Monthly Archives: May 2016

31 05, 2016

Winchester Interclub Sparring Day – 21st May 2016

2016-05-31T19:38:28+00:00May 31st, 2016|Events|

On 21st May Winchester freestyle martial arts hosted an interclub sparring day, featuring members from the School of the Sword, KDF Bournemouth and Portsmouth British Martial arts club.

It was a great day with nylon and steel, lessons and sparring, and a host of different weapons. There was a very friendly atmosphere and everyone learned something new. We look forward to attending future events.

20 05, 2016

Godalming Training – 18th May 2016

2016-05-19T14:03:15+00:00May 20th, 2016|Godalming, Rapier, Sword & Buckler|

Another busy night in Godalming on Wednesday with three simultaneous training streams running.

Beginners worked on voiding and movement. The sword and buckler group carried on with their tempi work whilst the rapier group worked on perfecting the cavazioni.

19 05, 2016

Reading Training – 16th May 2016

2016-05-19T13:56:36+00:00May 19th, 2016|Rapier, Reading, Sword & Buckler|

It was the final week of our 6 week beginners’ course this week who’ve made such excellent progress since they started.

Lorcan continued with his Bolognese stream on counter attacks and Stewart ran his second week of the basics of Giganti Rapier.

16 05, 2016

Cutting Clinic – 15th May 2016

2016-05-15T13:38:25+00:00May 16th, 2016|Events|

Obviously, for practical reasons, we don’t fight with sharpened blades.  The bladesmiths that we use are renowned for making their weapons feel and handle as close to the real thing as to be almost indistinguishable.  However, there really is no better way to test your cutting than by cutting with a sharp.

On Sunday a number of our students attended a seminar hosted by our good friends at Waterloo Sparring Group.  The Cutting Clinic was lead by Tristan Zukowski, a HEMA longsword instructor from New York who had students from a number of local schools testing their cutting against tatami mats.

Thanks to WSG for a great event!

15 05, 2016

Saturday Sparring – 14th May 2016

2016-05-15T13:23:17+00:00May 15th, 2016|Dagger, Godalming, Rapier, Reading, Sword & Buckler|

Our regular Sunday sparring got swapped to a Saturday this week due to another school’s event on Sunday.  Students from both our Godalming and Reading Salles came together to spar and practise for upcoming competitions and tournaments.

14 05, 2016

School of the Sword Brings Ilkka Hartikainen to UK

2016-05-13T13:55:21+00:00May 14th, 2016|Events|

The School of the Sword is Proud to Present: Ilkka Hartikainen Seminar – On the Bolognese Single Sidesword

Saturday 27th August 11am-5pm, Godalming.

The School of the Sword is proud to announce this one day seminar, delivered by Ilkka on the Bolognese single sidesword, drawn from several sources with a particular focus on the Anonimo Bolognese. Ilkka is recognised as a world-leading exponent of Bolognese fencing, and will be presenting his work for the first time ever in the UK.

This event will be open to students from other HEMA schools.

Ilkka Hartikainen began studying historical European martial arts in 2001 and discovered the rich early renaissance fencing tradition of Bologna in 2007. The Bolognese sidesword soon became his main focus and since 2010 he has taught regular classes in Helsinki, where he is the head instructor at the Espoo Association for Historical Fencing. Every year Ilkka travels around the world to speak and teach on 16th century Italian martial arts. 

Currently multiple groups in Finland follow Ilkka’s method and he is working together with other enthusiasts of Bolognese tradition to bring the style back to life. Recently he has concentrated on creating an accessible core system for the sidesword based on the works of Achille Marozzo, Giovanni dall’Agocchie and the Anonimo Bolognese. From here his focus will shift to the other weapons and disciplines in the texts, looking at the tradition as a unified, complete martial art. Ilkka is the founder of Marozzo.com, a website project dedicated to sharing information on Bolognese fencing, and works as a user interface specialist when not training or teaching swordsmanship.

Registration and payment details will go live in June.  Please keep an eye on the website or the Facebook event page for more details as they go live

 

13 05, 2016

Godalming Training – 11th May 2016

2016-05-13T13:43:28+00:00May 13th, 2016|Godalming, Rapier, Sword & Buckler|

The members of of our Godalming salle were treated to a special guest tonight in the form of Tristan Zukowski, a HEMA longsword instructor from New York, who is over to run a seminar at the weekend.

In the single rapier group students worked on finding the sword and its application to the lunge.  The sword & buckler group continued their work on tempe in what was described as a “sweaty fighty session”.

10 05, 2016

Reading Training – 9th May 2016

2016-05-10T20:57:53+00:00May 10th, 2016|Rapier, Reading, Sword & Buckler|

It was the start of a couple of new training streams in Reading on Monday night.  Stewart took the rapier group through the basics of Giganti single rapier, whilst Lorcan lead the bolognese stream through some Manciolino counter attacks.

Meanwhile the beginners worked with Adrian and Matt on bringing various elements together with some drills cutting to a live target.

9 05, 2016

Sunday Sparring – 8th May 2016

2016-05-09T11:08:23+00:00May 9th, 2016|Dagger, Godalming, Rapier, Reading, Sword & Buckler|

With tournament season soon upon us, the School of the Sword has increased the regularity of our sparring sessions.  They’re a great chance to practise what we’ve been learning in our classes, re-familiarise ourselves with weapons we’ve maybe not been training with recently, as well as try out various tournament scenarios.

There was a good turnout on Sunday with a good mix of weapons and a lot of really useful feedback shared between fencers.  As always, we ended the session with a trip to the local pub.

8 05, 2016

FREE Have-A-Go Day

2016-05-07T20:50:37+00:00May 8th, 2016|Events, Godalming|

Are you interested in what we do but not sure if historical fencing is for you?  If so, then you’ll want to keep Sunday 12th June free, as The School of the Sword is having a FREE Have-A-Go Day!

Drop in to Broadwater school between 10am and 12noon for a glimpse of our weekly training in historical fencing. Join in and have a go for yourself; learn some basic swordfighting, hold steel weapons, see the sources we use to train Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). Or just have a chat and ask us anything you like.

“I wasn’t very fit or active and wasn’t sure it would be my kind of thing… How wrong could I have been! Four years later and sword fighting has given me the motivation to improve my fitness and strength as well as being a mentally stimulating activity. I am forever grateful to the friend who dragged me along to that first session!”
Lizzie, Instructor at The School of the Sword

“I enjoy the history of it, the people involved and the fitness. Best workout I have ever had.”
Leslie

“Sword fighting has given me confidence, power and the pursuit of post-apocalyptic skills! But truly the confidence one gains by fighting people bigger and stronger than you is amazing. You feel like nothing is impossible”
Callie

“I do this to keep my body healthy while challenging my mind. I love how it’s an entire chess game played in a matter of seconds.”
Amy

This is open to anyone 18 and over (15 and over with an attending guardian). People of all ages, sexes and fitness levels train with us at our classes.

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