The overall theme tonight in a very energetic Godalming class was measure. Some excellent progress was made by both the beginners’ group with Sword & Buckler, and the seniors with Rapier & Dagger
Another busy night tonight with the different groups splitting into 3 different rooms once we were taken through an excellent new warm up by Chris that had us shooing chickens.
The beginners group continued their foundation work and were rewarded for all their hard work with some of the seniors coming in to showcase some sparring to them. The intermediate group continued with sword and buckler, a couple of them joining the seniors for some sparring at the end. Finally, the seniors continued their work on Fabris rapier & dagger, focusing on proceeding with resolution.
Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and there were lots of reports of progress being made! See everyone next week!
We were in another hall at the school tonight due to a one-off school event in our usual one.
The beginners group continued to work toward their safety test whilst the seniors had chance to admire Ian’s new headgear before making progress with rapier and dagger!
Wow, what an incredible night we had in Reading!
We took in an influx of new beginners bringing our total number to 42 for the evening. They started with the basics that will be the foundation they will build upon.
In the intermediates, Andy and Chris both passed their safety test. Congratulations to both of them.
The seniors continued to work on proceeding with resolution but found time to give recently safety-test-passed James his first experience of fencing with steel.
A great night was had by everyone and there was a real buzz as everyone left. Thanks to Mark, Chris & Paul for taking photos of the night!
Senior students from both groups gathered in Godalming this past weekend for a special seminar on Fabris from senior instructor, Phil Marhsall.
Salvatore Fabris was an Italian fencing master whose treatise, Lo Schermo, overo Scienza d’Arme, was a bestseller, being reprinted for over 100 years.
For 6 hours, they contorted themselves into the various guards as they went through a number of techniques. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the session (though there were some reports of a lot of aches in the days that followed) and the day ended with a social in town.
Our Reading group was recently in the news again with this great piece on the GetReading website talking about our training and new introductory courses.
Not only does the article feature a quote from instructor Fran but it also gives some nice background to HEMA by embedding the Back to the Source documentary that many of the school feature in.
Be sure to check it out!
In Godalming, this week, the rapier group worked on expanding their toolbox by looking at the use of the sword in rapier and dagger, while sword and buckler had a technical class prepping for the safety test.
We were back at Rivermead Leisure Centre this week which is likely to be our home until at least Xmas.
The beginners group went off to the dance studio to work on sword and buckler whilst the seniors contorted themselves into the various Fabris guards of 1st and 2nd. There were a few of aches reported the following day but everyone agreed it was a great session.
There are deafening cheers coming from both Godalming and Reading tonight as we are very pleased and extremely proud to announce that School of the Sword instructor, Piermarco (Pim) Terminiello, has successfully defended his rapier & dagger title at Swordfish this year, taking the gold medal in the tournament for 2015
His opponent, Kristine Konsmo, put up a fantastic fight showing not only great swords(wo)manship but great sportsmanship as well! She certainly didn’t give Pim an easy fight!
In six years of rapier competitions at Swordfish, School of the Sword has won three times – twice to Pim and once to senior instructor Phil Marshall in 2010
Congratulations to all this year’s medallists!
As you may be aware, one of the biggest tournaments in the swordfighting community, Swordfish, is taking place this weekend in Sweden. It’s a prestigious event, considered by many to be the closest we have to a world championship.
We’ve just received word that School of the Sword instructor, Piermarco (Pim) Terminiello, has made it through to the final of the rapier & dagger final where he will be facing Kristine Konsmo. Best of luck to both competitors!
Pim is the defending champion, having won the competition last year. He’s previously won bronze at Swordfish in the discipline.
Naturally we’re all very proud of Pim and will be cheering him on whilst watching the Swordfish livestream tomorrow night.
