Festival of the Sword | Event
Festival of the Sword
Reviews
to load big map
24.01.2022 The workshops Alexander Makarov will be teaching will be: Know your opponent. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.... Sun Tzu, The Art of War In this class we would touch some tactical aspect of fencing, with application to sparring and tournaments. In particular, ways of understanding your opponent's weaknesses and exploiting them. Level: Have some experience with sparring. Equipment: Sparring gear. You can use any weapon, but it would be good to have a matching opponent. AND Alfieri single rapier from the beginner to advanced. In this class we would cover Alfieri tradition of Italian rapier from treatise from 1640. Level: any level. Equipment: Rapier, gloves, mask, jacket.
21.01.2022 Francesca Terminiello's workshop(s) will be: Bolognese Sword & Dagger Workshop The workshop will run in two parts - principles and the assalti - Both parts will run each day that Francesca is presenting, so people can do it all on one day or part one on first day and part two on second day.... Part one In this workshop we are going to look at some basic principles as laid out by Dall’Agocchie on how to use the sword and dagger. We will also cover some of the main guards used in the Bolognese school. Part two After this we will look at application of these principles in Manciolino’s assalti, or situations where these principles and techniques can be applied. Manciolino also gives very clear advice on footwork his main principle is to be always stepping offline to put your opponent at a disadvantage. You will need: Mask, gorget, gloves, single handed sword, and a dagger with quillons and at least 25cm blade length
18.01.2022 Hi everyone! We've had a few recent inquiries about how FotS will be affected by covid-19. Firstly, there are no current plans to cancel FotS2020. ... However, this is a rapidly evolving situation and our ability to deliver the event as currently scheduled may be impacted. We want to reassure everyone that we are monitoring the situation closely and will follow all advice provided by DHHS Victoria. We are currently in the process of contingency planning, which may involve modifying, rescheduling or (if absolutely necessary) cancelling the event. We will endeavour to provide details of any decisions or changes as soon as possible to give people maximum time to make any adjustments to travel plans. We also want to assure people that if the event is to be cancelled, all registration fees will be returned. We will also be liaising with any non-Australian residents registered to attend the event over the next few days regarding their travel plans. If, as we hope, FotS2020 is able to proceed as scheduled we will be following guidance from a registered infection control practitioner regarding reducing risk of transmission at the event. Thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation.
13.01.2022 Our second international guest is Francesca Terminiello. Francesca Terminiello is lead instructor at The School of the Sword’s Godalming chapter, having studied Bolognese swordplay and rapier since 2010. She has a further interest and some experience in renaissance dagger-fighting, Bartitsu and longsword. Fran has instructed at several high-profile events in Britain, Europe and the US; and has placed in and won a number of international tournaments. As a writer, Fran has demo...nstrated, panelled and presented on historical fencing and real-world violence at various lectures and writers’ conventions, including Fantasycon and at the Wallace Collection. She was a main organiser of the International Rapier Seminar 2016; co-founded Waterloo Sparring Group in 2012, which facilitates inter-group sparring from clubs all over the south of England and beyond; is a founder of the Wessex League series of events; is a key organiser of the Albion Cup; runs the Spring Sword Workshops and Swords of Winter events; organises By The Sword an annual women’s event running since 2017; and was a founding member of Esfinges, a worldwide organisation for women in HEMA. See more
13.01.2022 Update regarding FotS2020 and covid-19. As you are all probably aware, Australia has recently increased measures to slow the introduction and spread of covid-1...9. Some of these measures will directly impact our ability to deliver FotS2020 as planned. In particular, the newly introduced requirement that all international visitors arriving from overseas must self-isolate for 14 days after entering the country will mean our international guest instructors may be unable to participate in the event. As the workshops provided by our international instructors are a key component of FotS, we feel there is no way for us to provide an event in April that would be up to the standard expected by us or our participants. For this reason, we must regretfully inform you that FotS2020 will not be proceeding as planned in April 2020. We are currently in the process of trying to reschedule FotS2020 for a date later in the year and will provide an update with further information as soon as we can. In the meantime, we will be refunding all registration payments received to this point. We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience, but recognise the important public health imperative to reduce the spread of covid-19 over the coming weeks and months. We hope to see you all later in the year. The FotS2020 organising team
13.01.2022 Over the next few days we’ll be releasing information of the structure of FotS this year. As you’ve all probably seen over in our recent posts, we’ve got some pretty exciting guests coming out, so let’s start with workshops. This year, we’ve listened to your feedback and are giving our international guests time to dig into the meat of the ideas they’re presenting through longer form workshops.... Specifically, for each of the first three days of FotS (Friday-Sunday) two of the international guests will simultaneously deliver day long, 6 hour workshops (with a break for lunch). Each of the international guests will present two of these long workshops on different days. This will mean that there will be substantially fewer 90 minute workshop slots for local instructors. Instead, we will be holding a HEMA science fair on the Saturday evening. During this session anyone with an idea they think other people might be interested in (which they can present in 5-10 minutes) will be given some time and hall space to share that idea. Participants will be free to walk around and visit as many people with ideas as they would like. Think of it as speed dating for HEMA. The intent here isn’t really to teach you something, but instead introduce you to a person and an idea, both of which you might get to know better during free-play time, or after the event. Expression of interest for 90 minute workshop slots and registration for the science fair will be open soon. Next we’ll be covering tournaments and how they will be working at FotS this year!
