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…
Read More... from Training Videos: Rapier recovering, Sidesword Covers, Longsword Precision
Greetings Duello.TV subscribers. We're wrapping up this month on Duello.TV and in classes at Academie Duello and is usually the case it is in this last week that we look at tying together all of the new skills that we've learned as we work to integrate drill into application. First level students are countering cuts,…
We have a quadruple threat this month: Rapier, Sidesword, Longsword, and Quarterstaff. Yes some of our most senior students at Academie Duello in Vancouver are having their minds overloaded as they move through a day of classes -- now it's your turn at home to enjoy the same overwhelming sensation. Longsword Focus http://duello.tv/featured-videos/this-week-in-class/ This week…
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…
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…
Welcome to a new year of training and sword fighting! I hope that everyone has enjoyed their holiday and is ready to get back to their physical training regimes with a newly renewed passion. We are starting off this month we three rapier topics: receiving the opponent (for level 1), voids (for level 2), and…
Because of the holiday our last week of curriculum for the year has come a week early. This week we conclude our work on rapier cuts, sidesword cutting, and the core defences of the longsword. In Longsword Focus we look at cutting to the opponent's hands and next week we'll look more thoroughly at how…
Read More... from Video Lessons: Defenses Against the Cut; Longsword Thrusts; Cutting Hands
This week we're going to be using the cut to get ourselves out of some challenging situations. With the rapier at level 1 (Green Cord), we're going to be using a cut to regain control of the opponent's sword. At level 2 (Blue Cord) we'll be building our precision and fluidity in sidesword cutting. At…
We're into the second week of our month on cutting at Academie Duello. This week we're exploring the use of the cut to control the sword of the opponent (Green - level 1), the use of the buckler with the heavier sidesword (Blue - level 2) and the core defences of the longsword against various…
This month we are taking the techniques out to three separate weapons: the rapier, sidesword, and longsword, with each we will be exploring the fundamentals of how to cut effectively, efficiently, and safely. If you have the opportunity, follow the exercises at each level so you can deepen your understanding of this essential form of…
Welcome to the last week of one of the most intricate and fundamentally satisfying months of curriculum at Academie Duello. In Longsword focus we continue to work on the fundamental blows, seeking to make them as precise and powerful as possible. In the Mastery program, Greens (level 1) take the techniques of the first three…
This week on DuelloTV: Green cords (level 1) are moving into the strategic side of the rapier with classes on Stringere and responding to the opponent, Blues (level 2) focus on the foundation of the Deceptive Fight, and Reds (level 3) on contra-tempo and how to defeat it. For our longsword focus we are moving…
Welcome to the first full week of November. This week we are including the first of our new longsword series that follows our technical focus classes. In these classes we run on a 6 month cycle of themes: 1. Precision, 2. Crossing, 3. Giocco Stretto, 4. Tempo and Provocation, 5. Guards, 6. Defeating Guards. Last…
It's a new month of curriculum at Academie Duello. Our focus this month is on Fundamentals pretty much all the way around. Mastery program classes at all three levels are working on single rapier foundations; longsword class is focusing on precision and posture in all the attacks; and Sidesword focus is working on the fundamentals…
We're into the last week of our rapier focused month at Academie Duello. Green cords are countering offhand parries, blue cords are exploring the diversity of rapier and dagger plays that can be found in each tempo, and red cords are concluding their unit on striking with the dagger. Also to keep your sidesword work…
This week at Academie Duello and on Duello.TV we're looking at advanced techniques for the unified defence of rapier and offhand (green cord), the 5th and 6th rapier guards with dagger (blue cord), and employing the dagger within disarms (red cord). We also have some longsword exercises that pertain to some of the exercises students…
A really good post today taken from the Chivalric Fighting Arts Association by Maestro Sean Hayes of the Northwest Fencing Academy in Eugene, OR. Here's the post. It's specifically on developing tactical skills with the longsword. The second half is specific to that but the first half applies to any martial art. I'll summarize: …
It's the turn of a new month so again our curriculum focus shifts. This month Green Cords (level 1) will be learning to use their offhand to support their defence, Blue Cords (level 2) will be stepping into the fundamentals of Rapier and Dagger, and Red Cords (level 3) are working into rapier disarms with…