Musketeer Highlights June 2019

It’s that time of the month again where we honor the Musketeers that have been doing excellent work for the Sword Experience. With the help of these wonderful individuals, the Sword Experience continues to be the best fitness and travel event around the globe, because our Musketeers hail from all over the world!

Our top Musketeer in June is Priscilla Manriquez. Priscilla is a long time Musketeer who has attended many of our Sword Experiences. She is active on social media and runs her own fan Facebook page, constantly interacting with our social media team, retweeting and shouting out the website. Thanks to her active participation online, she has shared the message of the Sword Experience to countless people and as a result has brought new participants to several Sword Experience adventures.

Thank you, Priscilla, and keep up the hard work.

 

Like every month, it is always a difficult decision as to who is the top Musketeer of the month, so we have two honorable mentions.

First up is KioneFarish. Kione is a relatively new musketeer from the United Kingdom. She has been doing fantastic work promoting our European events on social media and has generated buzz for our Irish and English experiences.

Thank you, Kione. Your work has not gone unnoticed.

 

Our second honorable mention is Claudia Mehelm. Claudia is one of our most valued Musketeers. Claudia, a German Musketeer, helped us put together a very successful Germany trip last year and continues to be a proactive member of our online community by engaging with our social media and promoting our various events.

Thank you, Claudia. Hopefully, we’ll see you at this year’s Germany retreat!

If you didn’t see your name on this month’s top Musketeers list, fear not. Each month we will shout out those Musketeers that continue to do great things for the Sword Experience. Just continue to actively participate in our various social media outlets and keep spreading the word about the fantastic benefits that the Sword Experience has to offer.

Sword Culture

We at the Sword Experience wish to continue to be your best source for all things sword and sword related. We’ve asked one of our favorite Musketeers and sword maker Chris Fields to talk about The Perfect Sword as a serial piece for our blog. In this week’s blog post, Chris discusses the various swords throughout history and reminds us of the practical uses of various swords from their specific periods.

Chris Fields has been training in martial arts and various forms of swordsmanship for 29 years, and instructing for 23 years, including choreography for stage, theater, and film. Critically acclaimed for his choreography work in the St. Petersburg Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet and Richard III, he has worked in several independent film productions and film festivals throughout the Southeast. Chris is also a sword maker and smith of 25 years, and owner of Sterling Armory, providing quality functional swords for various industries. When not working on swords and martial arts, Chris is a Senior Aerospace Engineer working for Honeywell Aerospace, a NASA subcontractor and affiliate.

The Perfect Sword Part 3

In our quest for the perfect sword, it is wise to look back throughout history and see and understand how swords developed, why they take the shapes that they do, and how they fit the functions they were designed to serve.

If we look at the history of swords from all over the world, a great variety of shapes, sizes, and designs are present. Everything from single-edged curved two-handed swords, all the way to double-edged short single hand swords, and everything in between. Wide blades, narrow blades, fullered blades, diamond-shaped cross section blades, even blades with no sharp edges but only a sharp point, numerous amounts of designs exist.

So, why is this? Well, at the most basic level, you can take each sword design and attribute it to a relatively small number of variables that drive its design. These variables include the materials available, the armor it has to pierce, whether used with a shield, or on horseback, and finally, cultural influences, traditions, and art of the time.

Another fundamental trait that most people forget or may not realize is that swords, for the most part, were never primary weapons. They were typically the secondary sidearm that backed up either a spear and shield or lance or another sort of primary polearm or in later years, a firearm weapon. A typical trait for most cultures that cannot be forgotten when thinking of various swords and sword designs throughout history, and it adds much-needed context to different sword designs.

Materials available are most likely one of the main driving forces in designs, especially of early swords of the Bronze Age and early Iron Age. When you see an original bronze or early iron age sword, a few things might surprise you. These blades are typically very short (less than 25″), extremely flat, but have a very large ridge, or ribs, that run down the length of the blade. These ribs were required to stiffen the blades as the material of the time wasn’t strong enough or able to produce a flexible enough blade as the lengths increased.

