My apologies for the brevity of this edition of Sword Press, but the recent world situation and the concurrent obligations of service took my attention elsewhere for most of the month! Polite Parasols & Prima METRO (Vancouver, British Columbia). 10 March 16. Vancouver workshop offers lessons on umbrella etiquette, self-defence. The home salle (Academie Duello) hosted manners-maven Jason Sarai, supporting…
Read More... from Truncated Sword Press: News for March 2016
Within Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), our serious scholars often suspect that our community suffers to an unknown degree from ‘lost treasures’. Precious books, scrolls, weapons and armour are frequently believed to have fallen to the decaying effects of time. Poor storage, war, long winters (think fireplace fuel), flood, fire, and hoarding in private collections are just some examples of the natural…
So, why did You take up HEMA/WMA? Fitness? Historical interest? Social leveler? A Pointed Introduction. HA'ARETZ (Tel Aviv, Israel) 31 January 14 Herzl, swords and the Nazi salute: The curious history of Jewish fencers (Shay Fogelman) “Jews were forbidden most duelling groups, and formed their own. And reached a degree of expertise to establish…
The growth of HEMA/WMA here and in the ‘old country’ has well documented with both items in the past press, and with salles reporting the increasing numbers of students coming to their door. And though we are all united as a community in having some common interest in the concept of historical fencing; each individual…
Two of the items offered today illustrate personal perceptions of HEMA/WMA studies and their practitioners. Though they are but the opinions of but two people, they do demonstrate the need for salles and related-events to have their act together, their facts straight and word-bites prepared well before the press arrive at the door. “Come…
A bit of everything today; mounted and foot-fought WMA/HEMA and reminders as to where our history comes from (and where sometimes it can unexpectedly be found). Knocked-Down, Down Under SOUTH COAST REGISTER (Shoalhaven, Australia) 08 February 13 Modern renaissance sport comes to show (Robert Crawford) Australia hosted Rod Walker and the team from Full Tilt…
Nikolaj Malnač receiving an award from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence. Now that we’ve all acquired the blades, books and besegew’s that we wanted for Christmas, it’s time to learn new WMA/HEMA techniques – or polish up those we already know. Given the near-universal access to excellent reference material here-to-fore-seldom seen – its stands to…
We love this job – We read Japanese-language blogs about German sword fighting; Estonian press about a Canadian ‘knight’; and now Israeli sword-press in Russian! Notwithstanding the problems of the Internet; it has provided significant resources to students and practitioners of the WMA art wherever they are – and more importantly, given us the opportunity…
We have an embarrassment of riches this week, albeit most are stale-dated by about a month. We get a look at some of the teams that participated in the recently concluded Battle of the Nations (BOTN), we find two new ‘old’ swords and we get a look at what it is like to approach WMA/HEMA…
An eclectic mix this week, including a couple of hits from long-absent France.Wes Not Your Daddy’s Fencing Match EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE (Mesa, Arizona) 27 April 12 EV men test their mettle -- and their metal -- at 'Battle of Nations' (Mike Sakal) A last look by one newspaper at some of the American competitors going…
Nicci looked up at Kahlan . "Knives are not my talent." "It's not hard," Kahlan said as she pressed the handle into Nicci's hand. "When the time is right, just stick the pointed end somewhere important in someone you really don't like." Quotes from the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, courtesy of Wikiquote.…