The Third Annual 30-for-30 Swordplay Challenge

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a good holiday and looking forward to the new year as much as I am. This year I’m hosting the third annual 30 for 30 Swordplay Challenge and I wanted to invite you to be a part of it.
You’ve heard of 30-day yoga challenges. Well, this is much cooler. I’m a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions to help me kickstart my new year with a boost of energy.
The challenge: Practice swordplay for 30 minutes per day for 30 days in January from the 2nd to the 31st. This requires no experience and is open to newbies and experts alike!
What’s involved: What you do is up to you. It can include swordplay classes, or practicing at home. Every day a new video exercise will be posted here on the site for your practice. You can choose rigorous conditioning or gentle drilling. What you want to do is create a new habit to help set the tone for the coming year and become slightly more awesome.

I’m coordinating the challenge through Facebook. You can join our group here to learn more and then share your daily progress with the community as well as connect with others.

Daily Solo Drilling

If you’re practicing mainly on your own, we’ll be posting a new drill everyday on DuelloTV to help inspire your solo practice. Drills will be posted for rapier, sidesword, and longsword and can provide a base for even more rigorous practice.

Succeeding at a 30-Day Challenge

At first 30 minutes per day may seem easy. However the real challenge is not doing 30 minutes, but get to 30 minutes everyday. Many habits are easily derailed by the business of modern life. To stay on track I recommend:

• Have an overall goal. What do you want to get from your 30 days?
• Do your 30 minutes early, or schedule them with a friend, to make sure they happen.
• Start with 5 minutes. You can always break your 30 minutes up through the day and 5 minutes is always an easy start.
• If you miss a day, don’t postpone it, just don’t sweat it. The best thing to do if you fall off the wagon is to just get back on to it as soon as possible. Don’t try to make-up your debt, just don’t fall further behind.

I hope you’ll join us in January! Remember, meaningful changes happen in small steps—that start right away.
What excites you about the challenge? What scares you? What will you be doing for practice? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Devon