Hello everyone,
Tom Leoni and I are pleased to announce that we have the National Historical Swordsmanship Convention (NHSC, pronounced "Nisk") website up. The event will be held July 5-8 at the Virginia Academy of Fencing, just south of Washington DC.
This year's theme:
The Judicial Duel. Classes will revolve around the context of this historical trial by combat, and there will be lectures on historical laws and customs as well as methods of historical training and fitness regiments. Tom Leoni in particular will be bringing his extensive and fascinating research of the duel in Germany and Italy to the table, giving students an important insight into a central pillar of these martial arts.
Like last year, we will be using the martial arts methods from 15th and 16th century sources for both the German Liechtenauer school and the Bolognese school of fencing, where each class builds off of the previous ones in a cohesive manner.
We will cover the unarmed, dagger, the messer, the Bolognese spada da filo (what many today call a "sidesword"), the quarterstaff, the spear, poleaxe, sword and shield and the 16th century spadone (great sword). Also like last year,
students will get the opportunity to handle antique weapons and armor. This is a great opportunity that few people get to experience, and gives a new perspective to the arts we practice.
Most important to this event is the training methodology. This event is not just a collection of techniques, but rather an integrated learning enviroment where you learn how to make the art "your own". You will be learning drills to help you go from beyond memorizing techniques to truly internalizing these martial arts and bringing the skills to the table in your fencing.
New to this year are a few notable things:
-We are happy to announce our special guest instructor will be
Christian Tobler, who will be teaching the techniques of
German poleaxe for armored combat.
-As the above announcement implies, this event will have opportunities for students to integrate armored combat skills into their training. Armor is not at all required for this event, but if you have it, then you should bring it!
-The event is now four days, with a specific theme for each day (see below). You can register for all four days (which is encouraged, and is the most economical), or you can register per day if you can't make all four days. Registration is not yet open, but will be shortly!
Please visit our website at:
www.vafinc.com/nhsc.php, and "like" our Facebook page!
