Videos

Exciting things are happening this summer at Guard Up! Family Swordsmanship!

First, as you may have noticed, our website has been completely redesigned.  We hope this helps people interested in our sword classes, summer camps, birthday parties and other events find the information they need.

As well, we are starting a new After School Program this fall for kids and teens who love swordfighting adventure.  Our vans will be sent out to local schools to pick students up and bring them to our facility.  Then, after doing their homework, they get to participate in our daily adventures… playing a character in an ongoing storyline that never repeats.

Finally, the biggest news of all, in late August we are moving (don’t worry, it’s just a stone’s throw down the road) to a brand new facility at 103 Terrace Hall Ave.  The new building is on the ground level (no more stairs!), has about three times as much parking, and is an amazing 7,200 square feet in size.  There are also a number of outstanding upgrades like two parent lounges, a separate retail store, two birthday party rooms, free wi-fi for members and more.

All of this combined with our new 1.5 hour Tier 2 Classes make your membership, camps and events more valuable than ever before.

Stay tuned for more information.  And keep an eye on the Boston Globe for a great news story about our Summer Camps.

At Guard Up, we have taken the genre of gaming to a new level.   LARP, otherwise known as Live Action Roleplaying, is an interactive, theatrical event where the people who play the game are called “Player Characters” (PCs) and the people who host the game are called “Non Player Characters” (NPCs).  LARP adventures are common for adults and often involve elaborate costuming, monster make-up, and props.  The story is usually dynamic with the players being provided a scenario in which their decisions and actions change the course of the plot.

Back in 1999, when we first started our LARP adventures for adults, we realized that this could be a powerful educational tool for kids and teens.  So we formed a weekly class of LARP adventures for kids and called it “Points & Powers”.  We integrated education into the stories and used the scenarios to teach valuable life skills.  It wasn’t long before the success of this program inspired our summer camps.  And thus, Wizards & Warriors Summer Camp and NERF Zombie Summer Camp were born.

As LARP adventures for adults become more known across the globe, we find that many of the “Players Characters” are now parents and looking for the same kind of excitement for their children.  As such, our summer camps now receive campers from around the world… including England, Australia, Chile, Switzerland, and more.

At Guard Up, we strive to “unplug” kids from the computer and get them physically and socially active in a dynamic, live environment. We achieve this by taking gaming to a real level of interaction and adventure.

Join us and see just how exciting our LARP adventures can be!

Great news! This Saturday, July 11th, our Wizards & Warriors Camps will be highlighted in the G Section of the Boston Globe. Our camps and events have received quite the attention this year with an article in the national magazine “Bucks Life”, a full story on CBS Chronicle HD with anchor Mary Richardson attending our classes, and now a detailed story in the Boston Globe.

The word is spreading….

Wow! Joe Kahn (reporter) and Wiqan Ang (photographer) surprised us with an outstanding piece on our Wizards & Warriors Summer Camp… with a color photo teaser on the FRONT PAGE of the Boston Globe and a full page, full color photo of our campers on the G Section… and an impressive full color spread on the inside.

Thank you, Joe and Wiqan… you guys captured perfectly what we are about. And thank you to all the kids and teens who allowed themselves to be photographed. And of course, thank you to our hard working and dedicated staff who are the very best at helping our campers find their inner hero!

Boston Globe Story

Boston Globe Photo Spread

Next week starts our intensive training regimen for our camp counselors for the Wizards & Warriors  Overnight Summer Camp.

This is an exciting week where staff renew their CPR and First Aid certifications, are assessed in Emergency Response, freshen up their leadership skills, practice handling a variety of emergency and nonemergency issues and much more.  There is still room for the less intensive stuff like practicing roleplaying, working on props and scenery, learning make-up, hiding treasure, setting up puzzles and unpacking costumes.

It’s getting to feel like Christmas time around here… with all the elves bustling around, making a list and checking it twice, getting ready for the launch of the event on the 26th.  It’s just as exciting for us staff as it is for the kids.  We have the start of our stories… and some general direction… but the campers are the ones who determine the outcome.  And we can’t even tell you how often the outcome is so wonderfully different than what we expected.

