Port Coquitlam is ready to engage! Have you always wanted to start swordfighting but our downtown studio has simply been too far away? Well, great news, we have now added another location for people to access our classes! Our two beginner swordplay courses will now also be offered at Clinch MMA and Fitness, a mixed…
Another long-awaited post about upcoming movies that I think will have great combat. Today, we’ll look at the trailer for the upcoming film Southpaw and compare it to other films in the genre to generate reasonable expectations for its fight choreography and performance. I try to look at the pedigree of the filmmakers to give…
You’ve just finished a sparring match. You were struck, but what happened? The ability to recall a fight in a useful manner is a different skill than those required to have that fight. Here’s a process you can use to develop fighting recall: Fight a pass. At the conclusion of the pass, pause and ask…
Read More... from Learning to Observe - How to Deconstruct a Fight
Riding Level 3: Rhythm and Forward Movement At level 3 we want you to ride with 7. Rhythm and forward movement at all three gaits. Walk on loose rein. Rhythm is the foundation of the Training Pyramid for dressage. First go and review this post on rhythm as it fits within the pyramid. As suggested,…
During my physical culture workshop at VISS last weekend, we looked at a few feats of strength. Some of these might be thought of as cheating, others are outright stage illusions. Victorian Classic Strength First up, classic feats from the Bartitsu Compendium I, in a section called "How to Pose as a Strongman". 1. Using…
As I write this, my baby daughter is currently asleep in her crib, beside my bed. Behind her, leaning against the wall, is my longsword. I started swordfighting in February 2014. I wanted to learn, but I also wanted to improve my health. My husband and I had been trying for a baby for almost…
Finding the rhythm of your training and simply enjoying the process is a beautiful state to work toward in your martial endeavours. However, most of us also want to see progress. There’s a natural desire to be able to do a technique more deftly, swing a sword more powerfully, or defeat an opponent you couldn’t even…
Along with the daffodils and bunnies, a new series of Cavaliere program classes are springing up in April! If you are completely new to the program, come out for the Intro to Mounted Combat, or just show up as a spectator at the Mounted Combat Playday on Easter Sunday. And if you are working on…
If you plan to improve in your martial practice you need outside feedback. Here are three quality sources that you can seek out to get the most of your training time: 1. Well-Designed, Feedback-Oriented Exercises Instead of having to self-observe whether your mechanics are correct, a good exercise and good training partner will give you…
The Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium is coming up this weekend. If you have any interest at all in western martial arts, whether as a current practice or from a historical point of view, this is an event you don't want to miss! Although there are no specific Mounted Combat workshops taking place at VISS, here's a…
Sir Terry Pratchett died this month, and like many people who grew up with his writing as a constant I partly feel like I don’t know how to be an adult without him ticking away somewhere in the world, producing books that, although satirical, probably contain more life-changing wisdom than any self-help book ever could.…
Read More... from What Terry Pratchett taught me about being alive and staying that way
I was inspired by CBC Ideas podcast “Eureka! Mapping the Creative Mind” to discuss creativity this week. If you have more technological interests, CBC Spark also discussed creativity this weekend. Mainly, I’m distilling the current research into creativity itself, and we’ll talk about applications to both theatrical combat and real fighting at the end. Creative…
One of the most precious resources we have as martial artists is personal 'free time'. We never seem to have enough of it to do the things we ‘want’ to do. So is it inevitable that we will have to face the choice of either reading and studying any of the myriad books and journal…
Read More... from Book Review: "The Sword and the Centuries" by Hutton