Our sympathies go to the victims of the Paris terror attacks yesterday and their families. Like all terrorism incidents, we are all affected. How were the attacks coordinated? Who bears the responsibility? We don’t know at present, and it’s not important to today’s post. The question is: what you would do if a terrorist attack…
Five Rules for Being a Great Martial Arts Instructor
With one instructor intensive behind me and another coming in February, I've been thinking a lot about what it takes to be a great instructor. There are many false roads along this path and I've certainly had my share of internal struggles. I thought I'd share a few pieces of advice that I have found valuable.…
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Manoeuvres of the Spear
Blue Spur: Disengages and Slips of the Spear Once you have learned to find, gain, and strike with the spear, we increase the complexity of drills by asking you to: Demonstrate manoeuvres of the spear: disengages, counter-disengages, and slips. Disengage A disengage, or cavazione, is often performed in response to having been found. In its…
Instructor Intensive Week in Review
Phew! It’s done! It was indeed an intense but satisfying experience teaching Academie Duello’s first formal, week-long instructor training intensive. From October 26th to 30th, thirteen aspiring instructors joined us here in Vancouver for a five-day, 50-hour intensive to kick off their ongoing instructor training program. Attendees hailed from both our local area (British Columbia's Lower Mainland) as well…
Habits and Growth
The body does the same things every day: sleep, eat, walk. The mind does different things every day: remembering, planning, having different conversations, seeing changes in the world. The body therefore benefits from novelty. Try a new skill. Eat something from a different culture. The mind benefits from consistency. Meditation at the same hour every…
Using Curiosity to Stay Slow in Slow Sparring
You already know that I’m an advocate of slow speed fencing. However I also know that slow fencing is often difficult for new adopters who frequently jump in speed and tension as their attention swings around inside the encounter. Today I want to share an idea that can help you stay slow and develop your…
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Gaining Advantage
Blue Spur: Finding & Gaining the Spear Last week we looked at the three advantages of True Edge, Leverage, and Crossing as they apply to the spear or polearm. This week we are examining the mechanics of finding and gaining. Finding the Spear To find your opponent's spear, cross your spear tip over top of…
Mastering Savate
An excellent series of videos -- Mastering Savate by Professor Salem Assli and Panther Production -- has been uploaded to YouTube from VHS instructional tapes. Here is part 2 of the series which defines many of the core kicks and concepts: Mastering Savate 2 - Fundamental TechniquesWatch this video on YouTube If you want your kicks to…
Social Media Sword Press: News for October 2015
Pretty but Authentic Blades Doing Ugly but Authentic Things KOTAKU (New York, New York). 26 October 15. How People Actually Fought With Swords. Cédric Hauteville’s Kickstarter-supported HEMA documentary "Back to the Source" is now available on YouTube. “Actual blade combat was messy and nasty, caring less about looking pretty….” Choreography. It’s actually quite boring. EXAMINER.COM (Denver,…
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Finding Advantage
In the last two posts on spear fundamentals we looked at attacks and defenses of the spear. For your Blue Spur you will also need to Demonstrate finding and gaining against another spear. Those of you who fight with rapier will be very used to the ideas of finding and gaining. If you spar with…
This Week in Video: Scaled Speed Sparring
This awesome video showcases Maestro Devon and Matheus, one of our senior students, sparring with longswords at varying speeds. There has been a huge focus on scaled speed sparring in the school since Maestro Devon returned from WMAW a few weeks ago. Devon (Instructor) vs Matheus (3rd Rank) LongswordWatch this video on YouTube This Week…
Polishing
We have a talented group of students in our FDC intensive course who performed their fight scenes on Friday as a test of their skills. Each scene is a performance, with dialogue memorized from a published script and full-speed choreography. Like a live professional show, there is no stopping midway and asking to start again.…
The Haunting History of Halloween
Ever since I was a kid Halloween has always been my favourite holiday of the year. My mother would spend months sewing exceptionally detailed and original costumes for me and my brother, and I loved heading out into the streets of my neighbourhood to see what all the other families had decked themselves out in.…