Spring/Summer 2008 Seminars at Gallowglass Academy

I am pleased to announce the following seminars at Gallowglass Academy, outside Rockford, IL

Further information can be found at www.GallowglassAcademy.org or call 815-973-1064.

School of the 19th-Century Soldier

March 29, 2008
$50 until March 1; $100 thereafter and at the doah, suh!
Lunch included

Nineteenth Century Bayonet, with Patrick Bailey
Class will concentrate on the system imported to the US by George
McClellan, but will also feature an overview of the complimentary
systems of Burton, Hutton, and Angelo. Practical instruction will
include basic stances and attacks, parries, and scripted drills. If
time permits, the guards against cavalry will be explored against the
mounted saber techniques taught in the other section.


Sabre Exercise, with Michael Pennock
A class in American military saber of the nineteenth century. In this
class we will be working with the Mounted Sabre Exercise as it is
presented in Poinsett’s Cavalry Tactics of 1841 and Cooke’s Cavalry
Tactics of 1862. We will work through the Exercise and explore the
concepts behind mounted combat from a martial arts perspective.
Since we will be conducting the Exercise, each student will
require a saber simulator or, at a minimum, a 1" dowel rod about three
feet long. Part of the class will consist of slow-speed pairs drills,
so students will want to make sure that saber tips are properly blunted
or covered and that all blades are dulled for safety’s sake.
The Exercise will be conducted on foot as it was initially taught
to recruits, so there will be no need of horses.

Bowie Knife, with Allen Reed
Many Civil War soldiers were photographed posing with a Bowie knife,
and many sword and knife makers of the time made and sold Bowie knives
to soldiers from both the Union and the Confederacy.
Yet very little is known of how these famous knives were used in
combat. This class will work on examining how these big deadly knives
could have been used in close quarter combat.



"The Old Ways"
Workshop in Reniassnace Close-Quarter Combat
with Brad Waller

April 26-27, 2008
$100 until April 1 no foolin'!; $150 thereafter & at the door
Lunches included

The weekend would be dedicated to learning the breadth and scope of the
historical martial art that is used by Marozzo and many of the Medieval
and Renaissance Masters of Defence. The foundation of these systems us
often assumed by the manuals thmselves. Our two days together will
exlore this vast and comprehensive relationship -- Marozzo Pressa 1-22,
Durer Counter 1-120. We will give special emphasis to develop a
process to interpet how these techniques work together as a system.
There is more material than I think we can get through in two short
days. We will work hard, move quickly, and most of all have fun in our
celebration together of this art form. I look forward to working with
everybody. --Brad Waller


Safe in the Assault:
A Defensive look at Liechtenauer’s Art
with Josh Little of Ars Gladii

June 21-22, 2008
$100 until May 22; $150 thereafter and at the door
Lunches included

This two-day seminar will examine the old axiom "hit without being
hit," and how Johannes Liechtenauer’s art of the Longsword encompasses
this ideal. Appropriate for beginning and experienced students alike,
this course will work through the fundamentals of Liechtenauer’s
teachings as presented by "Döbringer," Ringeck, and Von Danzig, with
overall emphasis on defensive tactics. We will be examining stance,
movement, timing, strikes, thrusts, and deflections – all with the idea
of "hitting without being hit."