Reading Group
Gradings galore at Reading tonight as Josh, Chris and Simon prepared to level up. At SOTS we have gradings at 30, 200 and 400 hours of study, the last two involving multiple fights and written pieces. Our senior students put in a huge effort, with Simon and Josh continuing their assessments this weekend at our anniversary event. Great work all!
It was another busy night at Reading tonight, with students able to choose between two streams of learning.
Josh and Simon continued their work on single rapier, whilst Dan looked at Dall’agocchie’s single sidesword and how to win a fight in 30 days! (shortened to just 90 minutes!)
It was the start of new streams in Reading tonight. Josh and Simon took students through some single rapier, whilst Dan took his students through some single sidesword, looking at Dall’agocchie.
They also held an equipment bring and buy sale.
Tonight saw our regular Reading training night Two streams with multiple streams for senior students to choose from based on their own weapon preferences or learning path. James took students through some Marozzo Bolognese while Josh continued his lessons on Fabris’ rapier and dagger
It was a special night in Reading last night, as the school saw not one, but four students rise to the rank of Laureando.
Laureando is the second exam students at the School can take after the initial safety test (to make sure they are safe to spar). This is typically after 200 hours of study and some experience of teaching others.
Daniel and Phil from our Reading chapter were joined by Kristian and Luis from Oxford and untook a number of bouts with a variety of weapons ending in an exchange against a weapon he hadn’t encountered before.
Congrats to all involved. It’s taken a lot of hard work.
We celebrated our 20th anniversary with HEMA clubs from all over the south of England this weekend. It was a wonderful day with lots of smiles, fights, and catching up with friends. Many thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us, we look forward to fencing you again soon!
📸 Richard Sullivan & Charlotte Barlow
This year sees the 20th anniversary of School of the Sword, and whilst we’re planning a year long celebration with most of the activities in the summer, next month we will be hosting a freeplay session, open to members of other schools, followed by a meal in Reading in the evening.
For full details and booking information, please consult [THIS LINK]
Monday night saw the addition of new studenti after Paul, Magnus and Lenny passed their safety test and rose from the rank of Candidati.
After many weeks of hard work learning, Paul, Magnus and Lenny have shown that they have understood the foundations of swordplay and are now ready to engage in a wider range of training as a Studente.
Congratulations to all of them.
What with the pandemiic it’s been a long time since the school had a proper social. That all changed on Friday night when members of all chapters gathered in Reading for a night of food, drinks and sword related chat. It was good to catch up and meet members from other chapters we’d not encountered before. Thanks to Josh and Jubie for opening their house to us all.
Due to the current extreme heat the country is experiencing, this week’s training at Reading is cancelled. It’s difficult not to dehydrate in protective gear at the best of times and with the forecast temperatures due to reach around 40 degrees, conditions in the hall will be far from comfortable. Training will resume as normal next week.
