Aside from our Ukrainian peers pounding on each other, today’s offering concentrates of some of those unique individuals that enjoy their study of swords and sword history in a way totally different from the blow-by-blow techniques used by HEMA/WMA practitioners. We are lucky in this modern day to have a few skilled craftsmen that…
Another eclectic offering of items … fight schools, stage, literature, history and popular culture. Whether you’re interested in the historical background of your favorite blade or chosen discipline; or interested in having some sort of kick-butt ‘white arm’ to bring to your Wii-fight, swords continue to consistently (if somewhat sparingly at times) appear in the…
No points, just press. Oh wait! I just thought of … ah rats! Too late! … .. . Choose Your Weapon … as long as its Scottish! EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS (Scotland, UK) 17 October 13 Sword fencing maestro revives old techniques (Dale Miller) Let’s see now … let’s check the armory … Scottish broadswords,…
Check out our very own Kimberleigh Smithbower-Roseblade in the sports section of the Vancouver Courier today. If you don't live in Vancouver or shun the papery stuff you can check the article out on their website. The article tells the story of Kim's recent trip down to Mississippi where she worked with our friends at…
Read More... from AD's Kimberleigh Roseblade featured in Vancouver Courier today.
We’re always a touch perplexed when We search the Italian (and Spanish) press for HEMA/WMA related items – they’re few and far between, notwithstanding what appears to be very active swordplay communities there. And given that most of our Renaissance techniques and studies centre on the fight books of those two nations, it’s inexplicable why…
“It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information”. Oscar Wilde We’ve nothing significant in HEMA/WMA press this week … so we’ll go straight to the Snippets. And hopefully, we’ll find some small note that is worthy of the time you spent visiting this weeks’ page. Snippets A Little…
No lecture today … just press. Enjoy the break while We catch our breath. Gummi Sword! WESER KURIER (Bremen, Germany) 30 September 13 Mit dem Gummischwert aufs Pferd (Karsten Hollmann) Arne Koets and the staff of the Prince’s Riding School of Bückeburg are instructing a small number of student in the chivalric art of historical sword…
As I was flying out to the Western Martial Arts Workshop (WMAW) in Racine, Wisconsin this past weekend, many articles began whirling around the Internet about the demise of beloved sword fighting game initiative - Clang! I have been following this project closely as Neal Stephenson is a good friend of mine and a colleague…
Read More... from Clang! Neal Stephenson's Kickstarter is still alive and swinging!
We’ve always found it fascinating to discover how our peers come to sword play, and to what specific discipline within it. We all know of someone of Spanish or Scottish background who is a dedicated student within the oriental martial arts and techniques of kendo, gumdo or jian shu. Within the Academie Duello, we have…
Modern scarification, like tattoos, can be seen as examples of various sub-cultures within the ‘mundane world’ using a unique version of badges representing tribal/group identification or indications of shared experiences. And while most of the world are familiar with the use of scars as identifiers within African and Asian tribal systems, and some are familiar…
We’ve written before on technologys' effect on our discipline, and We’ve another snippet that has real potential for adding to the production of period hilts and blades … or at least practice-only resin ones. We’re fully for any modern advance that can be worn under helmet, gorget or body armour that allows us to be…
We were intrigued by a quote from a following article: “I am not a master; nobody certified me”. How do we as a community ‘know’ that our various schools and ‘Fechtschules’ are in fact teaching an authentic form of HEMA/WMA? And who ‘accredited’ the institution – if in fact accreditation as a HEMA/WMA study centre…
One of the advantages of our art is that we get to ‘stand up again’ after a mistake … or after meeting a better fighter. Yes, one does improve in fitness, reactive muscle memory, swordplay technique and ‘tactical thinking’ as one ‘spars’, practices and drills … but we must never lose sight that in medieval…
There’s nothing local found this week, but Eastern Europe continues its traditional love-affair with all things historical and sword-like. The Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Russia all have WMA/HEMA competitions that have ‘hundreds’ of participants, with thousands of spectators – and often have strong municipal and provincial support as well. Their different sword-cultures are long and…
Multi-discipline. In HEMA/WMA that could be the swordfighter that can properly use rapier ‘and’ side sword, wrestles well, and knows what end of a pole arm to use where. Add the ability to ride a horse, to dance well and to hit what your bow is aiming at … and you might have a multi-discipline…
We lead with two Canadian items this time around, a first We think for this blog. HEMA/WMA ‘is’ alive and well in the ‘True North, strong and … well trained’. Given the late start that Canada had with discovering a European martial arts heritage (no medieval nor renaissance-period sword fighting actually took place here in…
It’s quiet out there (again) … too quiet (still). But, there are whispers of sword-sounds in the far off distance – though We had to dig hard this week to find them. Playing the Prize in Poland GAZETA (Warsaw, Poland) 26 July 13 Znów powalczą o miecz króla Kazimierza. Turniej rycerski w Szydłowie (Paweł…
Swordplay in books, swordplay in movies, swordplay in the public venue. There are plenty of examples out there (and We do mean ‘out there’) on how swordplay (and by inference ourselves) is viewed by those that have not yet joined us. For better or for worse; movies, television, demonstrations and yes, even books; will influence…