They certainly do keep us on our toes.

So if you cannot join us these coming weeks, we hope you will raise a glass of soda as a toast to the Heroes of Sidleterra.  May they return triumphant… with stories of great deeds… with Skill Tokens in their pocket… and holding within them the greatest treasure of them all:

Wisdom.

Yours Truly,

Meghan (Fox Fen)

This past week was filled with all kinds of adventure… from fighting the Duke of Bones, befriending a 9 foot tall Ogre, negotiating with the Cyclops, bargaining with the Leprechauns, rekindling the Fire Spirit’s flame, meeting a Merman, all the way up to exchanging stories with a 12 foot tall Tree Spirit… our Heroes lived the stuff of great stories!

Our Day Campers also had a chance to get a taste last Wednesday as they helped achieve these successes. It’s not too late to register for the last week of Overnight Camp starting this Sunday… or the Field Trip this Wednesday. Hope to see you on the other side of the Gate of Destiny!

In the meantime, here is a short video of some of this past week’s adventures…

Tons of exciting new announcements:

1. ASP: We are giving away 2 Free Weeks of our After School Program.  Limited to the first 20 Reservations.  Be sure to stop by our After School Program Open House in September for more information.
2. Summer Camp:  Due to the huge success of our Summer Camps, we are taking pre-registrations right now.  Please note that we WILL be selling out our Overnight Summer Camp in 2010 very quickly.  As such, we are only selling full 2 weeks sessions right now.  As well, rates will increase on September 15th, 2009.  So call (781) 270-4800 to register asap and insure your child’s spot.
3. Winter Break Adventure:  We’re already taking registrations for our Winter School Break Adventures which are very much like our Summer Day Camps.  Give us a call at (781) 270-4800 to register today.
4. Research Article: You may be interested in this article entitled “Getting Your Child Off The Gaming System and Into The Game” written by Occupational Therapist Eve Kennedy-Spaien, about our Wizards & Warriors Camps (and which applies to our After School Program as well).
5. Moving: We are moving our facility to 103 Terrace Hall Ave in Burlington on Friday, August 28th.  Just down the road by the intersection of Middlesex Turnpike and Network Drive.  Join us for our Member Open House on Saturday, August 29th from 11-4pm.  Please bring a side dish or snacks for the BBQ.

We look forward to seeing you in our classes, birthday parties and our After School Program this fall!

It’s finally official:  Guard Up! Family Swordsmanship has a new home.  Don’t worry, we’re just a short walk down the road to 103 Terrace Hall Ave (near the intersection of Network Drive and Middlesex Turnpike).

Please drop by and join us for our Open House and Barbeque tomorrow from 11-4 and check out our new, larger facility.

While you’re hear, try a free lesson in Fencing or Swordsmanship!

Parents: On Columbus Day and most holidays, as well as upcoming teacher workshop days and all scheduled school days off, Guard Up is offering full day adventures. Your child will experience a day-long quest filled with sword fighting adventure, creative problem solving, medieval crafts, mythical mystery and more. Drop-off your child as early as 8am and pick-up as late as 6pm. This program is open to children in grades 1-8. Pre-registration is required and space is limited so contact us right away to reserve your spot.

We also have limited space available for half day adventures. If your child has a half day at a school where Guard Up provides transportation, we can pick them up in our van and transport them to our facility where they will have an afternoon of exciting adventures until as late as 6pm. If we do not provide transportation to your child’s school, you may drop them off. Note that Guard Up may add a school to their transportation list for as few as three students per pickup. So tell your child’s friend’s parents!

Need a way to keep your child from sitting in front of the computer every day after school?  Try our After School Program for free for 2 weeks! For a complete schedule contact us at (781) 270-4800.

Parents – talk to your place of employment and get the contact information for Human Resources… then let us offer your company and their employees a special 2 Weeks of FREE After School Program with transportation from certain schools.  We will give you a FREE Buddy Night for your efforts.  As well, for each new ASP member your company refers, we will give YOU either 2 free weeks of ASP or $50.  Call (781) 270-4800 or email us the contact info for the person in HR that we should call.  Thank you!