Consulting Swordsman
Are you thinking about starting a crowdfunding campaign? Then this post is for you. Crowdfunding is both an extremely useful and effective way to raise funds for a project, and a deadly trap in which your reputation can be permanently destroyed. It is also a rather new development, and therefore many people are trying it for the … Read more
For many of us, there is no need to even think about why we would train in the Art of Swordsmanship. It is simply an irreducible desire, like the way many people want to have kids. But we all know someone for whom our passion for the sword is inexplicable, just as we all know … Read more
One of the many joys of having kids is their charming misconceptions about how the world really works. For example, both my daughters love driving my car. When bringing them home from daycare, as we get off the public road and onto our parking area, I often take them one at a time onto my … Read more
Swordsmanship practice is inherently dangerous. The study of risk has been developed to the nth degree over the last five hundred years or so. For an excellent overview, see Against the Gods, the remarkable story of risk, by Peter Bernstein. (Thanks to my friend Lenard Voelker for sending me a copy!). The assessment of risk … Read more
“You remember that which you are ready to learn.” I say this a lot. I was teaching a one-off intro class last night which included a very basic cutting drill (donna destra-longa-zenghiaro-longa-donna; i.e. mandritto fendente, roverso sottano) and having established the pattern of movement, then drew their attention to various aspects of it: first initiating … Read more