Est. 2016
JUNE 6TH - 8TH
EDINBURGH
NEWS UPDATES
April 9th
Announcing our fourth workshop:
Paul Macdonald
Workshop: Close Encounters with the Highland Dirk
Donald McBane was skilled in all manner of combat from longest range to shortest, and without doubt faced the Highland dirk at the Battles of Mulroy and Killiecrankie.
This workshop covers effective techniques in close for either side facing the dirk unarmed.
Maestro Paul Macdonald has been engaged with fencing for over three decades and has run the Macdonald Academy of Arms since 2001.
As a Highlander, soldier and Fencing Master, Macdonald carries sympathetic cultural and professional understandings with McBane, though no musket balls in his body at this time.
April 1st:
Announcing our third workshop:
Workshop: A Battlefield Meeting: The Lochaber Axe vs The Sword and Targe
In this workshop we take a look at two military weapons, the much feared Lochaber axe and the trusty Scottish Broadsword, when paired with the Targe. We will see how the two face off against each other, but in order to do so properly we will have to place them in a battlefield context. Therefore we will try and slowly shift our mentality from the duelling setting most of us are familiar with in Historical Fencing, and get a wee bit in the mood of what it would feel like to face someone in a battle situation. Since we lack the numbers and organisation necessary to emulate a proper battlefield, I will ask you to use your imagination quite a bit and who knows, maybe it will help us put some things into perspective!
Manolis Rhodokanakis has been into Historical Fencing for fifteen years. He has studied Scottish Backsword at the Macdonald Academy of Arms, German Longsword at the Marxbrüder, and now focuses on La Verdadera Destreza in Academia da Espada Hellas. Other interests include Le Jeu de la Hache, early 18th century fencing, horror stories, heavy metal and brewing beer.
March 28th
Announcing our second workshop:
Mike Smith
Workshop: Seven vs One
This workshop first featured at the 2019 McBane Event and we reviewed the footage on the Online 2020 McBane Event.
In 2023 we decided to make it a tradition, so here we are again.
One of the many amazing stories from McBane’s adventures involved him being a sore loser in a pub game, losing his borrowed money before stealing it back and fighting 7 armed men…. and succeeding! We will look at the small recorded evidence and imagine what methods would be applied when facing so many blades. McBane’s evidence are the wounds given and received, and when you dig further McBane gives a lot of advice that would be applicable to such a scenario.
Building up the techniques with a sword in one hand a stick in the other, students will gradually increase the number of opponents they face.
This workshop will be followed up by the McBane Challenge, which is now part of every annual event.
Mike started Historical Fencing at the end of 2004 with the Macdonald Academy of Arms just weeks after moving to Scotland from Australia.
After becoming a Free Fencer, Mike became Chief de Salle of the Academy and was teaching students at various levels.
Having taught at international events, Mike decided it was time to set up his own school, and in 2016, The Cat’s Glove – School of Traditional Defence was born. Becoming the sister school to the Macdonald Academy, they both teach the Scottish backsword, and Mike has done his own study into Fixed Bayonet Fencing which is offered at his school, as well as few other weapon styles.
In 2007, Mike started the Commando D – Living History Group with Paul Macdonald, which focuses on training in the close quarter methods of fighting as taught to allied special forces in WW2. Mike continues to teach these methods in his school as a warmup to every lesson.
Besides from organising the annual McBane Event, Mike has taught in Canada, Italy, Malta and across the UK. Mike’s day job is managing a well-known whisky and beer bar in Edinburgh’s Old Town, and has been known to work as an artist on the sides.
March 20th
It is a pleasure to introduce our first instructor, a regular of the McBane Event,
Emanuel Meyer
Workshop: Shillelaghs
McBane's book does not mention shillelaghs. But even though the popularity of the shillelagh seemed to have peaked in the 19th century, I have little doubt that McBane being McBane encountered the shillelagh while stationed in Ireland at around 1698/1700. Maxime Chouinard notes that the Penal Laws were mostly responsible for the success of the shillelagh. The Penal Laws were a series of rules enacted by the British Crown to remove most powers of rebellion from the Catholics: No right to own any land, no right to own horses of a certain height (i.e. warhorses), could not serve in the military and, of course, had no right to own any weapons. It is said then that the Irish simply chose to carry walking sticks that could double as clubs, the famous shillelaghs, to avoid being accused of possessing weapons (https://hemamisfits.com/.../03/what-is-irish-stick-fighting/). I thus propose an introductory workshop into fighting with the shillelagh according to the Antrim style of bataireacht. You'll learn the stance, the different strikes and guards, and if time permits, we'll have ourselves a little faction fight. What is special is, that it is largely an oral tradition with few sources such as Walker or Allanson Wynn. Sadly, much of it was lost over time, but fortunately the Canadian historian Maxime Chouinard was able to learn one of the last surviving fighting styles and continues to train martial arts enthusiasts in the art of the shillelagh.
Bio: Emanuel Meyer had the fairly typical career: some judo lessons, switched rather soon to full contact karate, and later boxing, shooting, and riding, before he got into historical fencing. Having started with longsword, he now focusses on smallsword, singlestick, and last but not least shillelagh. Five years ago, shillelagh became a love affair and he trains in the Antrim method as taught by Maxime Chouinard.
March 18th
Early Bird tickets are now available
