Monday night saw another busy training session in Reading, filling the sports hall at Academy Sport with three streams of training.
Matt & James worked with the beginners on their 6 week course covering the foundations of swordplay, Christophe took the Bolognese class and Pim continued his work on tactics in rapier & dagger.
Sunday sparring this past weekend was in Reading where a number of students turned out for a couple of hours to put techniques they’d learned at training into practise. We tried out a new venue that proved perfect for the size of the group.
There were also a number of weapon disciplines in play including, rapier, rapier & dagger, single sidesword and sword & buckler.
One of the things School of the Sword is known for is our events. The International Rapier Seminar that we hosted back in April was a massive success, and back in August we brought Ilkka Hartikainen on his first official visit to the UK for a packed sidesword workshop.
You might ask what we’ve got planned next? The answer is the Broadwater Bucklerthon, an informal sword and buckler tournament aimed at people that have never made a quarter final in any weapon.
It’ll take place on the 19th November at Broadwater School in Godalming (same location as our previous events) 13:00 – 17:00
If you’ve started to wonder what tournament fighting is like, if you’ve sparred with your clubmates and want to try fencing to a ruleset, competing against others, then this event is for you.
Only ten pounds gets you an exhilarating day of fun, fighting and the chance to win your first medal using synthetic weapons and Bucklers. There will also be a steel invitational tournament for those who’ve placed in tournaments already. The competition will be followed by a social dinner at a local pub, come and join us for a fantastic day.
Minimum kit: gloves, mask, gorget, chest protector, jacket, back of head
Recommended kit: knee, elbow, shin protection, groin guard
The tournament will run in a king of the hill format: winner stays on. Judges/scorekeepers will record who won and who lost each exchange to be totalled up at the end to see who goes through to compete in quarter finals.
There will be a maximum of 10 people to a pool. Fighting will last for 60 minutes or to 60 bouts – whichever comes first. Competitors will have numbers attached.
Scoring will be as follows (note this is much the same as the system used at the International Rapier Seminar recently)
clean hit = win,
double/afterblow = both lose and next pair on
The judge may ask fencers to confirm using an honour system. Each fencer will be allowed one protest if a score goes against them but good sportsmanship will be encouraged i.e. honesty about hits received
The judge will confide good technicality to the scorekeeper and the competitor with the most technical points will win a technical prize.
Register here, the cost of entry is £10 https://manager.dojoexpert.com/student/register.aspx?g=ac026bad-9056-4936-9ff1-94e2504e705b&j=
There was a good attendance at Godalming on Wednesday for our regular training session with a number of our Reading students making the trip for a bit of extra tuition.
Pim continued his work with the rapier group, whilst Lizzie progressed her Bolognese stream through attacks from Manciolino. Fran and Lynette took the beginners through the foundations of swordplay as they work their way towards their safety test.
