People with "dark skin” and “Europeans” are not separate and mutually exclusive groups. There has never been a time when Europeans were exclusively white people. Europe was never a culturally or racially isolated place. Europe has been connected through trade and politics with many different nations where the locals were black, and many countries…
Read More... from Out of Africa: Six Famous Black Figures from European and New World History
A few years ago I was in a very high pressure rapier tournament. It was the largest and hardest fought tournament in the Northwest with a list of 50 fencers who were arguably some of the best fencers around competing. On my way down my travel companion asked me “So how do you think you’re…
*Forgive the pun. I know all you horsemen out there are eagerly looking forward to this type of shedding: For that you'll have to wait for Mother Nature's good graces. Today though, we're looking at Swordplay from the Ground: Shedding the Blade The Blue Spur curriculum requires you to Demonstrate shedding the sword while standing…
Talhoffer takes the Train DER KURIER (Vienna, Austria) 07 February 14 Rapier, Säbel und Pluderhose: Fechten wie die Musketiere (Anna-Maria Bauer) Dreynschlag, one of the 20 historical fencing groups in Austria, hosted 200 of their peers during their 10th annual "Dreyn Event" in Brigittenau. Combatants learned new skills and competed in rapier, sabre and pole-arms…
Read More... from Women - Don't Give Em Attitude Sword Press
When I look at my pursuit of mastery and proficiency in the various arts of my life I see more clearly now that truly a very small percentage of what is between me and mastery (meaning a high level of proficiency) is technical ability. Obviously technical ability is essential to mastery but the barriers that…
Read More... from The Road to Mastery is 25% Technical, 75% Mental
Swordplay from the Ground: turns of the sword In the Green Spur checklist we ask you to demonstrate the three turns of the sword, ie, the volta stabile, the mezza volta and the tutta volta. These are described in this post from last year, so first go back and familiarize yourself with the turns. For…
Sorry about the lack of HEMA/WMA-specific press and the brevity of the week’s links, but the run up to the Olympics has taken a huge chunk out of Our research time. That said, We offer the following for your perusal. Snippets - In India, the politicians came out in support of the National Open Kalarippayattu…
There have been some strange duels fought throughout the course of history. Some of them seem outright ridiculous, others downright hilarious. From dueling dogs, billiard balls, and boys in the buff, here are some of the most bizarre fights found in history. Man vs Man's Best Friend In France, a very interesting judicial…
Read More... from Unusual Duels: Five Strange, Bizarre and Hilarious Fights from History
We are delighted to have a special guest instructor coming to Duello on February 21st to 23rd. Join the Dean and Founder of the Chicago Swordplay Guild and co-owner of Forteza Fitness, Greg Mele, as he takes you through the rich system of Fiore's Armizare, the medieval Italian Martial art that Academie Duello's curriculum is…
Read More... from Special Guest Workshop & Lecture with Greg Mele
Blue Spur Curriculum: Swordplay from the Ground The Mounted Combat checklist for the Blue Spur has five sections: Swordplay from the ground Swordplay from the falsemount Spear fundamentals Mounted games Knowledge In the next few months on the Tuesday blog we'll be covering the checklists for the first two sections, looking at the swordplay requirements…
The growth of HEMA/WMA here and in the ‘old country’ has well documented with both items in the past press, and with salles reporting the increasing numbers of students coming to their door. And though we are all united as a community in having some common interest in the concept of historical fencing; each individual…
(This post originally appeared on the Duello.TV blog) Your sword is getting set aside while you attack. Your parry is not succeeding in closing the line. Poor results with a finish or result position from a movement often lead us to analyze and attempt to correct through the movement itself; perhaps you need to parry…
Riding Level 2: Riding without the reins At famous Cadre Noir school of equitation in Saumur France, riders are put on horseback on long reins or the longeline for two years before they are allowed to pick up the reins. This insures they have a completely independent seat. Most of our students do not have…