During these rainy winter months in Vancouver, we hold monthly workshops in Umbrella self defence. At the turn of the last century, every gentleman carried a walking stick, and every woman carried a parasol. Since we carry our modern umbrellas just as frequently in Vancouver today, it's a great value to learn how they learned…
Nikolaj Malnač receiving an award from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence. Now that we’ve all acquired the blades, books and besegew’s that we wanted for Christmas, it’s time to learn new WMA/HEMA techniques – or polish up those we already know. Given the near-universal access to excellent reference material here-to-fore-seldom seen – its stands to…
The evening world., August 17, 1921, Wall Street Final Edition, Page 3. New York, N.Y. Using Jiu Jitsu on Time and Mashers, Mrs. De Hart Tells How to Master Pests In Three-Minute Hot Weather Interview Woman Who Has Laid Low 40 or 50 So-Called "Men" Proves She Is as Clever and Forceful in Speech as…
Swordplay from the Ground: The Four Thrusts of the Sword The knight's sword was not just a cutting weapon. A well-aimed thrust delivered with the impulsion of a moving horse was a deadly combat technique. It was also an effective attack from the ground. There are four basic types of thrust, defined by the orientation…
The Paddy Crean Conference in Banff is a week of some of the greatest fight instructors and stunt people teaching an incredible group of enthusiasts. So every two years we get the newest innovations in stage combat and stunt work in one venue. And the food is fantastic. I want to share some of what…
Swordplay from the Ground: Wrist, Elbow & Shoulder Cuts Not only are there eight lines on which to cut, there are three places from which to cut, wrist, shoulder and elbow. For the Green Spur you are required to demonstrate all three types with the sword in one hand, and wrist and elbow cuts with…
Good Morning and Happy New Year! (sorry, was that too loud?) Since it is far too soon after last night's indulgences to be practising cutting in a safe and responsible manner, I'll eschew wrist, shoulder and elbow cuts for another week. Instead, sit back in a comfy chair with the hangover remedy of your…
Every day is boxing day for me. It’s just coincidence that in Canada we also celebrate the day after Christmas by the same name. Is it Boxercize? If you’re not taking some punches, hardening your abs for impact, and feeling your fist contacting an opponent (or a heavy bag to simulate one), then you’re doing…
Swordplay from the Ground: The Eight Cuts In the last three posts I've covered posture, movement and turns of the body, with or without a sword in hand. Now we'll turn our attention to the sword and look at cutting and thrusting in the next few posts, beginning with the eight cutting lines. Terminology Our…
A few weeks ago I was in Eugene, Oregon teaching a seminar at the Northwest Fencing Academy. The day after the seminar I got together with school director Sean Hayes and his senior student Mark Kruger to work with them a bit on an historical intepretation project of a 1537 wrestling manual written by a…
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Swordplay from the Ground: Turns of the Body Last week's post on the Mounted Combat Green Spur Curriculum covered moving forward, back and side to side. This week we're adding turns to menu. Demonstrate the three turns of the body. 'Volta' is the Italian word for 'turn'. (Dressage riders will recognize it from 'volte', which…
Swordplay from the Ground: Movement Last week I covered the essentials of a balance and martial stance. Now we need to add mobility, without losing the effectiveness of that grounded posture, for the second item in the mounted combat checklist: Demonstrate methods of movement The movements we are looking for are: 1. Advance: take a…
The month of December is like a gift of stage combat. It ends with the Paddy Crean, and everyone is preparing for it for the weeks leading up to it. The Paddy Crean Workshop I've written about Paddy Crean and the workshop in his honour before. It's one jam-packed week of stunts, stage combat, and…
Last week I gave an overview of the Mounted Combat portion of the Green Spur program, which includes Swordplay from the Ground, Swordplay Knowledge and Mounted Swordplay Knowledge. For the next little while we'll look at each of those checklist items in a bit more detail, starting with Swordplay from the Ground: Stance and Posture…
Like the Mastery program, we have five ranks within the Cavaliere program, denoted by Spurs: Green, Blue, Red, Silver and Gold. To acquire each rank you need to be a triple threat, demonstrating your skill in Horsemanship, Riding and Mounted Combat. Now that we’ve covered all the things you need to know and be able…
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The month of November is here, and the ritual of growing a mustache to raise funds for testicular cancer and other men's health issues has been dubbed Movember. Deliberate and sometimes elaborate facial hair was common in Victorian era, so I'm sure Bartitsu enthusiasts are keen to learn more. Mustache Goals If you're participating in…
Stanislavski's primary book on Method Acting is called "An Actor Prepares," which points to the central question: How to be an actor? In one sense, what he's saying is: "Don't neglect rehearsal. You can't control what happens on stage and you can't rely on your raw talent in the moment to save every show. A…
How do I choreograph a fight scene? To me, the question is the same as "How do I put on a magic show?" We're going to ignore issues of your venue, your lighting and backstage capabilities, the number of people to help you, and the critical props (in our case, weapons). We'll assume: You have…