Tag Archives: HEMA

20 May 2023 Training Journal

Sword Class A small group of us meet early on Saturday, in remembrance of our late teacher, Bancroft, to work on the swordplay he taught us. This week we held a sword class where we covered knife and how it relates to our sword training and blade vs empty hands-training. We wanted to check ifContinue reading “20 May 2023 Training Journal”

6/7 May 2023 Training Journal

Saturday started a little differently as I woke up with a back spasm. Which was probably a result of some grappling. This meant I missed sword sparring. After rehab exercises and some yoga flows, I could train in and teach my class. KORA Class We did a quick ten-minute review of some things James, myContinue reading “6/7 May 2023 Training Journal”

2022 KORA Research Group Review

2022 was supposed to be the year we got out, and about a little more, visiting friends in Ireland, Amsterdam and Spain, but not all our plans came together. Sword I progressed with my Ilustrisimo sword training over the year but still struggled to get it right 100% of the time; I dropped my stickContinue reading “2022 KORA Research Group Review”

16/17 July 2022 Training Journal

The training program for today should have been Ilustrisimo sword training. The plan was to do an hour of Sera and then an hour of clinch work. What we ended up doing was me training sword work solo followed by two hours of Sera; that’s how it works out sometimes, you pencil in a programContinue reading “16/17 July 2022 Training Journal”

9 July 2022 Training Journal

Third group class back after six weeks off due to holidays and research in Spain. Minimal numbers this week as lots of people are either away or dealing with emergencies. Bancroft came early, and we worked about an hour and a half on the Ilustrisimo sword. We got to train outside instead of my garageContinue reading “9 July 2022 Training Journal”

25 June 2022 Training Journal

Back to class after four or five weeks off doing research and some travel to Spain. The first class back is all about getting back what I call class conditioning. Experience has shown me that you lose a bit of conditioning every day you are away. A PTI in the military once told me thatContinue reading “25 June 2022 Training Journal”

Testing your mettle

Testing your mettle was a reasonably common combat arts term when I was growing up because as you went through your training until you had been in a combat situation, you were regarded as untested. Being untested is not actually a bad thing at the beginning of your journey, but at some point, you eitherContinue reading “Testing your mettle”

KORA Class Update

I have had many inquiries about training post-pandemic, so I thought it would be easiest to post my current class. I currently teach two separate arts; the first is Sera, a Pukulan Silat system. Our branch comes to us via Earnest (Ventje) De Vries and is currently more of a closed door, friends and familyContinue reading “KORA Class Update”