12.01.2022 Workshop Registration closes today! https://www.festivalofthesword.org.au/workshop2020
11.01.2022 We're accepting expressions of interest to run a workshop at FotS2020. Workshop slots will be quite limited this year and Instructors will receive discounted entry. https://www.festivalofthesword.org.au/workshop2020
10.01.2022 Our third guest instructor at FotS will be Stephen Cheney. Stephen Cheney is the instructor at Bucks Historical Longsword in Bucks County, PA, a club which focuses on the Pseudo-Peter von Danzig glosses. He has translated several early KdF related texts, some of which are featured on Wiktenauer. Before getting involved in HEMA, he came from a background in sport fencing and kendo. He is currently active in the Northeast USA longsword tournament scene.
10.01.2022 HEMA Ratings have been updated for FotS19.
10.01.2022 So, lets kick things off a bit with our first international guest this year, Alexander (Sasha) Makarov. Alexander Makarov first discovered HEMA in his native Russia back in 2007, helping to establish it in what is now one of the HEMA heartlands in Moscow. Travelling widely to compete, he settled in London and was soon winning medals across Europe. Sasha is a big believer in the value of tournaments as a means of improvement, by forcing fencers to practice what they have stud...ied under pressure in a decidedly non-cooperative environment. He has brought this experience to bear in the UK as one of the founding members and organisers of the Wessex League series, English Sidesword Open and Albion Cup tournaments. As an all-rounder competing in multiple categories, he puts a lot of emphasis on developing his mental skills. Tactics, insight, and focus under pressure are essential to fighting effectively and consistently, whatever the opponent throws at you. See more
10.01.2022 Stephen Cheney's workshops will be: RDL - Differences between similar early KdF longsword glosses The most commonly studied longsword sources in the early Kunst des Fechtens tradition are the Ringeck, the Pseudo-Peter von Danzig, and the Jud Lew. These sources are all glosses of Liechtenauer’s Zettel, and are all very similar, so similar that they likely originate from the same original gloss. However, there are several differences that are worth noting. In this class, we wil...l focus on the parts of the gloss where these three sources differ, practice those techniques, and discuss the implications of the differences. Required gear: Mask, fencing jacket, heavy gloves, feder/blunt longsword Sources: Pseudo-Peter von Danzig glosses, Jud Lew glosses, Ringeck glosses Prerequisite: Beginner friendly, nothing required, early KdF background helpful AND The Mad Hatter: Director’s Cut This class will serve as a brief introduction to one of the lesser known KdF (Kunst des Fechtens) related texts of the 16th century. A hat maker from Augsburg, in 1523 Jörg Wilhalm Hutter produced a creatively illustrated text of longsword, armored fencing, and mounted fencing, loosely following Liechtenauer’s Zettel. For this class, we will look at the Longsword segment. Forget (almost) everything you know about early KdF! You will see a lot of familiar terminology that does not mean what it means in other sources. This text represents an interesting and rarely studied period in the history of KdF based sources, between the time of the more well known Ringeck, Danzig, and Lew glosses, and the later art of Joachim Meyer. In this class, we will take a deep dive into this source, its structure, and its techniques. We will also discuss how it relates to other sources, and bring it all together with some ideas on how everything works together as a system. Required gear: Mask, fencing jacket, heavy gloves, feder/blunt longsword Sources: Jörg Wilhalm Hutters kunst zu Augsburg, Cgm 3711 Prerequisite: Beginner friendly, nothing required Each of these will run for the whole "day" slot he is instructing in.
09.01.2022 So.. Tournaments. Tournaments will be a little different this year at FotS. Not the actual matches, per se, because we're going to be using a very similar ruleset to last year. But instead, how they are organised. We like to think of it as Tournaments: Your Way. ...Continue reading
07.01.2022 We are very happy to announce that BlackFencer is the Major Sponsor of FotS this year. Pretty much all of the FotS organisers have had fantastic personal experiences with Blackfencer's products; particularly the Steel Generation line of sparring safe historical reproduction swords. We cannot recommend them enough. You can check out their products here: https://blackfencer.com/en/ In line with their position as Major Sponsor, Blackfencer have agreed to provide a relevant prize... sword for almost* every tournament this year. So you can be confident that if you are fencing in the tournaments this year, you're in with the chance to win yourself a new sword. *Note: While they offered an alternative, they don't currently have a smallsword trainer, so we have sourced a prize sword for that tournament through another sponsor.
06.01.2022 Reminder: Workshop proposals for FotS close this friday. As previously identified, workshop slots will be quite limited this year and there will be no extension on this deadline. Discounted entry will be provided to successful applicants. ... https://www.festivalofthesword.org.au/workshop2020
01.01.2022 Registration is live for FotS 2020. https://www.festivalofthesword.org.au/register Early signup ensures priority placement in Workshops and Tournaments. ... Present at the HEMA Science Fair and receive discounted entry.
