "love it" or "hate it" category, with…