Rank examinations have just finished up today for the Mastery Program with two new Blue Cords entering the ranks. They have a whole new set of topics to look forward to as we roll over into the next month of curriculum at Academie Duello. Green Cord - Rapier and Offhand This month in Green Cord…
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Hey everyone, We have another guest blogger this week. Ivan Sim has been teaching the Taste of the Renaissance program for several months now.I asked him to put together a blog post directed more towards our newer students though in truth it's just as valuable for veteran students. Catch Ivan Saturdays for some fun sparring and…
This is an intense week in Mastery class with some of the most detail oriented yet prolific topics at hand at the various levels. For Green Cords we are working on gaining control of the opponent's weapon as they move toward us. This is one of my favourite months and weeks for its beautiful efficiency.…
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We are proud to announce the launch of Duello.TV, an exciting portal into the Western Martial Arts we practice here at Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay. You can now access lessons on the rapier, sword and shield, and longsword at home, work or on the go. We’ve been working long and hard on this…
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I wanted to write today on the interplay of speed between two people drilling together. Occasionally when a pair of students work on a set play at slow speed one of the pair may opt to move quicker than their partner. There are several reasons why this may occur: they're already familiar with the technique…
The rapier gets a lot of love around Duello being that it's the foundational weapon of our Mastery Program, but those of you who have advanced to the Red Cord or who are part of the Warrior Program or our Longsword Focus program, or are following along at home through our videos, deserve some attention…
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No matter how much fun you're having, foam swords are not swords. Wasters, Foils, and S(word)L(ike)O(objects)s Sword simulators, specifically for longsword and arming/side sword, fall into three categories: wood, synthetic, and steel. There are, of course, some gray areas that don't fall directly into these categories, such as bamboo trainers built around some manner of…
Every Thursday I get together with a few of my senior students and we work on drills, sparring exercises, and body mechanics. Generally I have us stick to fairly fundamental exercises. I personally just love working on fundamentals and have found that this is always where the greatest opportunity for improvement lies, no matter…
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Regardless of what kind of combat you're in, you always have two jobs defend yourself position yourself to strike and strike Job 1 is easy. Wild swings can easily knock aside opponent's attacks but they leave you poorly able to deliver a strike of your own (or defend yourself from your opponent's second strike). That…
On March 1st we will be launching a new Academie Duello website: Duello.TV. This is the evolution of the Academie Duello learning channelon youtube, that we have been experimenting with over the past 6 months. This will be a subscription based online fencing academy that will give users access to a library of organized lessons…
You've all heard it (well, those of you attending class).Homework abounds at Academie Duello. Every rank in the Mastery program was assigned homework for the month of January. The homework we've assigned has two specific qualities simple: it can be explained easily in a sentence or two quick: it doesn't take long to do; about…
Merry Christmas!Where ever you happen to be, grab something sword-y. A pencil will do, or a stick, or a toothbrush, just about anything will do. Point it down to the ground and then cut a montante. What did you think about? Some possible answers moving to guardia alta moving the sword up cutting a montante…
I've gained some insights lately, specifically in longsword play that I thought I'd share. These all came from self-diagnosis, which is crucial for learning and is best done during your practice sessions when you can direct your own exercises. First, credit goes to Sean Hayes, Devon and Roland for their individual contributions and to me…
As promised, some reflections on practice garnered (or directly lifted) from Sean Hayes' workshop.A brief review: Sean was in Vancouver on 2, 3 & 4 December to teach three workshops on Armizare, Italy's knightly arts. He taught a workshop on solo practice, longsword body mechanics and unarmed, dagger and longsword. I'll be writing about the…
I know you're probably wondering about all the great ideas that came out of Sean Hayes' workshop this past weekend. In truth there are many, but, I thought I would instead write about slow work and the things to keep in mind when you're practicing slow work.Here, then, are my seven rules to doing slow…
If you are following the videos we are producing for our beta Duello Learning channel, you'll be happy to know that they have been organized into playlists. The lists are not all in order as of yet but like content has been grouped with like content so its easier to follow all the lessons of…
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Some words on going slow today. Those of you were at Longsword Focus (Mon @ 5:30; Wed @ 12:00) were given homework: cut 30 fendenti and accompanying falso riverso sotanifor a week. It's really easy to do; 30 cuts takes about 1 minute. If you're going fast. And, if you're only concerned about going fast…
No big news today. Just thought I'd share another drill. It's from this past month's Green Cord curriculum. The patiente stands in terza. The agente makes strikes to the patiente, who defends against them primarily with the off-hand, unless it makes super-good sense to defend them with the sword. For added complexity: The agente can…