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Fight
School
School of the
Soldier
"The Old Ways"
Renaissance CQC w/ Brad Waller
German Longsword w/Josh
Little
Bartitsu: the
Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes
Highland Broadsword
w/Chris Thompson
Fight School
When ?
Mondays 7:30-9pm, 8 weeks,
new session starts 1-07-08
Where ?
River Valley Complex,
605
Main Street, Leaf River, IL 61047
Who ? Allen Reed, Instructor
$$ ? First class
FREE! $50 due second session Our space is limited, so please preregister by phone or
e-mail.
Throughout European and American history,
students of the martial arts have come together to train -- in
German Fechtschulen, London Maisters of Defence, salles
d’armes of old New Orleans, and on up to modern storefront
dojo. Here we combine traditional European and American
techniques with Oriental combinations into a coherent and powerful
system for personal defense in 21st-century America. This
class will include empty-hand and weapons defenses against armed and
unarmed attackers. Participants should be at least 18 years of age,
and relatively fit.
Supplies/Equipment: Wear comfortable workout clothing, including
long-sleeved heavy-duty sweatshirt and gym shoes. Men should wear a
cup. Showers and lockers will be available.
#-#-#
School of the 19th-Century Soldier
March 29, 2008
$50 until March 1; $100
thereafter and at the doah, suh!
Lunch included
9am - 5pm
River Valley Center, 605 S. Main St., Leaf River IL
Nineteenth Century Bayonet, with Patrick
Bailey
Class will concentrate on the system imported to
the US by George McClellan, but will also feature an overview of the
complimentary systems of Burton, Hutton, and Angelo. Practical
instruction will include basic stances and attacks, parries, and
scripted drills. If time permits, the guards against cavalry will be
explored against the mounted saber techniques taught in the other
section.
Sabre Exercise, with Michael Pennock
A class
in American military saber of the nineteenth century. In this class
we will be working with the Mounted Sabre Exercise as it is
presented in Poinsett’s Cavalry Tactics of 1841 and Cooke’s
Cavalry Tactics of 1862. We will work through the Exercise
and explore the concepts behind mounted combat from a martial arts
perspective.
Since we will be conducting
the Exercise, each student will require a saber simulator or, at a
minimum, a 1" dowel rod about three feet long. Part of the class
will consist of slow-speed pairs drills, so students will want to
make sure that saber tips are properly blunted or covered and that
all blades are dulled for safety’s sake.
The Exercise will be conducted on foot as it was initially taught to
recruits, so there will be no need of horses.
Bowie Knife, with Allen Reed
Many Civil War
soldiers were photographed posing with a Bowie knife, and many sword
and knife makers of the time made and sold Bowie knives to soldiers
from both the Union and the Confederacy.
Yet very little is known of how these famous knives were used in
combat. This class will work on examining how these big deadly
knives could have been used in close quarter combat.
Required Gear for all sessions:
–
hard-lensed safety/shooting glasses or standard fencing mask
– a
6-ft., 1"-diameter dowel rod
– a blunt saber simulator or
3-ft. dowel rod 3/4" to 1" in diameter
– men must wear an
athletic cup
Some gear will be available on a loaner basis.
Suggested gear: leather work gloves or
equivalent, fencing mask or closed face martial arts helmet.
Historical uniform or costume is encouraged but not
required.
#-#-#
"The Old
Ways"
Workshop in Renaissance
Close-Quarter Combat
with Brad Waller
April 26-27
$100 until April 1 no foolin'!; $150
thereafter & at the door
Lunches included
8:30am
- 5pm both days Each day jam-packed with
action!
River Valley Center, 605 S. Main St., Leaf River
IL
The weekend would be dedicated to learning the breadth and scope
of the historical martial art that is used by Marozzo and many of
the Medieval and Renaissance Masters of Defence. The
foundation of these systems is often assumed by the manuals
themselves. Our two days together will explore this vast and
comprehensive relationship -- Marozzo Pressa 1-22, Durer Counter
1-120. We will give special emphasis to developing a process
to interpret how these techniques work together as a system.
