Hi everyone, your friends at The Vancouver Swordplay Symposium (VISS) have great news: The Quincentenary will now be held on May 27th thru 29th 2022. It will still be at Academie Duello’s beautiful facility in downtown Vancouver, BC. We are still having our same four core instructors
- Roberto Gotti from Guardia di Croce in Brescia, Italy
- Rob Rutherfoord from the Chicago Swordplay Guild in the Windy City
- Ken Harding from European Martial Arts in St. Louis
- Devon Boorman from Academie Duello in Vancouver.
While the ongoing coronavirus epidemic means things can change, the pattern of the current omicron surge indicates it should be in the rear-view mirror within a month or two, so we feel confident that it will be a non-issue by late spring.
There are so many exciting and unique features to this event that we wish to share. One that I am particular excited about will be our Coffee & Assalto Track.
Each morning we will begin two different Assalti, one utilizing the Two-Handed Sword and one focusing on the single handed sword. These elaborate forms have been passed down directly from the Bolognese masters and like the kata of Eastern Martial Arts they contain much of the principles of the Bolognese Art of Fencing.
These forms are particularly suitable for Marital Artists of all levels:
- For beginners the assalto introduces them to the basic strikes and defenses of the art and flow that comes from the raising and lowering of the sword.
- Intermediate practitioners can unlock the tactical ideas contained in them as well as challenging their ability to control their explosiveness and the tempo of their actions.
- For the advanced student these forms contain many subtleties of motion in how the body and weapon interact, as well as the chance to develop one’s own particular style in the art.
All the forms can be done solo or with a partner, so they are perfect for exploring how to attack and defend, how to invite or feint. And they are even better for when you just want to crank up the music and dance with your sword.