Godalming was invaded by a carload of students from our Reading salle on Wednesday night, keen to further work on their skills. Beginners continued their work on the form with one of the group completing their safety test. The Bolognese group looked at Manciolino’s true edge on true edge binds whilst the Rapier & Dagger group continued their work on the various Fabris guards.
A lot of fun and hard work by all groups with a lot of good progress being made.
Courtney Rice, a co-owner of Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly, and the photographer at Knockout Photography is currently trying to raise some funds via Kickstarter so she can come and instruct and take photos at the upcoming International Rapier Seminar that School of the Sword is hosting.
She’s offering some awesome rewards including high-resolution wallpapers and (for attendees) a portrait of yourself at the event. She’s made some amazing early progress but is still short of her goal.
If you can help, please support her Kickstarter
It’s always gratifying when, after some hard work and dedication, one of our Candidati passes their safety test. This shows they have understood the foundations of swordplay and are now ready to engage in a wider range of training as a Studente.
Congratulations to Abby who not only passed her test at Godalming on Wednesday Night but did the form with both her left AND her right hand. Impressive stuff!
It goes without saying that Monday night was another busy session with three streams of training. Our beginners worked on finessing the form ahead of the next batch of safety tests, the bolognese group continued their work on sidesword and the Montante group had a look at some Di Grassi.
The folks from GetReading came down to our training in Reading on Monday for an article they have published on the school.
If you’re interested in the school and want to see some pictures and video of what we do, check out the article on the GetReading site.
If you’re interested in joining us, we’re currently looking to start a new beginner’s course in Reading in early April, so be sure to register your interest as places fill up very fast!
The steel swords we use for training and competition are specially made. Whilst they are as accurate as can be in terms of weight and feel to the originals, our blades are blunt and sated with a lot more flex than the originals they are based upon so we don’t seriously injure each other swordfighting.
There is a worldwide cottage-industry devoted to making weapons for use in HEMA. Many of our members have preferred makers and will commission special designs for their weapons.
Jay recently got the chance to visit one of our favourite swordsmiths, Danelli Armouries, to get his hand measured for his next sword. We look forward to seeing it when it is complete.
There might have been a lot of building work going on at the school on Monday night but that didn’t stop our students turning out in force for another focused evening of training.
The Rapier & Dagger group continued to go through the guards of Fabris whilst Pim continued his series of lessons on Sword & Buckler. In the beginner’s group, Abby managed to do the form with both her left and right hand!
We had a large turnout on Monday for the start of a new block of teaching for our Studenti. Lizzie started teaching the long awaited first lesson on Montante whilst Mark was teaching a class on bolognese cuts. Meanwhile Lorcan and Matt took the first of a batch of candidati through their safety test. We also had the press from GetReading in attendance.
A busy night with lots of different disciplines, a lot of focus and a lot of fun!
School of the Sword is happy to congratulate our three latest members to pass their safety test. On Monday evening Chris, Robert and Megan became the latest students to pass their safety test and progress to the rank of studenti.
We spend a lot of time when members first join on fundamentals. As candidati they spend several weeks learning the fundamentals of bolognese swordplay: the cuts, guards and principles. Only when we think they have the right level of control and proficiency with the blade do we put them through their safety test. Upon passing that, members join the rank of our studenti where they are able to exchange and have access to a wider range of training within the school.
Chris, Robert and Megan have put in many hours of dedication and hard work. We look forward to encouraging their continued progression through the school.
We continued with our three training streams at Godalming on Wednesday night. Lizzie continued work on the form with the beginners, Fran took the Rapier group through some thigh-stretching Fabris guards, and Pim took the Sword & Buckler group through Manciolino’s strette at the half sword. We worked so hard we ran out of time for sparring or a circle debrief at the end.
