Jay Maxwell is the recipient of the 2016 Scholarship Award.
The award is given to a student who has shown great technical ability and awards them with the school sending them to an international competition to represent The School of the Sword. Jay was sent to the Helsinki Bolognese Open back in November where he progressed to the Quarter Finals.
Ian Morley is the 2016 winner of the Dagger of Honour award.
Given annually to an outstanding student, Ian has proved himself to be more than a worthy recipient. He has acted as the school’s quartermaster arranging T-shirt orders for those on our 6 week beginner’s course. He’s also organised orders for wicking shirts as well as those for various events we’ve either attended or helped organise. He also took on managing the dues, taking a register of students at both Reading and Godalming events, invoicing students for training attended, and then subsequently chasing up payment.
As part of his award, Ian gets to look after the dagger for the next year.
Congratulations, Ian.
It was the last training session in Reading for the year on Monday, which could mean only one thing… our annual Bring-A-Weapon Party.
Students brought every weapon they could lay their hands on from small swords & montantes, through boken and bo staffs, to weird and wonderful from science fiction & fantasy. Students who felt brave could pick weapons from the hat of doom which lead to weird and wonderful (and entirely one-sided) match ups.
We ended the evening with a melee where it wasn’t exactly clear who was on which side at any given time.
Last Wednesday we officially welcomed and celebrated three of our “crossover” members, students who trained elsewhere before, or alongside their training with the School, with some excellent fights in their investiture assessments.
Part of the exam was a technical display which all three brought their own fighting expressions into. Well done to Mark, Lynette and James!
Monday saw our regular training session in Reading with multiple streams of training on offer to our students.
Matt continued his work with the rapier stream on rapier & cloak, Pim looked at deep targets with sword and buckler in the Bolognese stream, and Stewart worked with the students who recently passed their safety test.
The School of the Sword has a long record of producing excellent fighters. A large part of this owes itself to the fact that we spend a long time on the fundamentals. When new students join us as candidati they spend many weeks learning the cuts and guards of Bolognese swordsplay, demonstrating control and efficacy. Only when they are ready do we put them through the safety test where they pass to the rank of Studente and can partake in our main training streams.
It takes some work and dedication to reach that stage so naturally, we’re very proud when we see students progress.
Congrats to Dave, Kip and Steven for being the latest additions to the Studenti
Our exploits at the recent Reading Comic Con made it onto the GetReading website. Reporting on the event we not only featured in their gallery (where we get called the Swordsman School for some reason – we can assure everyone we have a whole spectrum of genders in the school) but also in a little video as well.
Thanks to everyone who came and helped as well as the members of the public who came and watched us fight and asked us a load of great questions!
It’s that time of year where many of our candidati who started back at the end of summer have reached the stage where they are ready to take their safety test.
The safety test is an in-house examination where the student must demonstrate control, efficacy and knowledge of the cuts and guards of bolognese swordplay. Only upon passing this will our candidati rise to the rank of studente where they will be able to partake in our other streams of training leading to full sparring.
Jake and James are the latest of our Reading candidati to pass the test and rise to the rank of studente. Congratulations to both of them for putting in such hard work and dedication
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We never tire of seeing our students progress. It’s a sign of their hard work and dedication. 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 Wednesday night, Sarah and Luke became the latest of our students to join the ranks of the Studente. Congratulations to both of them!
Another busy night in Godalming on Wednesday night with a lot of study on guards, including a quiz for the beginners.
Pim took the Bolognese group whilst Lynette went through Fabris with the rapier & dagger group. Meanwhile, Fran worked with the beginners working towards their safety test.
