Team Building Workshops

Team building workshops by TSC are a fantastic way to improve communication, collaboration, and productivity within your team or organization, school, etc.

Our workshops are designed to be interactive, engaging, fun, and safe, with activities that will challenge your team to work together and build stronger relationships. By the end of the workshop, your team will have a better of each other's strengths and weaknesses, and be better equipped to tackle challenges together.

Hands-On Weapons Training

Eras / Styles

Roman Infantry
Viking
Knight
Landsknecht
Musketeer
Swashbuckler
Pirate
Royal Navy (18 th century)
Scottish Highlander
British Infantry (18 th century)
Colonial & Revolutionary America
Dueling
Sport Fencing
Stage Combat
Science Fiction

Dagger

The dirk, dagger, sgian dubh, or even an everyday knife can be a formidable weapon in the right hands. Given that such weapons and tools were ubiquitous from the 18th century on back, having knowledge of how to use them in self defense would have been extremely practical. This workshop will teach you some of the basics of dirk/dagger fighting.

1-Handed Sword

2-Handed Sword

Sword and Buckler / Dagger and Buckler

Sword and Shield

You will learn the fundamentals of medieval swordsmanship, shield work, and shield formations; practice them in drills; and then put them into practice by sparring! Expect to get a good workout and to experience a little bit of what it was like to fight in the front rank of a Medieval shield wall.

Staff

Components which may be included in Workshops

Sparring with Foam Safety Weapons
For most of the weapons and styles that we teach, we can provide professional-grade foam safety weapons designed to be used for sparring.

Focused skills, drills, theory

When teaching a weapon or style, we can alter the balance of the workshop to emphasize skills, repetitive drilling, or the theories behind the use of the weapon.

Experimental Archaeology

There is a wealth of primary sources on medieval European martial arts available, going back to as early as 1300 CE. Be it a drawing, prose, or both, we can let students attempt to figure out what the author of a technique was trying to teach us. Sometimes frustrating but always thrilling, there’s much to learn about the challenges that a modern scholar faces and techniques that can be used to overcome them.

Weapons: Medieval

1-Handed Axe

The axe has been a ubiquitous tool and weapon for thousands of years, seeing use across civilizations, situations and time periods. Ancient Egyptians went to battle with them, as did Vikings, and sailors in the British Royal Navy. During the French and Indian War, Scottish soldiers deployed to in New World adopted the weapons and fighting styles of their Native American allies, including the most iconic of all Native American weapons, the tomahawk. In this hands-on workshop we will teach the fundamentals of fighting with a single-handed axe.

Pole-Arms (Halberd, Bec, Pole-Axe, etc.)

From the humble spear to the iconic halberd, points, axes, hooks, spikes, blades, and hammers have been mixed and matched on the end of a shaft to create innumerable weapons. We’ll learn about how these various components were utilized and why, and practice the attacks and defenses which made this class of weapon dominant on the Medieval battlefield and in the tournament ring.

Unarmed

Contrary to common belief, surviving Medieval fightbooks document a multitude of unarmed techniques including joint locks, limb breaks, and throws.

Musket with Bayonet

The Brown Bess musket and accompanying bayonet were the principal weapons of British infantry for over 100 years, seeing service from before the Battle of Colloden to well past the American Revolution. In the colonies, militias were armed with them, making them a familiar piece of equipment for Patriot forces during the American Revolution. Musket firing demonstrations (which we will not be doing) are ubiquitous at historical sites, but how was the bayonet employed as a melee weapon, and how was it used by troops in formation? In this hands-on workshop, we'll teach the fundamentals of the 18th century bayonet. Note that only safety equipment will be used; no actual firearms will be present.

Shipboard Weapons: Cutlass, Belaying Pin, Boarding Axe, Boarding Pike

Fighting onboard a ship introduces a number of variables that must be taken into account. A moving deck, tight quarters, and the presence of rigging all conspire to limit the techniques that can be utilized. Add to it that sailors didn't have much time to devote to learning the finer points of swordplay and the result is an eminently simple system of attacks and defenses. In this hands-on workshop, we'll teach you a historic fighting system used with naval cutlass.

Weapons: Early Modern (17th – early 18 th century)

Irish Stick Fighting (shillelagh)

The shillelagh was the primary weapon used in Bataireacht – a form of traditional Irish stick fighting popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Learn the basic attacks and defenses with this uniquely Irish weapon and then practice in safety bouts.

Scottish Broadsword (baskethilt)

This weapon was the basic armament of the Highland clans and later, the Scottish regiments of the British army. In this workshop, you will receive hands-on instruction on the basics of attacks and defense using the Scottish Basket-Hilt as described in Henry Angelo’s 1799 manual for the British Army. You will learn some of the drills that were done to practice these basics.

Smallsword

Sabre

Dueling with Sabre and Smallsword

Movies, TV, and cartoons give a very particular picture of how duels were fought, but how much of this is true, and what do they leave out? In this hands-on workshop you will play the parts of the Principles (those who are involved in a dispute) and their Seconds (those charged with seeing to the honorable resolution of the dispute); and negotiate your own duels of honor based on an historic French dueling code. You will also learn the basics of the two traditional types of dueling sword (saber and small sword) then put your honor on the line in friendly duels against instructors from The Sword Conservatory using foam swords.

Lectures & Demonstrations

Heraldry

In this class we’ll explain the fundamentals of heraldry – the colors, patterns and symbols which are used to form a unique identifier for a knight or noble. We’ll examine the practical uses of heraldry as well as the symbolism and occasional humor involved. Finally, we’ll walk through the rules and artistic practices so that you can create your own heraldry.

Survey of Medieval Weapons and Armor

Survey of Renaissance Weapons and Armor

Survey of Maritime Combat

Dressing a Knight

Evolution of Weapons & Equipment from Medieval to Renaissance

Evolution from Dueling to Sport Fencing

Survey of Medieval/Renaissance Fight Masters and surviving Fight Books

What movies get wrong about sword fighting

What they had in their pockets: Historical Coinage

Coins are one of the more accessible ways in which we can experience the past in the same way that people did long ago: literally holding them in our hands, just as they were meant to be. In this hands-on workshop we will do just that with authentic (and a few replica) coins. Time periods can include: Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Medieval Europe, 1700’s (UK, France, Caribbean, South America, American Colonies), World War II (Europe, UK, USA). As we do so, we’ll learn how these coins were used, what they tell us about their time, and get to experience for ourselves a bit of what it was like to use them.

Whip

In this challenging hands-on workshop, we’ll teach how to use the bull whip to create the small sonic boom that is the characteristic “crack of the whip”. The basic instructions don’t take long to explain, but it is tricky to master. Most of the workshop will be spent in practice and refining technique.

Weapons: Sport & Stage

- Fencing Foil

- Fencing Epee

- Fencing Saber

- Combat Choreography / Stage Combat

Learn the basics of stage combat choreography, pick a genre (Knight, Samurai, Sci-Fi, Musketeer, Pirate, etc.) and create your own fight sequence. Class consists of warmups, instruction, and drills; then development and practice of fight choreography.

Contact us to learn more about our team building workshops

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