Excellence is the evidence of diligent, attentive, and purposeful practice. Not all of us will achieve excellence, nor is it a requisite for enjoying or being fulfilled in martial arts. In fact I would say that much of what holds people back from excellence is that in many ways its pursuit can be grueling, repetitive,…
A new student at Academie Duello recently said to me "There's so much to learn, it's like being under a mountain!" It can feel that way. It truly is a mountain of knowledge, practice and craft one must climb to become a master of these arts! The Dunning-Kruger effect, which has gained such popularity of late,…
Recently I was asked in an online thread what I thought constituted a modern master of Historical European Martial Arts and whether I thought there was worth in the creation of modern masters or the use of the master title at all. In short to all: Yes. A Little Backstory on Fencing Mastery Before I…
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Happy New Year! There are big changes in the Mounted Combat program this year. Perhaps the most significant is that the program is moving from being a direct part of the Vancouver school, and to becoming a separate satellite school situated at Cornwall Ridge Farm. This won't have a huge affect on the classes themselves,…
Read More... from Flying Changes Ahead: What's New for 2019 in the Mounted Combat Program
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year Everyone! Thank you all for being a part of Academie Duello over this past year. It's fun at the end of the year to take stock of what we've accomplished over the past twelve months as we look forward to some new and exciting developments in 2019. This has…
Sleep health and sleep hygiene are very trendy topics these days and for good reason. We all lead busy lives, there are limited times to catch up with friends or spend time with family, and there are tons of distractions that can occupy you into the wee hours if you let them. Getting less than…
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Registration for the fifth Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium (VISS) is now open! The event, which takes place from April 5th to 7th, is a conference focused around intensive three-day programs with an aim to help people along the path of mastery in the many disciplines of Historical European Martial Arts. This year the theme is This…
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For your Red Spur swordplay from the ground, we not only want you to have a full understanding of and ability to operate in the true fight, we also want you to be able to continue with a successful play even if you have lost the advantage. This is where the adaptive fight comes in.…
Read More... from The Adaptive Fight: when to hold and when to fold
Not irregularly I have had people say to me: I'm looking forward to starting into swordplay, I just need to get in shape first. This makes me very sad. Not only is swordplay a wonderfully fun and fulfilling physical activity, it is also a great way to build physical health and to do so in…
A good friend of mine is a special forces combatives trainer. I asked him how much of their training is devoted to full-speed and full-contact simulated sparring. He told me "no more than 5%". For him it was a matter of balancing value and risk. Full speed, full contact sparring has the value of exposing…
What workshops, courses, clinics, and intensives do you want to take in 2019? Take the survey and tell us what you want!
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As most of you know we skipped Carosella in September due to the fact we were busy moving the Mounted Combat Program from Richmond to our new digs at Cornwall Ridge Farm in Langley. So as not to let 2018 pass us by without our annual celebration of all things horsey and swordy, we are…
This past week, at our 50-hour instructor intensive, I introduced a new batch of students, who travelled in from various places around the world to the method and benefits of slow sparring. Slow sparring is exactly what it sounds like: sparring done slowly. It has proven itself to me to be a tremendously valuable training…
Read More... from Why Go Slow? The Benefits of Slow Sparring