This can be found in blades from ancient China to ancient Greece, and even amongst the ancient Celts. Greek hoplite swords, falcatas, Egyptian khopeshes, Celtic swords, and Shang to Han Dynasty swords all have these similar traits. These thin and light blades could cut through the mostly fabric armor of the times or exposed areas of the body behind the shields.

Another common trait of these early bronze blades is that they all lacked any substantial guard for the most part. Mainly because these types of swords were almost always used with a large shield of the period, and not designed to be used by themselves. Hand and arm protection were provided by the shield, and the sword did not require a guard as we typically think of a sword guard today. And to reiterate, these swords were secondary weapons, backing up the primary spear or polearm weapon for most cultures, and spent most of their time hanging from a belt on the warrior’s side.

What is a Sword Experience Retreat?

The Sword Experience has many different events that we offer. In our previous blogs, we’ve talked about the Con Experience and the Elite Experience, but what exactly is the Sword Experience Retreat? The Sword Experience Retreat isn’t just about physical fitness and sword choreography. The Sword Experience Retreat is a travel event like nothing you have ever experienced before. The goal of our retreat is to give you time to learn sword choreography and technique in a unique and fascinating location, a more relaxed version of our Elite Experience that takes place over several days. Our intention for the retreat is to open your world view to new experiences and cultures while also gaining valuable physical fitness skills at a relaxing pace.

Our first retreat in Belize was a smashing success. Participants in our Belize event had a blast with our numerous daily activities planned out throughout the week that included fitness, joint mobility, snorkeling, and sword training. The culmination of their training ended with a choreographed fight set against gorgeous Mayan ruins. These retreats allow you to fully immerse yourself in the Sword Experience for several days while creating a relaxing travel experience that you will be talking about for years to come.

Coming up very soon is our retreat to Ahrensburg, Germany. Each retreat offers a unique travel experience, and our Germany retreat is no exception. Join Adrian Paul as he trains you in the art of sword handling, fight choreography, and physical fitness with the gorgeous Ahrensburg castle as the backdrop for your travel adventure. Participants in this year’s retreat will get to have a movie night with Adrian Paul, where you will watch Highlander: Endgame featuring choreography that you will learn on your retreat. Pick Adrian Paul’s brain with an exclusive Q&A after the movie. Most importantly, though, experience the fantastic food and culture that Germany has to offer in this unique travel event. Hopefully, we’ll see you in Germany this year for the Sword Experience Retreat, and for those of you that cannot make it this year, keep your eyes open for a next retreat and join us for what is sure to be a best fitness and travel event that you will ever experience.

Thanks for Another Successful Con

The Greater Austin Comic Con was yet another successful Sword Experience Con Event for this year. We’re thankful for every one of you that attended. Adrian had a fantastic time sharing his knowledge of fight and stunt choreography with you all. Of course, the best fitness and travel event in the globe is only strengthened by a fantastic Sword Partner, so thanks again to Anthony Buonomo for being a wonderful addition to the Sword Experience team.

Spotlight

We here at the Sword Experience strive to be the best source of information for all things Sword related, so we asked one of our favorite Musketeers to write a little about what goes into making the perfect sword in a continuing series. Chris Fields has trained in martial arts and various forms of swordsmanship for 29 years and been instructing for 23 years, including choreography for various stage, theater, and film. Chris is critically acclaimed for his choreography work in the St. Petersburg Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet and Richard III, as well as various works in independent film and film festivals throughout the southeast. Chris is also a sword maker and Smith of 25 years, and owner of Sterling Armory, providing quality functional swords for various industries. When not working on swords and martial arts, Chris is a Senior Aerospace Engineer working for Honeywell Aerospace, a NASA subcontractor and affiliate.

 

The Perfect Sword – Part 2 

So, what is your perfect sword? Well, to answer this question, we first need to ask what we plan on doing with your specific sword. Historically, there were countless types, shapes, and designs of swords, all to fit various functions. So, what functions does your sword need to serve? This is where The Sword Experience guides you. The Sword Experience that Adrian Paul has created teaches a very strong foundation in choreography techniques, and exercises, which draws from various forms of sword combat from all parts of history. It’s a fantastic blend of sword techniques that takes various choreography styles from theater, film, and martial arts, and blends them into one system that is relatively easy to learn and follow as well as an easy foundation to build on. So, what kind of sword is best suited for this class? A real sharp steel blade? Well… your partner may not agree with that. Even if they did, you wouldn’t be happy the first time one of you misses a beat in the choreography.

