It's common sense that if you want to get better at something, you need to practice. But practice takes time and commitment and setting a new habit can be challenging. That's where your friends can step in to help you. This June I am challenging you to join me and many others at Academie Duello…
The Jog
Horsemanship Level 2: Leading at the Trot At level 1 we asked that you demonstrate how to safely lead your horse for the simple purpose of moving him about from stall, to cross-ties, to arena. You can review this here. For level 2 you will also need to demonstrate leading at the trot. 4. Lead…
Digging Around with Sword Press
As our archery peers have been learning, concurrent with ourselves, ‘good’ culture such as movies and books can result in a renaissance of arts or interests too long ignored by our laptop culture. The trick is to exploit (in the nicest possible way) and reinforce public participation in and adoption of our art forms and…
Training Videos: Rapier recovering, Sidesword Covers, Longsword Precision
Happy Monday everyone. In Canada we're celebrating Victoria Day today -- seems like a good time to do some swordplay! This week at Duello and on Duello.TV we have a very interesting mix of classes. Green cords are working on getting out of situations where they have lost control of the sword. Blue cords are…
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A Cool New Addition to the Duello Library
This Monday, Academie Duello was the proud recipient of one of 100 new reproductions of the I.33 Fechtbuch produced by Extraordinary Editions in cooperation with the Royal Armouries of the United Kingdom. I.33 is a very important manuscript as it is the earliest surviving European sword fighting manual, most likely dating to sometime in the…
Bartitsu/Baritsu Antagonism
What's in a name? There's a discussion in the Bartitsu Society about the naming of Bartitsu, a point of contention and a topic I mention at the start of my workshops. Sherlock Holmes Said Baritsu Our rediscovery of this martial art started with a reference in a story called The Adventure of the Empty House…
A day in the life
Horsemanship Level 2: Routines of the Horse There are many different equine lifestyles for the domestic horse, from grazing loose on the range 24/7, to kept in a barn with a variety of supplemental feeds, and everything in between. At level 2 we don't expect you to be able to descibe all the various horsekeeping…
Technological ‘and’ Accessible Sword Press
Within the WMA/HEMA community, we pride ourselves on the ‘authenticity’ of our studies. We use translations of a variety of medieval/renaissance fight books, using the words and pictures of yore to guide our learning. Our peers with metal working and leather skills work diligently to recreate the look and feel of arms and armour of…
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Canadian Stage Combat News
There's been a lot of news in the world of Canadian Stage Combat in the past week, so here's what's worth noting. In proper news style, here's a rundown of the headlines: No 2013 Nationals Montreal Regionals Casey's Youth Class Rapier Wit Motion Capture Vancouver Certification Intensive No 2013 Nationals Nationals is cancelled. Paul Gelineau,…
A fabulous day of Mounted Archery
On Sunday we welcomed Borsos Torzs Horse Archery Club to Red Colt for our first ever Mounted Archery clinic. The weather was gorgeous, and, judging from the smiles on everyone's faces a great time was had by all! Here's a summary of the day. Prior to the start of the workshop we tacked up nine…
Training Videos May 6: Judging Measure, Rapier Refused Posture, Case of Swords, Longsword Precision
The sun is shining and I'm getting excited for a warm summer of swordplay. This week we are stepping into a new selection of topics. Green Cords will be working on techniques for receiving the opponent and inviting them into error, Blue Cords will be adopting the refused rapier posture, Red Cords are working on…
Contested Sword Press
So here’s the situation. Your intense match of ‘pokey chest’ with your salles’ alpha Red Cord did not go quite as planned; and your favourite side sword is now part of your estate being sorted by your executor. If you have any sort of social standing in your city or country, and your sword was…
Fight Scene Scripts
Fight scenes are first of all scenes, and we'd all prefer to act in well-written and exciting plays. Here's a selection of plays that have fight scenes, in no particular order. And it's certainly not exhaustive. They're not categorized by weapon, since you can often substitute weapons without ruining the meaning of the conflict. I…