Everyone knows if you want to get better at something you have to practice. However making time in a busy schedule can be super-challenging. It's easy to have the intention to practice but then not actually get around to it. The next thing you know you're back at your swordplay/dance/yoga class and you haven't done…
Heigh ho, it's a new year! Before we launch back into the Blue Spur curriculum I thought I'd take a moment and give a quick overview of what's coming up in the Cavaliere Program. Cavaliere Focus Group Saturday 11 January, 2:30 - 4pm We're taking advantage of the winter lull in classes to look at…
The Academie Duello ‘Sword News’ has been a personal labour of love (maybe love of labour at times) since June 2009. After a variety of issues, We decided that for the most part, the Sword News would now concentrate on posting items originating within the ‘traditional’ commercial press that cover HEMA/WMA events; activities related to…
In many, if not most, scenarios in which violence may be an outcome, de-escalation of the encounter is the easiest and most effective way of eliminating the threat. Every situation is different, but there are many commonalities in what to look for, what to be ready for, and what to do. What to Look For…
With 2014 now upon us many people are looking at their New Year's resolutions. Almost every person I know has something on that list pertaining to trying something new as well as improving their health and fitness. One of the great things about Academie Duello is that with the new year brings a new set…
Read More... from Introductory Courses for the New Year at Academie Duello
As a martial artist and a dancer I have become intimately aware of the condition of my body. I want it to last for a long time and I want it to be able to perform for me to the best of its capacity throughout that time. I realize for a long time I took…
2013 was a fabulous year in the Cavaliere Program, full of new endeavours such as Mounted Archery, Carosella, and the first ever Green Spur Tournament. We're looking forward to a newyear with even more combat, more archery, and more fabulous events. Enjoy yourselves tonight as we bid farewell to 2013!
Christmas-time traditions differ across the world. In Russia, December appears to be the time when you get together with good friends and exchange carefully selected and personally delivered blows across their armoured body! There is a lot of Russian press and blog activity which leads Us to believe that the winter season is when Our…
We’re just a couple days from New Year’s and, I’m sure like many of you, I have been reviewing my goals for the coming year both mental and physical. One of my main physical goals last year was to make some significant progress with removing pain from my body in a few nagging areas --…
I can't say enough good things about my alma mater: Rapier Wit studio in downtown Toronto. FDC Fight Master Daniel Levinson runs the longest-running independent stage combat school in Canada. After taking a one-semester stage combat course in university, I was looking for more opportunities to learn stage combat, and I was so fortunate to…
So I'm away visiting family in Victoria, BC during the Holidays. I enjoy holidays not really as a chance to get away from working but as an opportunity to work on things I don't normally get a chance to focus on when I'm at the Academie. On this trip I'm focusing on writing, editing (I'm…
Read More... from Keeping up the Practice Regimen over the Holidays
In this season of kindness and giving, please remember: don't roast your chestnuts ... ... give them carrots and a good grooming instead. Happy Yule to you and yours!
We’re going to deviate from our usual introduction of the subsequent HEMA/WMA press by going straight to ‘swords as symbols’ … symbols of Christmas actually. Christmas? Fidelity, yes. Strength, absolutely. Honour, generally. But a Christmas related virtue? Specifically, those of compassion, generosity and humility? One version of the Christmas Sword is attributed to the story…