Author Archive

Team Division and Rationale   Leave a comment

A few years ago, when I was lamenting the repeatedly unbalanced state of the melees I was attending, I decided to develop a method for dividing sides so that they would be equal in practical terms, and not merely on paper. Merely alternating White Scarves can sometimes work out OK, but that can also create […]

Posted July 25, 2014 by Dante di Pietro in Melee

Minimalism and Specialization   1 comment

Unsurprisingly, it turns out that Bruce Lee might have been on to something here, so today we’re going to take a look at the idea of training a minimalist style with the goal of being highly specialized in one or two areas. This methodology is one geared toward people who are still starting out and […]

Posted July 8, 2014 by Dante di Pietro in Musings

So It’s Your First Melee….   11 comments

So, you’re about to head to your first melee event. Or third, or tenth, or whatever. Chances are that if you’re reading about how to be better at melee, then you’re probably not someone who would be considered a veteran of many wars. That’s fine: we all start there. You can’t have 20 years of […]

Posted June 17, 2014 by Dante di Pietro in Melee

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Well-Coached vs. Well-Learned   Leave a comment

This is a distinction that I find myself coming back to a lot lately, and I think that there’s a meaningful distinction between the two concepts. This is ultimately a matter of skill progression, but I think that there is some nuance worth delving into here. A well-coached person is one who can perform specific […]

Posted June 5, 2014 by Dante di Pietro in Musings

The Scarfhunter Challenge: I Wish I Had This When I Was New   13 comments

I recently unveiled an idea that I, and several others, had bounced around for a few weeks: The Scarfhunter Challenge. Right now this is a uniquely Atlantian thing, but could easily be adapted to fit any other kingdom. The short version is that we’ve made a website to track performance. When you sign up, you’ll […]

Posted April 1, 2014 by Dante di Pietro in Announcements

Learning Without A Teacher   Leave a comment

Get a copy of the Thibault manual. It was written specifically for someone with no instructor. The end. Of course, that may not be an option for you; perhaps you have your heart set on some other style, or perhaps you’re vehemently opposed to right angles. For whatever reason, you want to study something else, […]

Posted February 21, 2014 by Dante di Pietro in Musings

The Root Cause of Bad HMA   2 comments

At short while ago, I had Ruairc and Gawin over for the weekend, with the idea that they would do well with a couple of consecutive days of focused training in their Italian rapier pursuits (Fabris and Giganti, respectively). I expect they shall write about that experience in detail, but during the course of the […]

Posted February 13, 2014 by Dante di Pietro in Italian Rapier, Musings