For the last 27 years, we have been developing various types of swords for various functions. From live steel sparring blunted swords to wood and aluminum training blades, to real steel historical recreations that match the original pieces in museums down the specific measurements. Each type of piece serves a much different purpose.

What Would You Consider The Best Qualities For A Sword used at A Sword Experience Event?

You might say it needs to be lightweight, comfortable in the hands, able to be used with two hands and can take a beating, with hours of sword on sword contact. It should also be safe to use against your opponent’s blade. Some people also may think of maintenance, it should be easy to maintain. After all, these aren’t Hollywood fantasy swords made from unobtanium! So, what fits these specific criteria? Adrian introduces students to the wooded or synthetic bokken. This is the perfect choice for the task at hand. Not only is the wooden bokken a historical tool for swordsmanship all throughout history, but the Sword Experience also takes this sword up several notches as they make available on their website several options for your perfect sword with custom handles and wood selection types, which allow you to personalize your own sword. The wooden bokkens are made by Texas Steel Props and are beautifully handcrafted to your design choices. These bokkens are built extremely tough and are easy to maintain, and safe to use with any partner in your Sword Experience class. You may have seen these custom bokkens at your local Sword Experience class.

Other Functions For a Sword.

Texas Steel Props and Sterling Armory can also provide these, or at least point you in the right direction if we cannot. An example of a different function, are pieces that are made for live historical reenactments. These typically require real steel blades, made as accurately to the originals as possible in form and function, including heat treatment of steel, but still made blunted so they can be used for either historical reenactment choreography, or actual historical martial arts sparring and combat. These blades serve a much different function and are therefore made to withstand the actual environment of steel on steel combat. They require a bit more maintenance than your average wooden bokken. However, they too are not indestructible, and a high degree of skill and experience is required to use these blades properly, with proper technique to not overly damage or break them. Not surprisingly, the best way to make these blades is very similar to how they were made in historical times. Care must be made in construction that they are not overly heavy or poorly balanced. This can only be achieved by deep study and hands-on experience of actual historical blades.

Theater or Film Choreography.

For this function, we typically make aluminum props, sometimes steel, to be used to appear as real blades in form, but be closer to bokken in actual function. What sets these apart often from both bokken, and many real swords is they are required to look like a real sword, have a good sound on impact, but be safe to use and easy to maintain. Aluminum swords can be brought to a high polish and be very hard to distinguish from a real steel blade, but maintaining that mirror polish is much harder than something like a satin finish, which can be maintained with typical scotch bright pad, especially for heavily used swords that see a lot of choreography. In many ways, these types of swords are just as hard to make as real historical steel blades, as care must be taken to ensure rounded edges are designed and engineered all over the piece and special construction methods are required to make the blades have that classic “ching” sound on impact, which is often dubbed in film, but can’t be dubbed for live theater and performances. Again, these are very durable props, but they are not indestructible, and care must be used, as well as good technique, and experience, to use these swords without damaging them. For instance, aluminum swords should be able to be used with wooden or synthetic bokkens assuming the edge thickness of the aluminum swords is thick enough, but aluminum swords should never be used against steel swords, even of the same design.

What is the Elite Experience?

You’ve already learned about the Con Experience from our last blog post, but many of you may be wondering what the differences are between the various experiences the Sword Experience offers. The Elite Experience is one of the most unique travel events we offer. Join Adrian Paul as you train in the art of sword handling and sword choreography on the grounds of spectacular locales. Past Elite Experiences locales have included castles, historic rail yards, and Japanese gardens. Included in your ticket is an epic five-hour training experience focusing on sword fighting techniques, targeting, and fight choreography from a film or television series. Your fight will be recorded by a professional photographer and videographer that will capture every epic moment.

