You’re injured, you’re sick, you’re exhausted. Does this mean that practicing the art you are passionate about is out for today? Not necessarily. There are many ways to explore a physical skill without twitching a muscle… well, perhaps a little muscle twitching. 1. Read Reading a book on swordplay can expand your theoretical knowledge, challenge…
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We had our first Cavaliere assessment day of the year at Red Colt on Sunday. Congratulations to the following students who all passed the assessments they chose to take, and who are one or more steps closer to their next ranks! Horsemanship 1: Eugene Horsemanship 2: Allie & Natalie Horsemanship 3: Maria Riding 2: Allie…
Week number three had me intrigued. Longsword was finally starting to make sense to me but now we were moving on to a new weapon? This could go either way. Longsword had been difficult at first, but the more time I spent on it, the more sense it made to me. Learning something new at…
The front headlock is a very common position that occurs in many forms of wrestling. It is so instinctual that many children use it in play fighting without ever having seen it before. Although there are two directions for "chancery" in bare-knuckle boxing, the front headlock is by far the most common. Despite the popularity,…
Portrait of an African Nobleman (circa 1525 Netherlands) pictured with arming sword I have often stated that we frequently make the mistake of thinking about European, Asian and African nations and cultures as being mutually exclusive groups. It is true that we live in a modern era where cultural diversity and integration have changed worldwide.…
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When you choose to dedicate a significant portion of your life to acquiring an art, there are two primary types of martial learning environment in which you must spend time. One would be a symmetrical environment, where your training and sparring partners are doing (or trying to do) the same thing as you. The other is an asymmetrical environment, where…
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Riding Level 3: Effective Transitions As a beginning rider you drove with an automatic transmission. You knew 'go' and 'whoa', and, if you were lucky, somewhere in there was 'slow'. As your riding has improved you have gained the ability to use at least three different gaits and make accurate transitions between them. At level…
Week two of classes began with my getting ill, and subsequently missing the next class. We had been assured at the beginning of the course, however, that there were multiple catch-up options. I was easily able to arrange a half-hour session before the beginning of the Wednesday class to cover what I had missed through my convalescence.…
It's one thing to be able to perform an action in a drill, another thing entirely to do it in freeplay. How do you take what you learn in class and apply it to combat where you don't know how your opponent may (or may not) react? The sidesword is a very versatile weapon --…
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Congratulations to the successful candidates of Academie Duello’s January Combat Acting course. The following students have earned their Basic Actor-Combatant certification with Fight Directors Canada: Sayer Roberts Many of the other students will complete their conditions to satisfy FDC Fight Masters, involving additional hours of training and practice. Conditional Passes Some students receive a “conditional…
We are continuing our Beginners' Courses for the next month. To all who are interested in broadening their martial arts horizons, we offer three different courses which cover three separate avenues of Western Martial Arts. Bartitsu is a complex martial art with many interlocking skills and is still very useful for learning practical self-defence today. Its introductory course, Fight…
Last night, a student of mine approached me before class to inform me that his shoulder was bothering him and he might not want to participate. I’m a fan of trying things out, even if you’re not sure if you’re up to them. I often encourage students to try class out for 5 minutes and then make…
Read More... from Eat Like a European - A Metaphor for Awareness
Mounted Combat Classes We're excited to announce our newly formatted Mounted Combat course at Red Colt, starting up in less than a month. This four-week course takes the skills developed in the Mounted Combat Skills classes and moves them to horseback with sword, spear and grappling plays as well mounted games and drill team work. The…