What makes a technique in swordplay appear graceful, fast, and -- most of all -- effective, is usually the efficiency and precision of the movement. Being able to perform a technique with the least amount of extra movement and in a manner that does the job as directly as possible is essential to high level…
Blue Spur Spear Fundamentals: Basic Attacks from the Ground The second checklist item in Spear section of your Blue Spur guide is Demonstrate the basic attacks and defences of the spear in the extended position. This week we'll look at attacks, and cover defences next week. There are five types of attacks of the spear…
Sometimes we have some fun during all the seriousness of swordfighting. Just sometimes. Fun with Fiore This week's video is a Vancouver B Movie Factory episode, "The Flower of Battle", filmed at our riding facility, Red Colt Farm, in Richmond. With Oscar-worthy performances by students Michael Molnar, Ben Davis, Chris Richardson and Mounted Combat Program…
Read More... from This Week in HEMA Video - Fun with Fiore and The Vancouver B Movie Factory
Stage combat performers and choreographers should always ask themselves the same question that magicians ask: will the audience believe this illusion? The Effect When teaching a magic trick, the illusionist always performs the trick first, so that the student can appreciate what effect the trick should have on the viewer. When reading magic instructions in…
At our Friday night open sparring sessions I enjoy getting in and doing a few passes, just like everyone else. During this time, it’s not uncommon for one of my students (after we’ve fenced for a bit) to ask me for some feedback on their fencing. I’m glad to be asked this question, and I’m pleased in general that…
Read More... from Ask for Sparring Feedback Up Front -- Not Afterward
You know the expression about teaching a man to fish instead of giving a man a fish. In the case of self protection, sometimes it’s a matter of teaching someone to fish compared to giving them a picture of a fish. Indian Vodafone Initiative Tony Wolf posted this video on the Bartitsu.org blog, along with some commentary: The…
Our annual mounted combat symposium has come and gone, and what a wonderful weekend it was! The sun smiled kindly on us for the Friday and Saturday of Mounted Combat, Horseback Archery, Classical Riding, Ballet and Mounted Games, and by Sunday those of us competing in the tournament were grateful for some cooler, cloudy skies!…
A specialist martial artist, at their most focused, tunes their training toward a single discipline and a single context. This type of specialization is something that perhaps came first to us in the Western Martial Arts with duels. For these one-on-one conflicts, individuals would train to fight within a fixed set of rules and conventions,…
Read More... from Specialization versus Generalization in Martial Arts
Carosella is almost here! To allow for the long weekend we've held over online registration for another day. Hurry though -- after midnight tonight you'll need to register by phone or in person! Join us at Red Colt farm from Friday through Sunday, 11 - 13 September for three full days of mounted magic. There…
Read More... from Carosella 2015: Online Registration Extended
When you think of Shakespeare, you might first conjure up Romeo & Juliet and remember "The Bard" for his poetry. You might have had a bad experience in high school and remember how boring Shakespeare is with so many Histories and discuss why it's important or not to know the King's names in the Wars…
The work that George Silver was best known for was his 1599 Paradoxes of Defence, in which he conducts a vehement denunciation of the Italian teaching of the civilian dueling rapier within his England and its subsequent use by a heretofore doughty race of backsword wielders. Paradoxes was not so much a fight book as…
Setting out to do something and then failing at it is painful. No matter how much you may try to prepare yourself for that eventuality, if you really care about something, and are truly striving for it, falling short is going to hurt. The question is: is the pain worth it? I’d say that pain…
With Carosella 2015 less than two weeks away, it's time to answer some of those frequently asked questions. Q: How can I sign up for Carosella? A: You can register online here for full and one-day passes. To register for individual workshops contact the front desk at 604 568 9907. Regular entries close Monday September…