Become a Master of Italian Swordplay
DuelloTV brings you high quality online swordplay training that will take you step-by-step from the fundamentals of historical fencing, to advanced techniques and strategies.
Acquire skill, get fit, develop confidence and poise, connect with history, and join a worldwide community.
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Online
Courses
Learn online and become a Master of Italian Swordplay, from the basics (how to hold a sword!) all the way through to strategies and advanced techniques. Watch the lessons, take the quizzes, practice the actions and get questions answered. Courses Page →
Video
Lessons
Over 400 videos range from unarmed combat through to dagger, rapier, sidesword, longsword and poleaxe. Access the same content delivered to thousands each year at Vancouver Canada’s Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay. Video Page →
Training
Blog
How do you get better? What do I do to avoid injury? Why don’t I feel like I’m improving? Good advice is hard to find. At DTV you’ll find sage and timely guidance to keep you focused, healthy and motivated in our weekly training blog articles. Blog Page →
Get started for freeFree membership! Take the Introductory Swordplay course and receive our weekly email with training advice, at-home exercises, news and updates.
Newcomers: Transform Your Life Through Swordplay
Duello.TV is designed with beginners in mind. Our progressive courses help you learn the basics at your own pace, with easy to follow lessons, quizzes, and training guidance.
Get on the exciting path to mastery.
There’s nothing boring about it! From holding a sword, to sophisticated attacks, defences, and strategies.
Become active everyday.
Daily exercises and bite-sized, progressive training make it easy to start up and keep going.
Develop grace and strength.
Master the smoothness of a rapier lunge, or the flowing cut of the longsword. Feel like you’re gliding on air, hands and feet in perfect sync!
Build competence and confidence.
Gaining skill is gratifying. Follow DTV’s step-by-step lessons to build up your techniques and become adept with a sword. You won’t just do it, you’ll do it well!
Progress from beginner to master.
You can become a true swordfighting expert. It takes time, investment and hard work. In the end, you’ll have a treasure few will ever obtain!
Find your passion.
Energize your life with swordplay. Step into a mode of moving and fitness that you’ll actually want to do every day!
Experienced Practitioners: Maximize Your Training and Expertise
Duello.TV has the resources to take you deep into historical Italian martial arts. We have over 400 individual lessons across 7 disciplines in 4 progressive levels of expertise.
Get the structure you’ve been missing.
From expert coaching on the fine details of form and body mechanics to progressive tactical approaches for applying your art to any opponent.
Learn a mature and proven system.
Our programs have been running for more than 13 years, have seen more than 10,000 students, and have been tested in training, tournament, and by experts from throughout the world.
Level up and certify.
Receive expert advice and progress through the levels of our system from beginner to master through our online assessment program and connection to our study centres throughout the world.
Lead your own study group.
Through our certification program you can lead a group in your own area, and with hard work, become a certified Academie Duello instructor.
Get started for freeFree membership! Take the Introductory Swordplay course and receive our weekly email with training advice, at-home exercises, news and updates.
Devon Boorman, Lead Instructor
Director and Maestro d’Armi 
Devon Boorman has practicing martial arts for more than 20 years. Starting first with Asian martial arts, including Kung Fu and Arnis, Devon discovered western swordplay through the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) which connected him with a burgeoning community of martial artists and scholars studying Historical European Marital Arts throughout the world.
Devon has travelled extensively, first as a student, then as a competitor, teacher, and researcher. He has won more than 40 European martial arts competitions, and worked on both stage and screen as a stunt person and choreographer. Devon is actively involved in the translation, interpretation, and revival of Western Martial Arts from surviving historical manuals, some of which are on display at his school.
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. He has taught workshops and seminars throughout the world on both the study and practice of historical techniques and on practical combat implementation.
Devon is the co-founder and director of Academie Duello, which has been active in the Vancouver area since 2004. Under his leadership the school has become a centre for swordplay with over 200 active students, a store, and an arms and armour museum. The Academie is currently the largest WMA centre in the world; a model that Devon hopes to help others achieve.
Devon Boorman at TEDxEastVan
Testimonials from Professionals & Students
I enjoy the fact I always seem to be improving on what I just learnt; I find it is the challenge of perfecting the curriculum that keeps me coming back, plus I find that I am learning something new every class.
As a professional instructor myself, I not only respect Boorman’s approach, I highly endorse his school as a major center for anyone interested in Historical Swordsmanship.
I only have the highest praise for Devon Boorman and his staff, past and present, and cannot truly describe in words what my association with this club has done for me on all planes: physical, mental, emotional and indeed spiritual.
Devon Boorman is also gifted with the talent to impart his knowledge in a calm and highly instructive manner to the benefit of both novices and advanced students of historical fighting arts, as myself and thousands of practitioners who had the pleasure to take one of his classes can attest to.
