My lovely wife is pregnant with twins and the first trimester officially ends on Thursday, February 25, 2010. Of course, you want to see the pictures and I won’t deny you.
Baby Pictures
Here is the latest Ultrasound from this last Thursday:
[caption id=”attachment_1205″ align=”aligncenter” width=”300″ caption=”Our twins at Week 11. (Click for …
Fencers? Cocky? Never!
[caption id="attachment_1184" align="alignright" width="300" caption="William provides Italian sabre feedback at WMAW 2009"][/caption]
I recently witnessed an Internet discussion on fencing that rapidly degenerated into bad blood. Using my best sarcastic voice, I hereby state, “It may surprise the world to learn that fencers are notoriously cocky and prone to …
(12/16/2009)
[caption id="attachment_1114" align="alignright" width="156" caption="Don Luis Pacheco de Narváez"][/caption]With the Ettenhard translation rolling out we have been getting some requests on what material a fencing instructor should teach during a Destreza class. Rather than provide my own answer, it might be useful to look back to the living tradition. In …
(11/3/2009)
LINK TO ARTICLE 1
LINK TO ARTICLE 2
LINK TO ARTICLE 3
LINK TO ARTICLE 4
Degrees of Strength in the Weapon
The amount of physical power you can exert with a sword varies along the length of the blade. The part of the blade closest to your sword-hand has the most mechanical advantage and …
(10/12/2009)
After WMAW 2007 I prepared this Italian rapier flowchart to explain some of the possible actions when executing tactical drills with a student.
[caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Italian Rapier Flowchart (Click for High Resolution)"][/caption]There are things I would change about this chart today. This flowchart does not include actions like attacks …
(10/12/2009)
After WMAW 2007 I prepared this Italian rapier flowchart to explain some of the possible actions when executing tactical drills with a student.
[caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Italian Rapier Flowchart (Click for High Resolution)"][/caption]There are things I would change about this chart today. This flowchart does not include actions like attacks …
(10/1/2009)
LINK TO ARTICLE 1
LINK TO ARTICLE 2
LINK TO ARTICLE 3
Hand Positions
In the Italian tradition the hand positions are notated as first, second, third and fourth. While this is concise, it doesn’t provide any information that guides the student to the correct position without additional explanation. When grasping a sword, we …
(9/28/2009)
[caption id="attachment_794" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="Image from Swetnam"][/caption]
“…yet regard chiefly the words rather than the Picture.” ~ Joseph Swetnam
First, a postulate is to maintain or assert that something is self-evident. It is part of the fundamental element or basic principle of a logical argument.
Second, a primary source is an original text …
(9/6/2009)
With WMAW next week, I am going to do the blog equivalent of a punt and direct you to the fencing blogs of some friends of mine.
Chris Holzman is a classical Italian fencer whose book The Art of Dueling Sabre is coming out very soon from Swordplay Books. His work …
(8/31/2009)
LINK TO ARTICLE 1
LINK TO ARTICLE 2
Other Martial Traditions
In Aikido the term “Ma-ai” refers to the distance (or interval) between two adversaries. Distance in Aikido is set by your adversary’s ability to strike you. If the adversary holds a weapon like a knife, Ma-ai distance is increased to account for …
