Victorian Historical Combat Academy
Description
VHCA is a Melbourne-based Historical European Martial Arts school teaching students Victorian-era fighting styles, including la canne, sabre and bayonet. Established in 2016, the Victorian Historical Combat Academy (VHCA) is a Melbourne-based Historical European Martial Arts School teaching students 19th Century sabre, bayonet, la canne and other Victorian-era fighting styles in a safe and friendly environment.
The school uses modern equipment and teaching methods to deliver a curriculum based on primary historical sources from the 19th century. We are not a re-enactment or live-roleplaying group. Rather, we are a modern martial art based on real historical European sources, including:
The Art of the Dueling Sabre, a modern English translation of an 1872 Italian military fencing manual;
Captain Alfred Hutton’s 1889 manual Cold Steel: A Practical Treatise on the Sabre;
The Manual of Bayonet Exercise: Prepared for the Use of the Army of the United States (1862) by George B. McClellan, Commander-in-Chief of the US Army;
Self Defense for Gentlemen and Ladies, written in the 1870s by Colonel Thomas Hoyer Monstery;
Theory of learning la canne in 25 lessons, published in 1843 by Louis AV Leboucher of Rouen.
Senior instructor of the VHCA is Shannon Walker, who has been studying Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) since 2009.
The Academy trains in the School Hall at the Moorabbin Primary School on Worthing Road in Moorabbin and meets from 7pm to 10pm Wednesday evenings.
Tell your friends
RECENT FACEBOOK POSTS
facebook.comAn interesting bibliography of US historical fighting manuals, many of them published in the 19th and early 20th centuries: http://americanswordsmanship.com/bibliography.html Well done to the Baltimore Academy of Defence for putting this list together.
If any VHCA students or friends are looking to purchase the various manuals from the Radaelli tradition (and a bunch of other Italian fencing manuals), now is a great time to do so!
This week we'll be looking at using the Rising Molinello to the Abdomen as a feint, drawing the Parry of Low 4th, and the potential secondary attacks you can use from there. We'll also take a look at understanding and managing distance, especially against a parry that uses the half-cross-step back. I look forward to seeing you there!
This week we'll continue looking at how to use the molinelli as feints, concentrating on the two Rising Molinelli - to the Flank and to the Abdomen. These feints are designed to draw parries 2nd and Low 3rd (Flank) and parry Low 4th (Abdomen). We'll then look at the possible secondary attacks following those feints. I look forward to seeing you there!
Guy Windsor with a thoughtful post on dealing with criticism.
If you want to try a sword fighting beginners class, and you are in the northern suburbs, this will be a great option!
In this week's class students will be taught how to use the Molinello to the Extrnal Face as a feint, drawing either Parry 3rd or Parry 7th to defend against it, and what secondary attacks you can do from there. I unfortunately won't be able to make the class, but senior students Sebastian and Martin will be running it - thanks again to both of them for stepping up while I'm away.
In this week's class we'll look at using the Molinello to the Internal Face as a feint, drawing either Parry 1st or Parry 4th to defend against it, and what secondary attacks you can do from there. I look forward to seeing you there!
In our ongoing look at feints and secondary attacks, this week we'll take a look at a couple of feints (using the Molinello to the External Head and the Coupe) that can draw Parry 5th and the various secondary attacks that are possible following it. We'll look in more detail at not only the techniques themselves, but the principles behind the feint and using it to open up other lines of attack. We'll also add the final Molinello to the cutting drill - the Rising molinello to the abdomen. I look forward to seeing you there!
If you've got an interest in German styles of swordfighting, and learning from a world renowned expert, take a look at these upcoming workshops!
This week we'll continue looking at feints and secondary attacks. We'll practice using a Coupe or a Molinello to the Internal Head to draw Parry 6 and then the possible secondary attacks from there. We'll also add another molinello to the cutting drill - the Rising Molinello to the Abdomen.
More fantastic stuff from Guy Windsor. Can't wait for all these to become available!
Quiz
