Giving Yourself an Idiot Mark
We’ve all got one. That self-inflicted bump on your head, scrape on your arm, knick on your cheek. We’ve all had that moment.
The moment when …
Category: Training Blog
Failure and the Journey of Success
This past Friday, Academie Duello held a rank exam with 14 students across both adult and youth programs examining for Scholar and Free Scholar level…
Unsolicited Help isn’t Help—It’s Harm
When you’re working with a partner and you see them making an error it can seem like the right thing to give them a correction in order to help them…
Always Be Both a Student and a Teacher
"Teacher teaches best what they most need to learn.”
A friend of mine shared this bit of wisdom with me many years ago and it has stuck firmly wi…
Good Fighting Is Not An Excuse for Bad Behaviour
There is a camaraderie that easily forms when you fence with someone intensely and enjoy the experience. I’ve seen this in wrestling, sword fighting…
How to Have an Effective Training Partnership
When I first started going to the gym it was with a colleague from work. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, instead of going home from work we would…
The Difference Between a Fighter and a Martial Artist
If you can kick butt, does that make you a martial artist? Not necessarily.
“Art" is etymologically related to the word “artifice”. To the re…
Am I Learning Fast Enough?
It is tempting as a teacher to always respond to this question with “Yes”. I have found that people these days seem to be notoriously hard on them…
It’s Never Too Late
You’re not too old to learn something new.
Unless you plan to die ten years from now, there’s still plenty of time to gain a notable le…
Willpower is for Suckers: Make a Training System to Succeed
Any plan based on willpower for success is doomed. Success in anything is largely based on rhythm. The ability to take gradual and reliable steps tow…
Ways to Train When You’re Sick or Injured
Training is at least 50% mental and 50% physical. If you’re truly down-and-out sick, then just let yourself be sick. No sense resisting the sleep yo…
Ways To Test Your Art: Triangulating on Life and Death
I want to get as close to the original martial art as possible without actually putting myself, my training partners, or my students in mortal danger.…
Four Strategies for Getting Over Technique Repetition Boredom
"The difference between an advanced action and a simple action is that an advanced action is a simple action done very very well."
A student and co…
Managing Safety in Martial Arts
Swinging a steel sword at someone, even a blunted one, seems risky. That's because it is. How do we manage to practice an art that is traditio…
10 Steps for Running a Successful Study Group
A study group is a group of peers devoted to helping each other get better in a particular martial practice. If you don’t have an experienced and sa…
The Answer to Failure is: “Do It Again!”
You’re practicing on your own and you can’t get that move right: do it again. You’re in class and you fail at a technique: ask your part…
How to Keep a Training Journal
For many years I have kept a training journal. This is a log book of personal practice goals, training plans, progress toward those goals, and …
How Noticing Your Students Outside Class Can Make a Profound Difference
Canoeing is one of the first physical activities I remember being captured by. I love the water and there was something powerful and graceful about na…
Four Ways to Get Back to Enjoyment and Out of Criticality
Practicing does not always mean "working on". It’s important to give yourself time with passions and skills in your life to just simply indul…
Three Focuses for Effective Solo Practice
Even if you’re part of a vibrant school or club and have lots of training partners to practice with, keeping a daily rhythm is an essential part of …
My TEDx Talk: Mastery, Movement, and Vitality
A few weeks ago I delivered a talk at TEDx EastVan. The talk focused on something I am passionate about: inspiring others to pursue and master movemen…
Restarting from Zero
I have gone from being able to do 100 push-ups in a set to not being able to do one and back again. I spent years developing myself as a fencer o…
Taking Charge of Your Learning Environment
This past week during my polearms class one of my students, who is hard of hearing, asked me to put on a wireless microphone (worn as a necklace). Thi…
Getting Out of Your Head
Whether it’s swordplay, dancing, or driving a car, when you first learn a skill it exists within the conscious learning part of the mind. This is th…
Martial Challenges and Sparring Gatherings
From June 3–5, Academie Duello will be hosting their first Vancouver Martial Challenge. This event is part of an alternative type of event I want t…
Practice, Improvement, Hours & Greatness
One thing I’ve noticed among my Vancouver-based foreign friends is that so many of them have good, workable, English, but not great English. Many of…
June Instructor Intensive, and Some More Thoughts on Mastery
Before I get into more conversations about mastery, and what this means when I apply the term to swordplay, I want to share some information about our…
Our Arts Need New Masters
The arts that fit under the umbrella of Historical European Martial Arts or Western Martial Arts are still young in their return to the world. It has …
A New Video on Bracing & Squatting
Last week I wrote a post about the secrets to looking after you knees and back. The essence of which was "move correctly!" Now to give a bit more guid…