Niagara School of Arms

New fencer, new instructor. Micro-blog and content curation for HEMA/historic fencing

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Class Structure Advice

Most HEMA classes should, as a general idea, have a bit from the source material, fitness, and some more skill building.

I'm creating new lessons with a ratio of 1:2, as a general rule.

Individual lessons will change that mix around. And smaller or newer clubs will tend to spend more time with the source material. This is normal.

I tend to start with fitness. Then it's on to basics, such as footwork, wrestling, and guards or cuts. Then tactics, then drilling plays.

But, once more, these are rules of thumb.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Summer News, Autumn Plans, Further Thoughts

First up is the news. Niagara School of Arms has now participated in it's first tournament. The "Points North" tournament in Ottawa, Ontario. We took a gold and silver medal in the Nylon Longsword tournament. I am very proud of our students who trained hard and fought well. We celebarated, had a great time, and we loved ourselves. We tried new things, met new people, and made memories.

Next is the news. Niagara School of Arms is also going to be moving into shelter for the winter. We are going to run our Tuesday and Thursday classes in a local Islamic Center's gymnasium. We are grateful for their space.

We are also going to be running a completely new "Introduction to Longsword" course. This will be a six week long preparation for new students to get up to speed. I am expecting to run this within weeks.

We are also going to incorporate more extensive fitness training in our class. We want happy, healthy bodies that will be safe for play. This is going to modify our curriculum somewhat, and I expect to get things wrong and for my students to tell me I'm wrong.

We are ordering in a new set of Dussack trainers so that we may use those for lighter sparring. We do not have any intent to seriously practice the Dussack, but instead intend to use it as training gear.

To make another announcement, I have seriously begun researching Giganti's Sidesword manual. This has been slow. Research in HEMA requires testing. This means reading small amounts, trying certain things, breaking them, and going back to the source. Then cheating and looking at other people's work. Then getting hit more.

The process more or less repeats itself constantly. I have found that my interpretations of Fiore's manuscript have always changed. I wager that will be the case for a long time going forward.

I expect to have a decent interpretation of the Giganti text by February. That is, an interpretation I will be able to share with the students. My immediate goals are to piece together the guards, cuts, footwork and then to begin piecing together individual fencing actions. After that, trial and testing and consulting the other Sidesword manuscripts.

So I have some further thoughts.

Starting up a HEMA class is hard. It takes time, and it takes effort. I try at times to procrastinate or avoid responsibility, but things need to get done. The site needs updating, and I need to work on the Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages. I believe I shall have the free time to do so soon.

Also soon we shall begin uploading sparring footage and record our interpretations of plays. It shall be excellent for our class to put ourselves up to criticism.

We have so much to do, and so much is coming up. We have accomplished much this summer and we want to accomplish more. There's always more things to do on the horizon. We look forward to this and shall meet our challenges gladly.

The hardest part about martial arts is getting in the door every week. The hardest part about organizing a club is all the non-sword stuff. The biggest fear for me isn't failure or ridicule. It is never having tried. I fail every week. Ask my students; we break our interpretations all the time. We try new things and they don't work. I lose sparring matches. I get hurt sometimes.

When I fail, I don't feel that much embarrassment. I am more inclined to pick myself up and try again. Perhaps the same or a different way. Eventually I succeed.

Till next time.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Fitness routines, body safety

While your club gets the nose to the grindstone, you need to consider incorporating a fitness routine. Something you can recommend to your students. Both in their free time and in class.

We practice footwork, we run, and we do a small amount of strength training through solo drills with our swords. Some of our students take up additional swords to inform their longsword skills.

We have one student practicing with the Montante, and as a result his longsword is more fast and fluid than before. We also have myself and another instructor who practice with a sidesword. Thirdly another student recently took up practice with the basket hilted broadsword. These two developments are a little new to claim results.

That said, fitness is important to build a safe body for fencing. You don’t need an expensive fitness center with the latest equipment. You don’t need a hot yoga class to supplement your HEMA.

What you need, at the end of the day, is body weight exercises, cardio, weights to lift, and to do a few natural form exercises. Such as kettle bells or indian clubs. I will not give advice on specific routines. I am not a qualified fitness instructor.

I will tell you that there is a lot of bad advice out there. I recommend doing research and checking multiple sources. Make sure to not completely rely on students taking initiative for their own fitness routines. Build a basic warm up and open with it every lesson. Do footwork during every warm up. That’s betterthan nothing.

Emphasize to your students that they need to make their body safe for fencing before they begin sparring. Fitness reduces the chances of strains, tears, and pulled muscles. It also increases health for your every day life. It also reduces the chances of workplace injury. There is no reason to not be fit while practicing HEMA.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Online Presence, Local Advertising

The last few months have brought little content from me. I simply haven’t had much to say about starting a club. I have simply been training my students and myself. In my personal life I have been busy. I’m going to school to decide what career I will do.

So let’s cut to the meat of the post. Your online presence is important. We can use social media to quickly coordinate classes, share pictures and video, and discuss this hobby. What’s more important is your offline presence. You need posters, cards, and to reach out to local communities. This may involve demonstrations and workshop classes. This may also involve lectures at local schools. One thing the NSA has had success with, is practicing in the public parks.

That said, a good online presence can make up where you fall short in local outreach. HEMA is getting larger. People are more likely to find your club through a website, Facebook group, the HEMA Alliance club finder, and local forums.

You will need Twitter as a quick way to make announcements for your club. It’s useful for that. And many people who are physically active use Twitter. You will need a Facebook group and page. Everyone uses it. If you don’t exist on Facebook, you don’t exist at all. Instagram and Tumblr are great for image sharing and micro blogging respectively.