The Elite Experience isn’t just about physical fitness. It’s about the unique travel opportunity that it presents. Join us this June in Limerick, Ireland and explore all that Limerick and King John’s castle has to offer. Learn the fight choreography from the 1938 cinematic classic, The Adventures of Robin Hood. After Ireland, we’re bringing the Sword Experience to the Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, England. Join us on July 7th as Adrian Paul teaches you the fight Choreography from the BBC show The Hollow Crown. We’ve had rave reviews from past participants. One of our previous Elite Experience had this to say; “It exceeded my expectations, and I went in with high expectations. Calling it an Experience is exactly what it was. This isn’t a panel at a Con, a seminar on swords and choreography, or a meet and greet. It was an experience where you actually learn and perform skills that you can build on if you choose to.” So, don’t miss out on a unique fitness and travel event. Find the next Elite Experience that excites the travel bug in you.

Musketeer Highlights  – May 2019

Our Musketeers are the heart and soul of the Sword Experience. Without these wonderful people dedicating their time and effort to help Adrian and his staff, our events would not be as successful as they are. These men and women have helped us find unique and exciting locations to hold the Sword Experience.

They’ve tagged, retweeted, and shared us out on social media, and helped us engage our message of sword culture and physical fitness. We’re proud of the work they’ve done with us and so today, we’d like to highlight a few of you that have stepped above and beyond the call of duty and thank you for all that you do.

Musketeer of the Month.

For those of you that have been following the Sword Experience for a while, it should be no surprise that Stephen Fisher is our top Musketeer of the month. Stephen has done so much for us over the years, but this year’s Bowling Green event shows just how dedicated he is to the Sword Experience’s mission.

Stephen is not only our Sword Partner for the event, but he also offered to host the event at his Bowling Green Fencing Academy. Stephen also found the best spot to film the climactic final fight for the event at the Historic RailPark & Train Museum. A perfect fit for the choreography you’ll be learning from the episode “Methuselah’s Gift” from the Highlander TV series.

Stephen spread the word about the Sword Experience and helped us grow our family of sword culture fanatics. He helped us find the best videographer and photographer in the area to ensure that every moment of the Bowling Green event was captured beautifully.

We consider Stephen to be a shining example of what a Musketeer’s relationship with the Sword Experience can be. He loves swords, he loves physical fitness, and he loves to spread his knowledge of both with the world. So, from the bottom of our hearts, Stephen, thank you for all that you do for us at the Sword Experience.

Musketeer – Honorable Mentions 

First up is Richard Ganey. Richard may be a newer musketeer, but his service to the Sword Experience community has not gone unnoticed. Richard helped us as a Sword Partner with our recent Elite Event in Lakeland, Florida. He also brought the Sun n’ Fun event to our attention which was a great location and we were happy to attend.

Our second honorable mention is Rileah Ringo. Rileah has been a long-time supporter of the Sword Experience, the PEACE Fund, and all of Adrian Paul’s work. She’s one of our most valued musketeers on social media and continues to spread the word about the various events that the Sword Experience holds. Rileah also helps run a fan-made Sword Experience Facebook page. We’re proud of the work that both of these Musketeers have accomplished and we can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us in the future.

If you don’t see your name listed here, don’t worry. We know a lot of you are doing incredible work for us, and we see you. This Musketeer Highlight will be the first of many, as each month we plan on focusing on those Musketeers that go above and beyond in helping the Sword Experience community thrive and grow. This month’s top Musketeers list was not an easy decision considering how much you all do for us.

We have so many events on the horizon, so if we have an event in your area, don’t forget to ask us for your referral discount code so you can start earning points as a Musketeer while also helping your friends save money on the best fitness and travel event that they’ll experience all year.

If you’re new to the Sword Experience and want to learn more about becoming a Musketeer, click here. Otherwise, keep up the great work you have done as one of our valued Musketeers, and who knows, we may be writing about you next month!

Sword Culture

The Sword Experience has traveled all over the globe practicing the art of sword choreography, physical fitness, and fandom since 2015. Over the years, we have developed the Sword Experience into one of the best fitness and travel events across the globe. Our goal is to find those who have a common interest in physical fitness, film and television, martial arts, and swordplay and share in our knowledge of these interests.

