To Build Proficiency: Show Up
October 15, 2018 No Comments
When I speak with people who have found places of deeper proficiency and mastery, a common thread among them is often “I just kept showing up.”
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News & Updates
Basic Courses
September 17, 2018
Basic courses contain high quality, individual step-by-step topic videos. Track your progress as you make your way through the course, and pick up where you left off last time you visited the site.
Premium Courses
September 7, 2018
Premium courses contain high quality, individual step-by-step topic videos. Included are quizzes, practice notes, discussion and self-assessments.
Online Longsword Course, Starts April 1
March 18, 2018
Helping people build the habit of mastery is the goal behind our very first co-operative online course. We want to bring together practitioners from all over the world to learn and level-up their longsword skills all together at the same time.
Featured
Musings on Brutality in Martial Arts
September 10, 2018
For some, brutality is what makes martial art “real” or egalitarian. They feel that a real art or artist must routinely test their metal against those who care more about landing powerful blows than for the long-term health and safety of their sparring or training partners.
Why Fight Light? Using Less Gear When Sparring
May 22, 2018
A bulk of medieval and renaissance fighting manuals depict swordplay in shirts, jerkins, or gambesons, generally with light gloves, with both two handed and one handed weapons. These are often presented alongside depictions of combat in full armour.
The 5 Minutes Per Day Practice Regimen
March 19, 2018
Rhythm is the most important thing to cultivate on the path to mastery. Whether you leverage our online course or simply get started with your own practice ritual, start making those little steps. Five minutes of real practice time honours your commitment more than hours of good intentions.
Assaults and Martial Forms
October 10, 2018
One of the primary benefits to practicing assaults is that they provide a means to build your strength and capacity with moving your weapon (or weapons). A good assault brings you through common attack and defense patterns, as well as a great diversity of them.
Training to Defeat Intense Techniques
October 1, 2018
One of the most challenging things to deal with in sparring is the mental or emotional intensity of a very forward motivated opponent, someone who throws powerful blows, or someone who comes very ferociously.
Event Report: L’Arte delle Armi
September 26, 2018
This event sought to rid its attendees of at least some aspects of its ignorance of the art of arms as taught by Marozzo and his contemporaries in early 16th century Bologna. And I feel that it very much succeeded.
Building the Swordplay Grand Slam
September 18, 2018
Instead of trying to find and advocate for one tournament format as being the best or most authentic format, we need to realize that authenticity may only be realized by having as many different environments to play in as possible.
The Pursuit of Craft: Why Do Martial Arts at All?
September 4, 2018
What is the purpose your art is serving? What are the ends that you’re driving toward? What will it look like when you’re done? Who will you be?
The Beautiful Art of Solitary Practice
August 27, 2018
Martial arts practice on my own can be one of the great pleasures of my week. I don’t have to worry about providing for a partner or guiding a student. I can simply focus on my own body, my own sense of flow, and my own desires from that practice.
An Unlimited Catalog of Drilling Partners
August 20, 2018
Having a collection of sparring partners who by nature were as focused or as broad as you needed to best meet your training needs would be ideal. You could practice combatively and target your weakest areas with pinpoint precision. This is what drilling is about.
Pain and Glee: Enjoying Your Training
August 14, 2018
Many are afraid that if they really enjoy themselves they’ll lose their edge. Yet I do think there is much more to be gained from the type of joy that is equated with growth, fulfillment, and satisfaction.
The Three Defensive Principles, A Cross Martial Approach
August 6, 2018
These are principles that we look to in our approach to armed and unarmed fighting. In particular I look to them not just as single avenues upon which you can create defense but as a triumvirate that you look to combine as much as possible.
Practice Pinpointing Your Coaching Corrections
July 30, 2018
What makes an expert coach is that they have a strong sense of the goals of given techniques, and have made lots of attempts to pinpoint key areas and give focused corrections.