It was a busy night last Monday with a good level of focus and study in all three training streams.
Lorcan worked with the beginners learning Manciolino’s assalti. Adrian took students through the last part of his buckler lessons and Stewart continued his lessons on Giganti Rapier.
We had a bumper crop of nine beginners on Wednesday, along with special guest Alyssa Tan visiting from Malaysia to try sidesword for the first time.
The bolognese group worked at flow speed in this merciless heat, building up to tactics against leg cuts.
Rapier group began work on single rapier, studying attacking from distance and controlling the blade.
It was another hot night last Monday resulting in a very hectic, sweaty training session.
The Bolognese group continued their work on the buckler whilst the rapier group continued with Giganti. The beginners group continued to prepare for their safety test.
When students start as Candidati with The Sword of the School they spend many weeks working on the fundamentals, getting a solid foundation that will carry them forward as they progress through the school. To become one of our Studenti they have to pass our safety test.
In order to pass the safety test students must demonstrate control, efficacy and knowledge of the cuts and guards of bolognese swordplay.
On Monday night, Andrew became the latest of our students to join the ranks of the Studenti. Congratulations Andrew!
It’s been a great weekend for our fencers competing in the Astolat HEMA Open these past couple of days culminating in the school bringing home seven medals against stiff competition.
Congratulations to the following:
Also an honourable mention to Chris Hartley who narrowly missed out on a medal after losing to Jay in the Sidesword & Buckler finals.
Everyone (whether they came away with medals or not) had a great weekend and hope that the event will become a regular addition to the tournament calendar.
This weekend HEMA fencers from across the world have gathered in the UK for the Astolat tournament. School of the Sword students have competed in a number of disciplines.
Against a very high standard of fencing, a number of students have progressed to quarter finals in Rapier & Dagger, and Sword & Buckler which will take place on Sunday.
Congratulations and best of luck to Pim, Matt, Jay, Lynette, Chris. Sasha and Maria.
With Astolat taking place this weekend, studenti at our Godalming Salle put the evening to good use by doing some tournament practise by way of some judged exchanges. We were joined by special guest and renowned fencer, Kristofer Stanson.
Meanwhile, Lizzie worked with the beginners on the foundations of sword fighting, progressing them towards their safety test.
It was our regular Reading training session on Monday night, with students ignoring the humidity and working hard in all three streams.
Matt worked on tournament practise with the rapier and dagger group, whilst Adrian continued his lessons on use of the buckler and Fran and Simon guided beginners towards their safety test.
Our Reading salle saw another of our candidati pass their safety test on Wednesday night.
In order to pass the safety test students must demonstrate control, efficacy and knowledge of the cuts and guards of bolognese swordplay.
Congratulations to Sarah who rises to the rank of Studente and will now be able to progress to taking part in many of our other training streams as well as full sparring.
With the Astolat tournament just a week away and many of our students competing, our weekly sparring saw attendance from members from both Godalming and Reading. It gave them a good chance to put in some extra practise as well as try out a few strategies and techniques.
