Welcome to Duello.TV for the week of July 15. Sorry that we missed our post from last week; sickness can strike even the most stout of us and I succumbed for a good part of the week. Now I'm back at it and we're into week 3. This week we're continuing our focus on single rapier at Green Cord (level 1), now looking at strategic constraint or "stringere". At Blue Cord (level 2) we are moving into some advanced postures of rapier and dagger, and at Red Cord (level 3) we are employing the dagger more aggressively to assist in disarms and to strike in its own right.

Longsword focus class continues into pressure exercises specifically looking at how to respond to actions of the opponent in the bind.

it's going to be a good week!

Longsword Focus

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When you've crossed swords with your opponent, one of the most important aspects of the crossing is the amount of pressure you feel in it. This class focuses on reading this pressure and then using the information -- the feeling -- to respond appropriately and take advantage of your opponent's position.

Green Cord (Level 1)

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Now that we have the mechanical tools we need to control the opponent's weapon, we will look at the strategic implications of that control. In this week's lesson we look at how "finding the sword" constrains the opponent in such a way that their next action becomes predictable and more easily exploitable.

Blue Cord (Level 2)

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Quinta and Sesta the myserious 5th and sixth guards of rapier and dagger are really alternate positions that can be taken in Terza and Quarta that refuse the sword from the opponent in various ways. In Sesta (the first topic of this week) we look at how withdrawing the sword and entire sword side of the body allow the dagger to take a more dominant role. We then look at Quinta where the sword is lowered in Terza and is used to invite the opponent to strike over the combined defence of rapier and dagger.

Red Cord (Level 3)

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This week we move from our sword centric approach and look at how the dagger can be first employed in disarms, and then how some of our close approaching techniques can be used to enter in and strike with the dagger.

Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques.
Read more from Devon Boorman.