How to Saber a Bottle of Champagne
June 13, 2018 No Comments
This past weekend we held a charity event at Academie Duello called Duelling with Cause. It featured a tournament, swordplay demonstrations, and a lot of cool audience participation. One of the things that the attendees got to try out was sabering a bottle of champagne. Here’s how it’s done.
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Expert Weapons Packs
May 22, 2018
Expert-level packs are ideal for students who want to take their training to higher levels with advanced techniques and strategies. You’ll hone your mechanical proficiency and build high level skills that would make any advanced martial artist envious!
Novice Weapons Packs
April 19, 2018
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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
Why Fight Light? Using Less Gear When Sparring
May 22, 2018 No Comments
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 No Comments
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.
Pushing Your Students Enough
June 5, 2018
Making sweat angels on the floor after every training session or working out to the point of injury aren’t going to get you very far very fast. But if you never push yourself you’ll also never have your capabilities expand to encompass new possibilities.
The Five Things Exercise
May 28, 2018
I’m a big fan of sparring games and other exercises that help bring a skill from drilling into a more fluid and combative environment. The Five Things Exercise is a sparring game that allows you to focus on five different techniques or ideas with just this goal.
The Simple Training Journal
May 17, 2018
I thought that today I’d revisit one core strategy I have found very valuable in my journey, keeping a simple training journal.
A New Provost!
May 9, 2018
This past weekend I had the special honour of seeing one of my senior students, Matheus Olmedo, elevated to the rank of Provost (the fourth level, just before Master). It was a superb thing to be a part of, along with my fellow examiners Maestros Greg Mele and Sean Hayes.
What Are the Duello Rank Levels?
April 30, 2018
An examination for the rank of Provost is taking place this Saturday in Vancouver, BC. The Provost level fits within five martial ranks. Each level represents a different achievement of applied skill and knowledge within our martial system. These ranks have a long and historical tradition within schools in Italy and throughout Europe.
Sparring Games: Alternate Target Objectives
April 23, 2018
Feeling in a bit of a slump in your sparring? Perhaps overwhelmed or under-challenged? Sparring games, where you create restrictions and alternate objectives, can be a great way to up the strategic challenge and interest, or allow you to focus on a smaller subset of skills.
Eat the Book: A Process for Understanding Historical Sources
April 16, 2018
Historical European Martial Arts come from a rich historical tradition that includes a wealth of instructional books written from within the period where those arts were most actively practiced. Picking up an ancient fighting manual is by no means necessary to learn, practice, and enjoy these martial arts, but doing so can offer a significant richness to that practice.
5 Tips for Effective At-Home Practice
April 9, 2018
Classes are a great place to learn, but building proficiency is what happens in between learning sessions. Here are five ways you can make the most of your personal practice time.
How to Do Slow Sparring Successfully
April 2, 2018
I’m a big fan of slow sparring as a training tool. It is an ideal way to focus on mechanics and precision, develop strategic and tactical awareness, and work on the necessary relaxation and fluidity required for high speed combat in a more manageable setting.
Lots of Practice, Not Perfect Practice
March 26, 2018
I’ve seen students haltingly muddle through each and every motion of a technique, attempting to perfect it while in progress. I also see them judging the quality of each stage, and judging themselves, long before such judgments are necessary or useful.