Swordplay in Asia: Beijing, Taipei, and Beyond

News from the road: a weekend of teaching in Beijing, our first instructor intensive in Asia, and where I'll be teaching across Taiwan and the Philippines over the coming weeks.

I'm writing this from Taipei, fresh from a wonderful weekend of teaching in Beijing. Over the next five weeks I'll be teaching across Taiwan and then in the Philippines. It's exciting to see the growing community of Duello Armizare practitioners on this side of the world, and to have the opportunity to share our approach to swordplay with new groups of martial artists.

Bringing Italian Swordplay to Beijing

Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching a group of enthusiastic swordfighters in Beijing at a school that practices both HEMA and bohurt (full-contact armoured combat).

The school has a lovely space inside an indoor mall, complete with a board game café. It was fun to see a little of the Academie Duello Vancouver playbook reflected halfway around the world!

The school primarily practices German swordplay, so it was a pleasure to introduce the group to some of the principles and approaches of our Italian Duello Armizare tradition. We focused on the fundamentals of control, how to shut down double hits, and then moved into some fun work on feints that both establish control and exploit the control an opponent has taken.

A special shout-out to Duello Armizare student and teacher TB, who was superb to have in class and an absolute pleasure to fence with.

Taipei: Our First Instructor Intensive in Asia

From October 23 to 27, I'll be spending five days with the students and teachers of Sakura Sanguines, our Duello Armizare school in Taipei led by Tai Lee, for an intensive week of rapier, longsword, and instructor development.

When I taught in Taiwan last year, we were already planning my return for a week-long instructor intensive and certification program, so it's a real pleasure to see it come together. This will be our first instructor certification intensive in Asia, an exciting milestone for Duello Armizare and the growing international community of schools and teachers bringing this tradition to life.

These intensives are always a rewarding experience for me. Five full days together lets us go much deeper into the technical, tactical, and teaching elements of our art than is possible in a weekend workshop.

Where I'll Be Teaching Next

After the intensive I'll be travelling around Taiwan, then heading to the Philippines:

• October 29, Taichung: a workshop with Cold Steel Lab
• October 31, Tainan: a return to the Chi Mei Museum for exhibition tours and two weapons workshops
• November 7, Taipei: a public workshop on fighting with two swords
• November 8, Taipei: Marozzo's sword in two hands, from the fundamentals of the two-handed sword through his assault
• November 16–20, Cavite, Philippines: a five-day Level 1 Instructor Intensive in rapier and longsword

Registration and information for the intensives is available here.

Train Along From Home

If you can't make it to Asia, you can still work with some of this material at home. I've brought new bonus lessons to DuelloTV from my workshops at this year's Western Martial Arts Workshop (WMAW), including two-sword fighting, sword and rotella, and deceptive rapier fighting. They're free to watch with a free DuelloTV account through December 31.

Watch: WMAW Workshop Reviews on DuelloTV

It's been a fantastic start to my time in Asia, and I'm grateful for the chance to connect with swordfighters around the world. I'll share more stories from the road in the coming weeks.

If you'd like to host me for a workshop, or run a Level 1 intensive for your group, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy training!