The 2017 Vancouver Swordplay Symposium is just a few weeks away! This year’s workshop schedule is carefully designed so that you can dive deeply into the subjects of your choosing with as few schedule conflicts as possible.
As an example, here’s what a longsword-focused schedule could look like:
Friday
In the morning, you can begin with day 1 of Christian Tobler’s German longsword intensive to train the basics of Liechtenauer’s system. After that, you have a choice of region: you can choose Paul Wagner’s “Silver vs. Liechtenauer” to learn how Liechtenauer’s art compares to the swordplay of George Silver, or you can join Sean Hayes’s “An Introduction to Armoured Combat” to explore the early Italian tradition (even if you don’t have armour!). After lunch, you can join Devon Boorman for day 1 of the Italian longsword intensive.
Saturday
On Saturday, you’ll build upon Liechtenauer’s basics in day 2 of Christian Tobler’s German longsword intensive. After lunch, Sean Hayes’s workshop “One with the Sword” will help you train fundamental body mechanics that apply to longsword systems from both Italy and Germany as well as other forms of swordplay. Afterwards, you can return to Devon Boorman’s Italian longsword intensive for its second day.
Sunday
On Sunday morning, day three of the two longsword intensives will come together in a joint class taught by Devon Boorman and Christian Tobler. In an extra-long 210-minute class, you’ll learn similarities and differences between the two arts as well as ways of dealing with an opponent who doesn’t operate within your system of fighting. If you can’t make it to that class, Paul Wagner’s “Longsword vs. Broadsword vs. Smallsword” in the late morning can help you understand how longswords relate to other types of weapons. Finally, after lunch, you can learn practical tactics and strategy with Sean Hayes in “The Positional Theory of Combat Strategy.”
All in all, if you want to dedicate your VISS to learning all about the longsword, you’ll get to participate in 22 hours of longsword seminars in one weekend! It’s all part of the VISS philosophy: we want to reach a new level of depth in the seminar format, all in the pursuit of mastery.