We here at the Sword Experience strive to be the best source of information regarding sword culture, so we asked one of our musketeers, Chris Fields, to write a continuing series about what makes the perfect sword.

Chris Fields has trained in martial arts and various forms of swordsmanship for 29 years, and instructing for 23 years, including choreography for various stage, theater, and film. Chris is critically acclaimed for his choreography work in the St. Petersburg Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet and Richard III, as well as various works in independent film and film festivals throughout theSoutheast. He is also a sword maker and smith of 25 years, and owner of Sterling Armory, providing quality functional swords for various industries. When not working on swords and martial arts, Chris is a Senior Aerospace Engineer working for Honeywell Aerospace, a NASA subcontractor and affiliate.

The Perfect Sword Part 1 by Chris Fields

If you are a sword enthusiast, or a fan of 80s movies like Conan, Highlander, Beast Master, Excalibur, and the Highlander TV series, you may have thought about and dreamed of what the perfect sword is for you. Back in the 80s and 90s and even today, Hollywood portrays swords as indestructible weapons and symbols of famous warriors that can slice through anything and do impossible deeds without receiving even a scratch.

History, though, teaches us something very different. And it takes leveraging a bit of both to find the perfect sword, or at least, the perfect training sword, or bokken, to help get the most out of The Sword Experience. In reality, historical swords, even the best swords ever created, can and did get damaged, and were far more fragile tools than what we’ve seen portrayed in Hollywood. Real swords are also much lighter than most modern perceptions and are very agile and quick weapons for the most part.

Most of the modern blades available 10, 20, and even 30 years ago, fell into 2 basic categories.

• First is what is commonly called “wall hangers” and are typically stainless-steel blades, which not made to actually be used, but instead to hang on a wall as decorations. These swords are typically extremely beautiful pieces of art.
• The second type was the complete opposite, usually found in renaissance fairs and theaters around the country, and are plain looking swords usually referred to as “Stage Combat” swords that are typically extremely overweight compared to their historical counterparts found in museums all over the world.

Back in the 80s and 90s, most of us didn’t know the difference, even those of us in martial arts, theater, and film. It was through the popularity of these 80s and 90s movies and shows though, that the history of swords and sword usage and combat techniques from all over the world became much more explored, researched, and studied.

Thus, today, if you know what to look for, you can find a variety of options that you may consider to be your perfect sword.

What Is the Con Experience?

The Sword Experience offers a multitude of options to get the most out of your sword training. The Con Experience is one of those options, but what exactly is the Con Experience?

Adrian Paul loves to visit with all of his fans and the easiest way to get to spend time with them is by visiting various conventions around the globe. After many years on the Con circuit, chatting with fans interested in swords, fight choreography, and film, Adrian had an epiphany. He could bring his Sword Experience directly to his fans as part of his time at the convention.

Conventions usually have quite a bit to offer, but no one was giving fans the chance to reenact their favorite fight scenes. So, Adrian created the Con Experience.

During the three and a half to four-hour Con Experience, convention-goers are given the opportunity to learn sword safety, sword basics, sword choreography, as well as fantastic film industry insights. The most basic package of the Con Experience even offers fans the chance to take home a Hollywood edited video of their final fight from the choreography learned throughout the experience.

Fans receive access to all the photographs taken at the event by a professional photographer. For those that want to practice the sword choreography they learned at home, simply upgrade your ticket to the Silver Con Experience and take home your very own bokken dedicated by Adrian Paul

With the Gold Con Experience, you can customize the blade length on one of our beautiful Classic White Oak Sword Experience bokken with a carbon-Kevlar cast of a traditional wrapped Japanese tsuka as its handle.

The Gold Con Experience ticket must be purchased 4 weeks prior to the Con itself because we send the bokken directly to you before the event.

We here at the Sword Experience want your convention-going experience to be more than just the usual con shuffle. Our goal is to share with you Adrian’s vast knowledge of physical fitness, sword training and fight choreography to provide a Con Experience that is unlike anything you’ve had before.

Don’t miss out  –  Past participants have described as “The best con experience I’ve ever had!”