The great thing about a leap year is that it means we can get an extra training session in. Despite a lot of regulars suffering from the latest bug doing the rounds, we had a very healthy turnout. Another group of beginners passed their safety test, Mark took the Bolognese group and the Montante group worked as a study group trying to figure our four cuts along one line.
On Sunday a number of our students met up for an informal sparring session. There were a number of fun weapon combinations from Sidesword & Dagger through to Sabre vs Sword & Buckler as well as Montante vs multiple opponents.
It’s a busy time for our beginners groups at The School of the Sword. After many weeks of hard work learning the foundations of swordplay we’re seeing a number of students ready to take the safety test that they need to pass in order to progress onto sparring and other training streams.
Congratulations to Ann, Morgan and Austyn who on Monday night became the latest members to pass their safety test and rise from the rank of Candidati to Studente.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Another good turnout at all levels on Monday night with students making some excellent progress. The beginners were busy putting the finishing touches on their form ahead of their safety test, the Bolognese group were studying lunge mechanics and the Rapier & Dagger group went through tournament judging.
