Luddites, ala lantern! We’ll try posting this again after being beat-up by technology … a week late. And we'll catch-up later this week if one of my peer's leaves me a space. There’s nothing this (last) week on WMA/HEMA; but we do have a wealth of links highlighting swords as symbols: of history; of trust; or honour;…
Throws: Traditional, Judo and Otherwise
The traditional throws of Judo and Jujitsu are covered in many sources online. Although in Bartitsu class we never use the Japanese terms, we perform many of these throws. As an evolving mixed martial art for self-defense, Neo-Bartitsu also borrows from other traditions for the best combination of techniques, especially in the tricky realm of…
How Not to Cut your Horse
The Eight Cuts, Contorted for the Saddle Cast your mind back to the eight cuts which are available to the swordsman on foot. Now consider: ... which sword blows can and should be thrown from horseback to a mounted rider and a fighter on the ground As you face forward in the saddle, an immediate…
Video Lessons: Rapier & The True Fight, Defeating the Offhand/Dagger, Rapier & Cloak Specialty Plays, Longsword Tempos
We're into the closing topics of the month. In Green Cord we're looking at the fundamental strategy for rapier combat: the True Fight. In Blue Cord we are countering defences of the offhand, and at Red Cord we're making some tricky plays with the cloak and then defeating them. In our longsword focus classes we…
Beginner's Courses: April Cycle
Our next round of Beginner's Courses are starting soon! Shake off that lingering winter chill and greet Spring with a sword in hand! Both our Beginner's Courses, Taste of the Renaissance and Warrior Fundamentals, are 8-classes long and can be taken twice a week for one month or once a week on Saturdays for two…
Failing Forward in Fencing
I read a couple interesting anecdotes today in the book Failing Forward by John Maxwll. The first comes from two working artists, David Bayles and Ted Orland, who tell a story about an art teacher who did an experiment with the grading system he used for two groups of students: The ceramics teacher announced on…
Trailer Ricochet: Dead Man Down
Another episode of our stage combat feature: action movie trailers. What we're looking forward to and why. You may have noticed the text in there: From the Director of the Original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. That's what we're going to talk about today: Niels Arden Oplev. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009)…
Video Lessons: Rapier Stringere, Quinta & Sesta Guards, Rapier & Cloak, Longsword Finestra Defenses
This week on Duello.TV it's time to do some longsword catch-up! We missed a couple weeks of longsword, so now we're going to give you a couple weeks worth of focus class content all on the topic of the window guard. We're also moving into the topics of constraint with the sword (green), constraining with…
Mounted Mechanics
Last week we took a brief tour through the mounted combat arsenal as part of the Swordplay Knowledge section. For the last portion of the Green Spur checklist we ask that you are familiar, at least in theory, with the general mechanics of swordplay from horseback, and how it differs from fighting on foot. Mounted…
Scottish Symbols Sword Press
Scotsmen and Scottish swords dominate todays' offering – if this had happened in the early 16th century, would have meant that something had gone terribly wrong along the Scottish Marches! But in modern context, the items do demonstrate that the modern Gael is still connected to his past and traditions – and swords (and sword…
It's Raining, It's Pouring...
...and you can bet we're in for more rain before Summer hits! This time of year, it is wise to always carry an umbrella with you. We all know that umbrellas are invaluable for keeping dry and for impromptu Gene Kelly impersonations, but did you know your umbrella could also be used as a self-defense…
Post Symposium Analysis - What do you do with all this new info?
It's about time I make an official post-VISS post. Truth is it has taken me weeks to recover from what shaped up to be a fantastic event! Thank you to everyone who made it to Vancouver to teach, train, help, and share. This was a tremendous year and I am honoured you all were there…
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Upcoming March Workshops at Academie Duello
Celebrate the extra hour by kick-starting your Spring with some of our exciting workshops! Begin your journey from Novice to Knight by learning the fundamentals of Medieval Swordplay with Instructor Greg Reimer: Intro to Medieval Swordplay Date: Saturday, March 16, 2013 Time: 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm Description: Over the course of four hours you…
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