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What is residential training?

I am now in a position to offer residential training if you would like to have a weekend intensive training session with me in Liverpool.

The general idea of these residential courses is that you visit me for a weekend, or for whatever length of time you prefer, and we immerse ourselves as deeply as you like in whatever system or topic you want to explore. You are welcome to stay with me at my house, so accommodation will not be a problem, and I’ll be able to help you with transport once you arrive in Liverpool. And of course, the fridge will be well-stocked with plenty of beer, or whatever you prefer to drink!

With all the necessities such as accommodation, food, and training space all arranged and included, we can focus on whatever it is you would like to explore. Maybe you would like to improve your cutting skills, or spend a weekend working on your fundamentals. Maybe you would like to explore the source material in greater depth, or work on bridging the gap between drilling and sparring. Maybe you would like to learn a completely new system and would appreciate an intensive introduction to set you on the right path.

Whatever takes your interest, we can work on it. And if your interest or focus changes over the course of your stay then we can explore that for as long as you wish. It would be helpful for you to have some ideas ahead of time, so that I can make the necessary preparations and have some plans (and equipment!) ready for us.

One of the interesting elements of more immersive courses is the opportunity to use technology as part of the learning process. In a single hour of private tuition, there is not much time for making several iterations of a drill, informing each attempt by referring to video clips of your performance. When we have a whole weekend, however, there is plenty of time! We can record plenty of footage and refer to it regularly as part of our learning process.

If this sounds like it could be interesting, please use the booking form below and have a chat with me about what you would like to do. I will be more than happy to discuss it with you, and hopefully we can get it all arranged and in the diary!

Price and deposit

In terms of price, I would typically ask for £250 per day, or £350 for a weekend, or £1000 for a week. This could potentially be open to negotiation, although I’m more likely to be able to offer discounts for longer stays. It includes the food and drink, accommodation, help with transport to and from the airport, train or bus station, up to 4 hours of hall hire per day, and as much of my time and attention during your visit as you wish to have.

If you would like to bring a partner, a friend, or a clubmate with you for the residential course, then I can probably agree to this, although space might become a little cosier. The total price for a booking for two people would be £350 per day, or £500 for a weekend, or £1500 for a week.

I would ask for a deposit to be paid when we agree on the booking, to reserve the date for you. If anyone else asks to book me for this date, I will turn them away, because you have the priority. For this reason, the deposit must be non-refundable; if you cancel the booking at a later date, then I will probably not be able to schedule anything else in its place to make up for the lost booking, so the deposit cannot be refunded if you need to cancel the booking.

The deposit should be equivalent to £50 per day of the booking; so a single day booking would have a deposit of £50, a weekend booking would have a deposit of £100, and a week-long booking would have a deposit of £350. The balance of the price can be paid around 3 or 4 weeks before the course takes place.

Booking

Testimonials

Keith, the gentle-master everyone needs. I met Keith years ago during a workshop and from that time onward he continued to inspire my methodology in teaching. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to be his guest for an entire week… and again, he opened my fencing mind.

Keith is a good friend and a wonderful Master. His knowledge on the subject is so immense as well as his attention on body mechanic and the problems related with it.

He only has one downside… he lives too far from me… but maybe this is better for him!

Dave Gallo | Sala d’Arme del Folle, Italy

I used to stay at Keith’s place and train for a while, and here it is what I think about it.

First, it is very cost effective. While you stay, you can always find Keith to train with you at his backyard. If you would like to have some formal training with gear, the hall is very close to his place. That means you don’t have to waste your time on Google Maps to find your way. All these mean you can easily get an excellent instructor and sparring partner when you want!

Second, it would be very convenient for you to resolve your HEMA problems. During our study of HEMA, we have a lot of questions to solve, from interpreting the difficult manuscript to fencing concepts. By staying in Keith’s place, you can get him to demonstrate you the answer in person instead of wasting time to think a sensible answer.

Highly recommend this residential course!

Ken Kot | Hong Kong

Cancellations and refunds

Of course, I hope that nothing goes wrong before the event, and that the event can take place as planned. However, life does sometimes happen, and I think it is helpful to be upfront about how to handle these situations so that we are all on the same page about it.

If you need to cancel the booking, and have already paid the balance, then I will refund the balance but not the deposit. However, if I have already booked and paid for hall hire, any refund will be minus the cost of hall hire.

If you need to cancel the booking, and have paid the deposit but not the balance, then there will be no refund. I will not be booking and paying for any hall hire until the balance is paid and received.

If I need to cancel the event for whatever reason, I will refund you the full cost of the booking, including the deposit. I guarantee that I will never cancel a booking “because something better comes along”; I will honour all bookings made, unless an unforeseen emergency requires cancellation.

I reserve the right to change this policy at any time.

Terms and conditions of booking

In most circumstances, booking should be made by email using the booking form above, rather than speaking on the phone or via Facebook.

We should discuss the arrangements for the course before agreeing that the booking is made for certain.

Once we agree that the booking is in place, you should pay the non-refundable deposit (as described above) to secure the dates.

Roughly one month before the course, I will contact you to make sure everything is going to plan, and to request payment of the balance. Please do pay this as soon as possible upon receiving my request.

I will not book any hall hire until I receive the payment, unless there is an exceptional reason and we agree otherwise. Since we will use a local sports hall, if making booking the hall hire is left to the last minute because the payment is late, then there is no guarantee that the bookings can be made successfully. It is important that the payment of the balance can be made in a timely fashion.

I can provide training swords, so you do not need to bring any unless you particularly want to use your own swords. You will need to bring your own protective gear unless we agree otherwise. If you would like to do test cutting with tatami mats, then there will be an additional fee to cover the purchase of tatami mats (this fee will be non-refundable in the event of a cancellation).

I reserve the right to change this policy at any time.