Seminars Offered - Steven Reich

I offer both one-day and two-day weekend seminars. I suggest that organizers or group leaders call or email me so that I can get a good picture of what your group is looking for in terms of instruction. For instance, while some groups are more interested in the technical and historical aspects of our styles, others want to focus on drills and tactics that will help their bouting performance. Also, it always helps to know the current level of knowledge and experience of your group, so that we can all make the most of our time together.

I can deviate from my basic format, as I would prefer to teach specifically for my audience rather than present material that is too basic or too advanced.

Capoferro I. This is a two-day introduction to the style of Capoferro, in which I will teach the fundamentals the master’s single-sword system. I start the mechanical fundamentals and terminology, adding the theory as needed to understand what we cover. Everything is presented in a practical and hands-on way within a logical system so that students come away with more than just a few tricks. The material is drawn from Capoferro's manual with only some external material to explain those areas he omits or leaves unclear.

Baroque Roman Rapier seminar (two days). I focus on the teachings of Master Francesco Marcelli, who came from a well-established family of fencing masters and published a manual in 1686. Although not currently well-known, the late 17th century systems present elegant and effective styles of swordsmanship that allow their students use their techniques in a relatively short time. In Marcelli and his peers, we see the beginnings of the Italian Classical style, but presented with a weapon that is clearly a "rapier" in the usual sense. As Marcelli's manual is set in a very logical fashion, I will follow his structure fairly closely, starting with fundamentals such as the guards, parries and attacks. Then we will cover the actions of first intention, the actions of second-intention, and the voids and actions in tempo. This is a practical, economical and fun style that makes an excellent introduction to learning the rapier and will offer a strong foundation for the earlier masters.