I have the experience frequently that I don’t train for a while, a few weeks, a month, whatever, and then have to essentially start over.

I never know where to start. I open the website and it says “pick up where you left off.” Except I have no idea what I was doing when I left off. I wind up starting that section over again, and that…

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I just finally learned and practiced the longsword flow drill. I’m choosing to say that’s enough learning for the first few weeks of curriculum. I need to stop using the fact that I don’t know all of it and execute it perfectly to avoid learning the broad strokes past where I am now, so I believe it’s time for week 3. Goal for the next week is… Read more

I keep forgetting to post in here. My camera’s memory card filled up and I was too dumb to remember that I have a phone with a camera in it. So…the only footage I got was of us without any protective gear on, my beat to his sword followed immediately by my realization that I had moved way faster than speed 3, and a pause while we chuckle. …

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I forgot to say I’m planning to shoot video.

I haven’t fenced in a year, I think. Tomorrow, a local friend and I are going to get together. He is a very good longsword fencer and a great guy, a good friend. I’m thinking it’s a good opportunity to work on some aspect of longsword; this being friendly and all, it doesn’t matter who scores points. So I’m wondering if any of my fellow… Read more

Okay, my plan is to train this week for at least an hour each on today, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I’m not planning specific days’ sequences, just following the SPM curriculum loosely. My general outline is to start with reps of forms for warm-up and posture, then do reps of individual skills with varying focus, starting with…

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Um.

 

Here it is…

https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2019/09/usheibas-use-of-atemi-in-1935-budo-movie.html?m=1

Starting around 12 minutes, there’s some weapons work, including sword v sword. It’s interesting to see the timing O Sensei (the founder of aikido) uses. I didn’t see him use primo tempo, but I think the others are all there.

If I want to email Devon and Greg about this course, what address(es) are best? I have a Devon@academie and a Greg@swordplay.ca, but I thought I remembered seeing @swordplaymasterclass or something like that?

Sorry to hear this, Daniel. I spent a couple days with a back spasm myself and couldn’t stand the sitting around so I did the poste progression à bunch in really slow motion. I was surprised at how much I was able to improve. Hope it clears up fast!

I’ve been spending the afternoon working through some basics, reviewing and polishing. I found this an interesting experiment, setting up my sword dummy to let the sword fall through a cut. I was curious about how shifting from forward weighted to rear weighted would affect measure. These two videos were shot a few minutes apart. …

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Thanks, I was aware of that. Devon has mentioned several times that he’s making exemplar videos. I was hoping for those. Getting caught up using the Sunday videos is really difficult.

You know, never mind that. At this point, I need to know if there’s anything I absolutely have to know in order to understand tomorrow’s class. If you could tell…

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Thanks.

The forms?

Also, reviewing the end of this past Sunday, “cutting through longa,” where would I find instruction for that? I don’t remember learning it.

Is there a place to find instruction on just the forms we’re learning, other than the Sunday night videos? I find it challenging to scroll to the right spots in the Sunday vids.

Armizare it is! Cheers!

Thanks!

Measure and Thrusts, in order.

I need work on the sequence of the measures one, have to hesitate sometimes. I really want to fix my posture.

https://youtu.be/aO0BPojrGaI

Two videos to share here. Foundational Cuts, another iteration, and the unarmed poste, this one with a focus on posture. My shoulders are terribly rounded and my head sags forward in the armed forms.

https://youtu.be/eUDkPbva76s

Cuts are looking good! I didn’t notice anything glaring. Maybe work on eliminating the small hesitation at the start of the sottani.

Oh, good eye! I thought the thrusts were weak as well. Thank you!

Thank you! I’ll take a closer look at those fenestri.

Hi, Quintin! Looks great to me. Very smooth, and your posture/body mechanics are solid. You might try adding just a pinch more martiality/intention to your thrusts.

Those answers have worked for me as well, but I’d like to have a name for specifically what Devon is doing at Academie Duello. Italian Martial Arts is what I hear, mostly.

Did I miss the answer on Friday?

Question was what are some good training ideas for limited time?

Today has mostly been taken up by putting my sword dummy together. Pics attached. Now dinner and then today’s other goal, which is to actually do the entire daily drill set.

(This was simple to throw together, if anyone is wondering.)

What do I study? Armizare, Devon-do?

The term “Italian Martial Arts” works great until someone says “which one” or “what’s that?”

I wonder if there’s a name like, yanno, savate or karaté or something.

Please don’t mistake the lightness of my tone for a lack of respect. It’s just that the rest have specific names. “Combatives,” is a…

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I may have just posted this three times.

Three videos from today. Happy with three days’ progress.

I want to make the poste flow more smoothly in the transitions.

I have the sequence in the LS form, but the transitions from sottano to mezzano are still hitch-y. My stances are still too high and inconsistent. And I’m reaching some, still, from…

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Is there a single place where I can see all of the homework assignments and daily drills in one screen? I am having trouble keeping track of everything.

Video link:

Downward X drill as part of the Longsword Fundamentals course. I think it looks okay. Space is an issue; tomorrow I’m going to film the cutting drill out in the driveway. In this I think my shoulders are whack. I’m reaching really far for each cut, I think as a kind of extension of projecting the sword forward. Footwork is okay,…

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In the foundational cuts form, half cut sections, the roverso mezzani both appear to be true edge cuts in the video, and are listed as false edge cuts in the instructions…

halp?

Write down your blocks<div>

My primary blocks are lifelong struggles, and I’m not willing to inflict such a voluminous thing on the group. One that I don’t mind sharing is that all my life I have failed to achieve much success in anything despite apparently having all the tools necessary. This has led me to the unfortunate, cyclical,…

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Hey, Kevin, just found this in the email announcing the first session. You might have…

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I’ve been struggling with this, and decided to keep it very, very simple.

What are your training goals for this course? (Feel free to share your longer term training goals if you’d like as well.)

For the course: participate fully, complete all assignments, develop a practice I can sustain long term by learning how to train alone effectively.…

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Got outside in the cold just now for some flow drill action without a glass bookcase and a cat in the way. No video as it’s after dark here. I noticed I was having a real hitch in my flow in the transition from the ending sottano to the beginning fendente, so I worked that in slow motion and increased the speed to somewhere around AD…

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Cheers, Greg, and please always be picky!

Just worked on the iron butterfly drill a bit. My biggest takeaway from watching is that I feel super constrained in my living room. I’m launching fendente cuts from my ribs or waist, straight forward, to avoid the ceiling, and such. Thankfully, I should be able to get outside a little over the next few days. Glad to have any feedback!

Here’s…

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Still in progress, but I’ll be using my living room as an indoor training space. I spent some time decluttering it today, and it allows me to make a couple passing steps or a lunge and a half. Nine foot ceilings, so not complete extensions overhead, but I can throw a fendente from my shoulder without sacrificing any heirlooms or cats. I…

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Greetings all,

My name is David or Dave, your choice. I live in Vermont and have been a student twice of Devon’s in the level one intensive. When I was a kid I hung a ten foot pole by the middle and used a hockey stick to fence with it. I started with HEMA in 2014, shortly after I started collecting swords, realizing quickly that I had no…

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