Academie Duello in the Media
- Vancouver leads the renaissance in swordplay, January 2014, The Province
- Medieval Bully Fighting Workshop, February 2014, Global Morning News
- Game of thorns: Roseblade a longsword and the woman who wields it, October 2013, Vancouver Courier
- Charge into fitness with swordplay or martial arts, July 2012, Vancouver Sun
- En garde for the new fitness hybrid – SwordFit, February 2011, The Globe and Mail
Get started for freeFree membership! Take the Introductory Swordplay course and receive our weekly email with training advice, at-home exercises, news and updates.
Strategies for Learning From Home
Learning a martial art requires discipline and rhythm whether you’re taking classes or training on your own from home. Here’s how our Duello.TV students stay on top of their learning.
Make a training schedule.
Commit to a daily rhythm.
Learn it. Test it. Refresh it.
Practice with a friend.
Feed your passion.
The Weapons
Longsword: The medieval longsword is a powerful cutting weapon held in both hands and is most commonly associated with knighthood. Longsword techniques include cuts, thrusts, halfswording and wrestling. Academie Duello’s longsword teachings are based on those of fifteenth-century master Fiore dei Liberi. Read more about the Longsword.
Sidesword: Sidesword technique covers the use of most short cutting swords. Sidesword technique is often combined with the shield, dagger or a second sword. Academie Duello’s sidesword teachings are based on the sixteenth-century Italian techniques of Achille Marozzo and Antonio Manciolino. Read more about the Sidesword.
Rapier: Synonymous with The Three Musketeers, the skills and abilities developed while learning to master the ultimate dueling weapon build a solid foundation for learning many others. The Academie’s teachings are based upon such seventeenth-century masters as Ridolfo Capoferro and Salvador Fabris. Read more about the Rapier.
Read about the duelling arts and other weapons taught at Academie Duello.
The Italian Longsword
The longsword is a long straight bladed weapon with a simple crossbar and grip that can accommodate two hands. The overall length of typical longswords range between 40" and 50" with blades varying in length between 30" and 40". Sword weights vary but are typically between 2 and 5 lbs.
The longsword is a weapon that unites both sides of the body, emphasizes full body movement, effective footwork, and an ability to move between combat distances with fluidity.
The Longsword is a superb teacher of combative principles including:
- Power generation
- Combative fluidity and movement
- 360-degree movement and perception
Physically the longsword will challenge you to develop:
- Fast and effective posture and footwork
- The ability to move with fluidity, power, and speed
- Your body into a powerful and efficient martial tool
The mental game of the longsword will teach you:
- Confidence and decisiveness
- Combative strategy that blends cut, thrust, and wrestle
- How to think in 3 dimensions
Read more about the nature of Longsword combat and the history of the Longsword.
The Italian Rapier
"The rapier has improved me as a martial artist more than any other discipline I have pursued." - Devon Boorman, Academie Duello Chief Instructor
The rapier is a long, thrusting oriented weapon typically 43" to 50" in total length with the blade itself being between 40" and 45" long. Typical rapiers weigh between 2 and 4.5 lbs in overall weight. The balance point is typically 2" to 4" from the guard along the blade.
The rapier is a superb teacher of fundamental combative principles including:
- Control of distance and timing
- Understanding how to strategically control an opponent
- Blade interaction and sensitivity - reading your opponent through subtle blade pressure
The rapier is a superbly physical weapon that will improve your:
- Cardiovascular fitness through its athletic demands
- Core strength, thighs, legs, shoulders, arms, and back
- Ambidexterity through the co-ordination of multiple weapons
The rapier is an intellectual weapon that will teach you
- Clear language for understanding blade interaction and position
- How to control time and distance and manipulate an opponent to your advantage
- Confidence and intentional action
Read more about the nature of Rapier combat and the history of the Rapier.
The Sidesword and Shield
The sidesword is sometimes called a cut and thrust rapier because it has a similar hilt design to late renaissance rapiers. They are typically between 35" and 40" in total length with blade lengths varying between 30" and 38". They are broad bladed, capable of the thrust and the cut. The typical weight is between 2 and 4 lbs.
The arming sword fits similar dimensional properties to the sidesword but is typically on the shorter end of the spectrum and features a hilt made up of only a simple cross and optionally a finger ring.
The sidesword and shield is a superb teacher of combative principles including:
- Flow and deception
- Weapon unity and interaction
- The blending of cut, thrust, and close play
Physically the sword and shield will challenge you to develop:
- Graceful and effective posture and movement
- Ambidextrous coordination
- Finesse and physical endurance
The mental game of the sword and shield will teach you:
- Confidence and decisiveness
- Combative strategy that blends cut, thrust, and wrestle
- Multitasking
Read more about the nature of Sidesword combat and the history of the Sidesword.
Get started for freeFree membership! Take the Introductory Swordplay course and receive our weekly email with training advice, at-home exercises, news and updates.