If I were sent back in time to the Renaissance period and was forced to defend myself with a sword, there’s no question that I would die. But, thanks to Samba Days and Academie Duello, at least I’d have about 10 seconds or so of glorious swordplay / running away before bleeding out.
Samba Days offers both private instruction and group lesson packages with Academie Duello in their Explore and Action & Adventure package listings. As a Sambassador, I received a gift card for the Explore package, which includes either one hour of private instruction, or eight group lessons with the Taste of Renaissance class. I chose the latter and finished my last class on Thursday.
Samba Days Package
I think my favourite part about blogging is the mail I get. (In case you haven’t heard it enough) I LOVE getting mail! And I read it all too! While most of it’s via e-mail or through my Contact Page (which ends up in my inbox), every once in a while I get something through snail mail, and that’s doubly exciting because it usually means it’s something extra special.
Instead of calling up Academie Duello to arrange the sword fighting lessons, Samba Days sent me the gift card by post so that I could go through the process of using a gift card like their customers do. Even though I knew it was coming, I was still super excited to see it in the mailbox! I called up Academie Duello and booked the Taste of Renaissance package for October (Tuesdays and Thursdays for one month).
Taste of the Renaissance: An Eight-Class Beginner’s Course
Walking into Academie Duello for the first time was a tad intimidating. I felt completely out of place as I looked around at the walls of medieval weapons, corners with old torture devices, shelves of fantasy books, and a bunch of guys wielding swords. A wave of geekery like I have never known swept over me, and I felt like turning back around and out the door. I’m glad I didn’t.
The receptionist there is really nice (and female — smart move Academie Duello, smart move!). She gave me the run-down on the place: combat area, change rooms, showers and washrooms, and a library / sitting area above. I filled out the liability waiver forms, logged my registration on the touchscreen attendance sheet, and entered the combat area.
Longsword
Our first class began with introductions to our instructor (Greg), Assistant (Kat), and our fellow students (a total of six in our class: four male, two female). The first half hour of every class was spent learning new positions / movements, and reviewing what we learned in the previous class. Then, we would join the other more advanced classes for swordplay practice with rotating partners — sometimes playing games like “wrestling” or what I call “crab tag” beforehand* — followed by stretching / cool down.
I learned a fair bit about how to attack and disengage using a rapier sword, but we also had two classes devoted to the sidesword and longsword. My favourite of the three is the rapier only because it seems to require better technique and mastery, so I have a greater appreciation for it. The longsword comes in at a close second for being a weapon that requires both hands (my wrists would be sore after holding a rapier up for too long and I kept bruising myself while swinging around the sidesword), and also for making some pretty spectacular and flinch-worthy sword cutting sounds during combat.
Some classes were better than others, and I think a lot of that had to do with the student mix. All of the instructors were really helpful, but I found that the classes I liked best were ones where I knew a friend (turns out, the pharmacist who used to work next to my old workplace takes sword fighting classes) or where my class had more than one girl so I had a partner I was comfortable “wrestling” with. The best class was one where there were two girls in my class and we all got a fantastic workout practicing attacks and disengagements with the rapier sword. My least favourite was the fourth class when a guy who I had practiced with several times before asked “is this your first class?” It was pretty bummifying since I thought I had gotten better by then.
At the end of eight lessons, we were tested on our swordplay skills and knowledge. My mind would always wander when we were being taught the names of the different positions and the history of different techniques, so I was pretty sure I was going to fail miserably. Imagine my surprise then when they called my name as one of the three people in our testing class of five that actually advanced to ‘Green Cord’ (the first of five levels). I am officially trained in the fundamentals of swordplay! En garde!
Lunge Order: Terza, Seconda, Lunge (still in Seconda)
Tips for the Aspiring Swordsman / –woman
- If you’re unsure about whether you want to spend the money on a month’s worth of classes, you can arrange a free drop-in group class. You would be grouped in with the Taste of the Renaissance class.
- Wear dry-fit clothes to class. I really don’t understand how some people fight with jeans and dress shirts on. It can get really hot in the studio — treat the classes like a workout session.
- This is more of a courtesy suggestion: wear deodorant. Man alive, the place can really stink at the end of a class! Play nice.
There are a lot of tips for the actual sword fighting (look through the hilt when attacking, keep the pressure on the back leg at all times unless lunging, keep your side protected when in ‘terza’ position but always keep the tip of the sword up and aimed at the opponent etc.), but I should really leave all that to the instructors at Academie Duello. They’ll do a much better job of explaining all the different positions and techniques than I could in a single blog post.
If you’ve ever considered trying swordplay, take a look at Samba Days’ Academie Duello packages, or on the Academie Duello website. Academie Duello also offers some really interesting programs on horsemanship (with real horses!), a night where they let everyone play with sharpened weapons against slabs of meat and fruits, and other fun stuff (including archery). It’s pretty impressive that they offer so many unique classes. Based on the hands-on and very helpful feedback from both instructors and fellow classmates (everyone is really nice!), I would definitely recommend Academie Duello to anyone interested in swordplay, or even a fun workout (they have a hard-core workout class too).
*When we were asked to “wrestle”, it meant partnering up and holding each others’ necks and elbows while pushing and pulling to navigate one another. The “crab tag” was a game where everyone was scattered throughout the room and we would squat and pivot around like crabs to try and tag others. It was actually a lot of fun!
