This is a momentous week for Duello.TV and Academie Duello: We recorded the last videos of our entire Level 1 to 3 curriculum! This project began mid-last year with us diligently recording classes each week as they were taught and it's amazing how quickly it has all built up. We're already hard at work recording…
A Kinder, Gentler Sword Press?
Women – don’t mess with them! They’re out in force this week – thrusting, stabbing, falling off of things, falling onto things and taking a fall. If my modest experience with local WMA/HEMA groups is any indication, we have one of the few martial arts that encourages, nay – requires at times, both genders to…
Edith Garrud and Jujitsuffragettes
Tony Wolf, the author of the two volumes of the Bartitsu Compendium, has also written a related book called Edith Garrud: the Suffragette who knew jujutsu. He is currently developing a work of multimedia fiction inspired by the Suffragette Bodyguard stories. Suffragette Bodyguards This week, Tony's article on the Bartitsu.org website focuses on The Amazons…
Rein-changing pt II
Last week I talked about the dressage letters in the riding ring, and how to use them to increase your accuracy. The exercise was a change of rein at the walk across the school from B to E. In your level 1 riding test we also ask you to: 7. Change rein on long diagonal…
Quiet, Responsible Sword Press
Its another quiet week for WMA/HEMA press, there’s nothing art-wise on the doorstep today. Even our Slavic and Germanic peers seem to be unnaturally quiet of late. Maybe somebody from the Academie Duello should fly over to Europe and report back on the state of play and study over there!We do however, offer a modest…
Swordplay Training Videos for July 23 to 29
This week at Academie Duello we are looking at a fundamental strategy with the rapier, known as the True Fight; we are exploring deceptive attacks with the sidesword, designed to draw the opponent out of position; and we're employing the blow or strike with the side of the staff and learning how to counter them.…
Read More... from Swordplay Training Videos for July 23 to 29
What's the most important thing in comedy?
"So... why didn't that work the way you wanted to?" "I didn't move fast enough." This is a conversation I often have with my students in class. The student has correctly identified an issue in tempo (typically everything else is being done correctly) but they've made a mistake in the aspect of tempo that…
Read More... from What's the most important thing in comedy?
Bonzuko Stage Combat Book
Jenn Zuko Boughn Her book, Stage Combat: Fisticuffs, Stunts and Swordplay for Theatre and Film is the required textbook for Metro State and other stage combat programs in colleges across the country. She has been practicing and teaching the arts of stage combat since 1997, and Japanese martial arts since 1998. I visit her website:…
Is Goal Setting De-Motivating?
Our very own Rosie Jones came across an interesting article from a website called the the99percent (unrelated to occupy wall street) that contrasted the idea of focusing on goals vs focusing on experience or process. The findings suggest that focusing on the process or the feeling in the experience (ex. enjoying a good workout) was…
This week in class at Academie Duello - Vids
This post provides links to videos for every lesson we covered in the Mastery Program at Academie Duello for July 16 to 22. This week Green Cords (level 1) learn about control of the opponent's sword and take advantage of their opponent's movement to strike. Blue Cords (level 2) continue their work on provocations by…
Read More... from This week in class at Academie Duello - Vids
Alphabet soup: dressage arena letters
Take a lesson at almost any riding school and you will hear a stream of letters flowing past: "twenty metre circle at C", "between K and A develop working canter", "change rein FXH" and so on. These letters are not acronyms or arcane code, but simply markers on the dressage arena. No one seems to…
Missed & Future Opportunities Sword Press
Last week was Our 50thposting of Sword Press – which under other circumstances might qualify this One for some sort of modest ‘atta-boy’ award involving beer and an affectionate but manly pat-on-the-head. However as I’ve learned to my sorrow, my iron-fisted, steel-hearted, way-too-fast-to-hit, workaholic Master insists that it’s all part of ‘business normal’ in getting…
Now Taking Requests!
Devon's asked me to put together some videos and posts for drills and exercises that we can all use as references and inspiration. I've got an idea of where I'm going to start (see my WIP wmawiki glossary, or the post on my Terminal City Duellist blog), but I'm interested in where you want it…