There is more material than I think we can get through in two short
days. We will work hard, move quickly, and most of all have
fun in our celebration together of this art form. I look
forward to working with
everybody.
--Brad Waller
For a very detailed syllabus, download this .PDF
Required equipment:
--Rigid eye protection or fencing
mask
--Trainers: dagger, single-sword, and
longsword
--Men must wear athletic cup.
About the Instructor: Brad has been a
teacher and fight director with The Shakespeare Theater (Washington
DC). He has produced the International Paddy Crean Workshop with
such cultural institutions as The Shakespeare Theater, The
Smithsonian Institution, The Folger Library, The Shaw Festival, The
Stratford Festival (Canada), and the Banff Centre for the
Arts.
He
is a certified teacher of stage combat with the Society of American
Fight Directors, and an Honorary Member of Fight Directors
Canada.
Brad is an internationally recognized scholar in 16th-Century
fighting systems. In 1995, he was guest curator of "The Sword and
the Pen," an exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library exploring the
relationship between combat and drama. He hopes to eventually raise
the money to mount an expanded version of the show at the Globe
Theater in
London.
Brad
is the Founder, and serves on the Board of Directors, of the
International Order of the Sword and
Pen.
He
enjoys gardening with his two kids, Lillian and
Alan.
#-#-#
Safe in the
Assault:
A Defensive
look at Liechtenauer’s Art
with Josh Little, Ars Gladii
June 21-22, 2008
$100 until May 22; $150
thereafter and at the door
Lunches included
9am - 5pm both
days
River Valley Center, 605 S. Main St., Leaf River IL
This two-day seminar will examine the old axiom "hit without
being hit," and how Johannes Liechtenauer’s art of the Longsword
encopasses this ideal. Appropriate for beginning and experienced
students alike, this course will work through the fundamentals of
Liechtenauer’s teachings as presented by "Döbringer," Ringeck, and
Von Danzig, with overall emphasis on defensive tactics. We will be
examining stance, movement, timing, strikes, thrusts, and
deflections – all with the idea of "hitting without being hit."
For this course, students will need a sound 3-weapon fencing mask
(or other comparable head protection – no open faces!), a pair of
gloves (preferably padded like the Revival Light Sparring gloves),
and a Longsword simulator. Simulators should be made of metal
(rebated steel or aluminum) instead of wood, as wood distorts some
of the actions we will be reviewing. I will have a small number of
masks and aluminum swords available for use at this class, but
please bring your own or borrow a friend’s, if such is available to
you. Men must wear athletic cup.
About the instructor: Josh Little is the founder and
principal instructor for Ars Gladii
(http://www.arsgladii.com), a historical fencing group from Detroit,
MI specializing in German Medieval martial arts. Mr. Little has been
studying swordplay for the last 14 years, with the last six
dedicated towards Liechtenauer’s (and other German masters)
teachings. Mr. Little is a regular instructor at the Cumann Bhata
"Recretional Violence Weekend" (sic!) seminar, where he has
taught classes on the Longsword and Dagger. Mr. Little holds a BA in
Philosophy and Medieval History from Western Michigan University.
# # #
Bartitsu:
The Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes
with Tony Wolf
One day only: September
27, 2008 -- 9am-5pm
$75 until September 1; $100
thereafter
In the year 1898, an English gentleman named
Edward William Barton-Wright created the "New Art of Self Defence"
that he called Bartitsu. His New Art was a combination of street
savate, jiujitsu, scientific boxing and walking stick fighting,
designed to beat the fearsome street gangs of Edwardian London and
fin de siècle Paris at their own dastardly game.
Bartitsu was the first martial art to combine Asian
and European fighting styles. It was later incorporated into the
Sherlock Holmes stories, and was used by Holmes to throw his mortal
enemy, Professor Moriarty, to his doom from the top of Reichenbach
waterfall.
This class provides an intensive, practical
grounding in this fascinating system, as it was taught between
1899-1903 at the Bartitsu School of Arms and Physical Culture in
London's Shaftesbury Avenue.
