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I've seen students haltingly muddle through each and every motion of a technique, attempting to perfect it while in progress. I also see them judging the quality of each stage, and judging themselves, long before such judgments are necessary or useful.
Devon Boorman ·
Rhythm is the most important thing to cultivate on the path to mastery. Whether you leverage our online course or simply get started with your own practice ritual, start making those little steps. Five minutes of real practice time honours your commitment more than hours of good intentions.
Devon Boorman ·
There are many techniques, tricks, and traps one can employ, with relatively little practice, that will score you some hits on mediocre fencers. The challenge is that none of these approaches provide a base for later excellence.
Devon Boorman ·
This is not an article about not giving help, it’s simply about being effective and constructive with the help you offer. If you truly want to help those around you grow, which I’m sure you do, find ways to do it that genuinely create the outcome you want.
Devon Boorman ·
The key to being able to catch a ball—or to parry a sword blow, or strike a moving target—is giving your brain enough exposure to the problem in its many permutations, and then identifying the patterns in what works or what doesn't.
Devon Boorman ·
It takes practice to meet challenges, recover from failures, and take stock in growth. I think one of the most valuable things that martial arts, and the rituals that surround them, can offer us is the opportunity to have this practice.
Devon Boorman ·
Over the month of January Academie Duello and Duello.TV hosted a 30-day swordplay training challenge. Along with weekly groups of practical exercises we posted daily training advice on topics as broad as physical training, recuperation, discipline, psychology, and mastery. I thought it would be useful to compile them here for reference.
Devon Boorman ·
In the path of mastery I see tournaments as a tool to help challenge, inspire, and expand one's practice. They're not for everyone, and they're a poor end in and of themselves if your goals are long-term and martial. To fit tournaments into the mastery journey it helps to step outside of their inherent structure and make them work for you.
Devon Boorman ·
Cultivating the competitive spirit is often used to drive one to harder training and to overcoming one's opponents in a game or tournament. Yet, if it's based in making negative comparisons to others, I think competition is something you should let go of for your long-term growth and health.
Devon Boorman ·
I am often asked why people practice martial arts or why I practice swordplay specifically – considering it’s unlikely that I’ll be in a life-and-death sword fight anytime soon. The fulfillment I get from martial arts is both richer and deeper than a simple practical outcome.
Devon Boorman ·
