This is an exciting final week of the month at Academie Duello. I am getting ready to day for an event at the Vancouver Shakespeare festival, Bard on the Beach, for the launch of CC Humphreys latest novel Shakespeare's Rebel. We're doing a prize playing amongst senior Academie Duello students as well as choreographed fights of various sorts. Its going to be an exciting evening and I hope to put video online for others to see.

This week in classes we are concluding our month on Approaching with Green Cords (level 1) as we move into the final strategic elements of the True Fight. Blue Cords (level 2) are concluding our unit on Rapier and Dagger with a look at defences against cuts. Red Cords (level 3) are countering the disarm plays we worked on earlier in the month and Longsword students are working on plays from the bind.

Enjoy your studies this week, wherever you are.

Longsword Focus

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Sword crossings can happen in a number of ways, whether through a point on-line approach or when two swords meet in an attack and defence. Regardless of how they come together its important to be able to respond to varying levels of pressure instantaneously in order to maintain the initiative. The exercises in this class will help you develop this ability.

Green Cord (Level 1)

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In this week's classes we will explore a straight forward flow chart for rapier strategy. This flow chart explores how to constrain the opponent and then respond to them logically at each measure based on their direction of movement and the actions of their sword. This strategy is the foundation of all Italian Rapier combat.

Blue Cord (Level 2)

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In this final week of rapier and dagger work we first look at how to build rapier and dagger plays in various tempos and then how to use the combined defence of the rapier and dagger against the cut.

Red Cord (Level 3)

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In our concluding week of work on disarms we will conclude our section on striking with the dagger and then look at the principles behind countering disarms and close plays using close play of our own.

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.