Canonical Bartitsu refers
to "Bartitsu as we know it was"; the self defence skills and
sequences that were specifically presented as Bartitsu by
Barton-Wright and his associates between 1898-1904. Neo-Bartitsu
refers to the creative, modern application of the art: "Bartitsu as
it can be today".
We will begin with warm-up exercises taken from the
19th century "physical culture" repertoire before exploring the
underlying principles and tactics of Bartitsu, via lessons in the
unique combination of fighting styles that made up Barton-Wright's
arsenal of tricks.
This class will include:
• a selection
of the original self defence sequences represented in
Barton-Wright's classic 1902 article series, "Self Defence with a
Walking Stick"
• examples of both the canonical and
neo-Bartitsu blends of jiujitsu, scientific boxing, street savate
and stick fighting.
We will also examine some of the
combat and hold-up tactics used by turn-of-the-century gangsters and
the counters developed by self-defence masters of the
period.
For further information on Bartitsu, please see
http://www.bartitsu.org.
REQUIREMENTS:
Participants in this class will need a sturdy walking stick, cane or
dowel of approximately 33-37" length. Fencing masks will be
useful. Gallowglass Academy requires groin protection for men,
and recommends it for women.
About the
Instructor: A veteran of the martial and
performing arts, Tony Wolf has worked as a martial arts instructor,
professional wrestler and fight director/stunt co-ordinator. Between
1988 - 1994 he developed his original Wolf System of
performance/combat exercises, which has been taught to actors,
martial artists, stunt performers and stage combat specialists
throughout the world.
Tony's fight direction and action design have been featured
in over 200 feature film, television, theatre, opera and ballet
productions. Between 1998-2000 he served as the Fighting Styles
Designer for Peter Jackson's Lord of the
Rings trilogy and in 2002 he toured Japan performing
fights for the Washington National Opera's production of
Otello, starring Plácido
Domingo.
Tony regularly teaches a range of master-classes and seminars
for martial arts associations, universities, stunt teams, acting
academies and performance conferences throughout New Zealand,
Australia, the USA, Canada and Europe.
He serves as the editor for the
EJMAS: Journal of Manly Arts, a scholarly
online journal focusing on the martial arts and combat sports of the
Victorian and Edwardian eras. In 2005 Tony edited The Bartitsu
Compendium, a complete history of E.W. Barton-Wright's "New Art
of Self Defence," and in 2006 he edited a revised and expanded
re-publication of A.C. Cunningham's 1912 manual, The
Cane as a
Weapon.
Tony is a member of the advisory panel of the
American Heritage Fighting Arts Association, an Acknowledged
Instructor with the Historical Maritime Combat Association, a member
of Western Martial Arts Illustrated
magazine's editorial board and a founding member of The Bartitsu
Society.
# # #
PDF flyer
Highland
Broadsword
w/Christopher Thompson,
The
Cateran Society
October 18-19, 2008
9am - 5pm both days
$100 until Sept. 21; $150 thereafter and at the
door
Lunches included
River Valley Complex, 605 S.
Main St., Leaf River IL
We will study the 10 principles of the Highland broadsword and
targe, as derived from Thomas Page's "Use of the Broadsword" from
1746. The targe (a small round shield) is a weapon of control and
suppression more than defense. By the end of this seminar you will
understand how to use the targe to suppress and control your
opponent's weapons, allowing you to rapidly close in for the kill.
Required Gear:
– singlestick, cudgel or training broadsword
– small shield of 18"-24" diameter
– athletic cup for men
– gloves and head protection (fencing mask, etc.) highly
recommended
Some gear will be available on a loaner basis .
Christopher Thompson is the author of Lannaireachd:
Gaelic Swordsmanship, a training manual on the use of the
Highland broadsword, and of Highland Knife Fighting: With the
Dirk and Sgian from Paladin Press. A resident of Peaks
Island, Maine, Thompson is president of the Cateran Society, a
national organization that promotes historical fencing with Highland
weapons.
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