Move Over Luke Skywalker, These Boys Have Swords

After hours of Star Wars viewing, and even more hours of loud and active light saber battling,  my boys couldn’t contain their excitement upon hearing of a Cub Scout Go-See-It entitled Swordsmen Rendezvous! 

Swordplay was a must-know skill for every 18th century gentlemen, and Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria, Virgina was a center of social and political life around the new Federal City of Washington during the late 18th century, so what better place to learn about 18-century weapons and swordplay than Gadsby’s Tavern Museum.

Today, at Gadsby’s Tavern, the boys had the privilege of learning the history of sword fighting and actually trying their hand at lunging, striking, and parrying.  

The hour-long program at the Museum included a first-hand look at life at Gadsby’s Tavern during the time of George Washington, a frequent visitor to the Tavern; a discussion of sword engineering  and demonstration of 18th-century weaponry; and the highlight of the boys’ day, a hands-on sword fighting lesson (with wooden swords, but still tons of fun for the boys).

 

Even Dad got into the fun (but his sword was real, “lethal,” according to our swordsplay instructor, a survivor of the Battle of Freiburg, who now makes his living traveling the East Coast instructing 18th-century gentlemen, like our dear Patrick, in the art of swordsplay.

What an afternoon!  All three of my boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and are looking forward to practicing their newly acquired moves:  lunge, parry, lunge, strike!  Look out Luke Skywalker, these boys have swords!