30-for-30 Swordplay Challenge 2020!
The seventh annual 30-for-30 Swordplay Challenge is just about to start on January 2nd. If you’ve heard of yoga challenges, you know what this is ab…
Category: Training Blog
One Mindful Breath: Setting a Minimum Viable Commitment
Sometimes the most you can muster is a single mindful breath.
And sometimes that's all the meditation you need.
One set of crunches.
One line on …
Learning How to Fight Tactically with the Robot Game
One of the more challenging leaps to make in combat martial arts is the move from a largely symmetrical combat environment (where everyone is largely …
SERFO 2019 Event Report
Last week I was an instructor and director (referee) at the South East Renaissance Fencing Open (SERFO) in Atlanta, Georgia. This excellent event was …
Event Report WMAW 2019
This past weekend was the 20th Anniversary of the Western Martial Arts Workshop hosted by the Chicago Swordplay Guild at the lovely Dekoven Center on …
‘Two Points of Confirmation’ Tournament Judging
This year I have had the pleasure of being a Ring Director at three different tournaments, each using slightly different forms of blow calling standar…
Remember Your Students’ Names: Three Tips
Dale Carnegie, in his influential How to Win Friends and Influence People, says "the sweetest sound to anyone is the sound of their own name.…
Lord Baltimore’s Challenge Report 2019
At the beginning of July I had the pleasure of once again being a Ring Director, Judge, and Instructor at Lord Baltimore's Challenge in Washington, DC…
Free Webinar: From Drill to Skill
This past week I hosted a free online webinar about how to take a technique learned in class and make it something that is actually an internalized sk…
Winnipeg Event Report: Just a Flesh Wound
A week ago I had the distinct pleasure to be part of Winnipeg's first international tournament and workshop event, enjoyably titled: It's Only A Flesh…
Bust a Move: a Problem Solving Sparring Game
Combat games take the potential chaos of freeplay and break it down in chunks that we can work on one at a time, eventually bridging it all together i…
VISS 2019 Wrap-up
Well it's been nearly a month since the Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium (VISS) took place at the Richmond Oval and I'm finally free to wri…
Mortal vs. Immortal: a Combat Game with the Ultimate Advantage
Combat games can be like an open-ended drill, or like sparring but with limits. Often one player is put at a disadvantage, and is challenged to fight …
Teachers as Students, Doing So Gracefully
I love having the opportunity to step into the classes of other HEMA instructors as well as classes offered by my own students. It can be a tremendous…
Training for Speed
“I, the tiger, am so quick at running and turning that I can’t even be overtaken by a lightning bolt." Fior di B…
Making Martial Distinctions: Stickmata Event Report
I had the pleasure of attending an event last week called Stickmata put on by Immersion Labs in San Jose, California. The goal of this event (and simi…
Getting the Most from Mixed Experience Levels
We were all newbies once. We were all the person who worried that our lack of skill was holding others back in their practice. And in some cases may…
Capitol Clash Event Report 2019
Three members of the Academie Duello crew and I visited the February 8-10 Capitol Clash in Washington, DC. This is a well run HEMA tournament event th…
The Skills of Excellence
Excellence is the evidence of diligent, attentive, and purposeful practice.
Not all of us will achieve excellence, nor is it a requisite for enjoyi…
What is a Modern HEMA Master?
Recently I was asked in an online thread what I thought constituted a modern master of Historical European Martial Arts and whether I thought there wa…
The Mountain and the Bliss of Ignorance
A new student at Academie Duello recently said to me "There's so much to learn, it's like being under a mountain!" It ca…
30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge 2019!
With the new year nearly upon us, it's time for the sixth annual 30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge!
On January 2nd, join hundreds of martial arts pract…
Everyday Practice and Everyday Martial Arts
Building your capacity in martial arts to a high level takes a tremendous amount of purposeful practice. Yet, finding that time in our busy lives can …
Bust Boredom to Achieve Mastery
There are many components to mastery but one of them is developing the capacity to execute physical actions at a high level of precision and …
The Importance of Sleep for Martial Artists
Sleep health and sleep hygiene are very trendy topics these days and for good reason. We all lead busy lives, there are limited times to catch up with…
Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium 2019
Registration for the fifth Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium (VISS) is now open! The event, which takes place from April 5th to 7th, is a co…
Am I Strong Enough to Do Swordplay?
Not irregularly I have had people say to me, "I'm looking forward to starting into swordplay, I just need to get in shape first."
This makes me ver…
Is Full Speed and Full Contact Required?
A good friend of mine is a special forces combatives trainer. I asked him how much, as a percentage, of their training is devoted to full-speed and fu…
Why Go Slow? The Benefits of Slow Sparring
This past week at our 50-hour instructor intensive I introduced a new batch of students, who traveled in from various places around the world, to the …