Much of the HEMA community exists on YouTube. However many clubs use it for sharing interpretations, sparring, tournaments, and lectures. If you’re not ready for that content, hold off on video. However you can use it to upload private videos to share with more experienced instructors. Which can be a benefit to you.

You will also need your own website. I am personally allergic to technology, despite being twenty nine. Swords are pretty low tech, and the most new thing on my motorcycle is the steel braided brake lines. But I went out and designed one for the club. And using wordpress, it wasn’t that hard.

As a parting shot, remember that the web is great for reaching out across the globe. But boots on the ground are ultimately the way to get the most people in your club.

[historicalfightingguide]

You don’t have to do everything, but we can all have at least one of these.

Another thing one can do is ask club members whether they are interested in being in charge of such media. It gives folks something to do that’s related to the club, helps the club grow and helps being a cohesive club stick together.

You can also cross post from one online space to another.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

You also bring up an important point. Delegating is hard, but it's important. You as a founder or instructor have a vision for what the club looks like. But other people will want to contribute. Whether that's research, instruction, taking pictures, managing a twitter, handling funds and back end. Like ninety percent of running a HEMA club is not fighting. And the less of the not fighting you can do, that leaves room for more fighting.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Online Presence, Local Advertising

The last few months have brought little content from me. I simply haven’t had much to say about starting a club. I have simply been training my students and myself. In my personal life I have been busy. I’m going to school to decide what career I will do.

So let’s cut to the meat of the post. Your online presence is important. We can use social media to quickly coordinate classes, share pictures and video, and discuss this hobby. What’s more important is your offline presence. You need posters, cards, and to reach out to local communities. This may involve demonstrations and workshop classes. This may also involve lectures at local schools. One thing the NSA has had success with, is practicing in the public parks.

That said, a good online presence can make up where you fall short in local outreach. HEMA is getting larger. People are more likely to find your club through a website, Facebook group, the HEMA Alliance club finder, and local forums.

You will need Twitter as a quick way to make announcements for your club. It’s useful for that. And many people who are physically active use Twitter. You will need a Facebook group and page. Everyone uses it. If you don’t exist on Facebook, you don’t exist at all. Instagram and Tumblr are great for image sharing and micro blogging respectively.

Much of the HEMA community exists on YouTube. However many clubs use it for sharing interpretations, sparring, tournaments, and lectures. If you’re not ready for that content, hold off on video. However you can use it to upload private videos to share with more experienced instructors. Which can be a benefit to you.

You will also need your own website. I am personally allergic to technology, despite being twenty nine. Swords are pretty low tech, and the most new thing on my motorcycle is the steel braided brake lines. But I went out and designed one for the club. And using wordpress, it wasn’t that hard.

As a parting shot, remember that the web is great for reaching out across the globe. But boots on the ground are ultimately the way to get the most people in your club.

[longswordsinlondon]

Armoured and Un-Armoured Longsword

[22] This is the text and the gloss on yet another of the Wrath-hew:

Be Stronger against, Wind, Stab. If he sees, then take it down.

(Krakow/ “Goliath” version of Pseudo-Peter von Danzig’s Glossa, book from c.1510, text from before 1452)

[49] Yet one play

Mark when you stand in the high guard and he stabs low to you Then stab from above down between his sword and his forward hand and push the pommel to the ground and wind your point on his sword’s blade through below his sword and attack him to his right side.

(illustration from Krakow/ “Goliath” version of Pseudo-Peter von Danzig’s Glossa, book from c.1510, text from before 1452 - actually text is from the 1452 Rome version of P-PvD, since Krakow is not transcribed on Wiktenauer for the armoured section)

Here we see two kinds of longsword fight. The immediate difference should be obvious. In the first, the fencers aren’t wearing armour. One isn’t wearing shoes, giving a great example to those of use who fence in toe shoes.

In the second, they’re in armour. Full harness, head to foot.

This necessitates a different kind of strategy. In the first image, the plan is simple - stab them in the face from as far away as possible. In the second, both fencers are holding their sword in the “half-sword”, “shortened sword” grip with the non-dominant hand on the blade.

This grip gives better control of the point and better leverage. You need these because in order to hurt an armoured opponent, you need to get the point into the gaps in his harness (inner thigh, armpits, inner elbow, visor etc.) and these are small targets.

The downside, obviously, is a lack of reach. However, without the point control and leverage of the half-sword grip, it’s unlikely that a regular gripped thrust could find the harness’s openings.

[iamafencer]

Movie shoot at Mid-South Fencers Club in Raleigh NC with Kristine Konsmo and Axel Pettersson.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Manuscript Selection, Training Methods

A very important part of starting your school will obviously be selecting a weapon and the accompanying manuscripts to study from. This will distinguish your club from those surrounding it, and lay down the ground work for any future study you do. Another very important part, of course, is training methods. The type of training, the intensity of it, and so on. This will contribute to the culture of your club. And importantly will bring out the desired base level of athleticism in your students. You will have to consider your goals when choosing a weapon and manual. Do you want to find out how a certain weapon was used? What time period or place are you interested in? Are you interested in interpreting the manual 100% accurately? All of these questions will determine your goal with HEMA. Some people want to interpret a certain text, or group of them. To zero in on a small time and place, showing how the weapons were used from that context. Some people don’t care as much about the historicity of their study, and wish to understand the weapon in completion. Still others want to become the very best, that no one ever was. You, as the founder of the club, must consider every possible reason for a student studying HEMA, and bring them the options they desire. Make available the documents you use to your students. Give them the lessons about history, show them the complete study of the weapon, and give them the skills to excel in the sparring environment. Give them a strong community and the physical training they desire. I cannot give you a true recommendation, as the variety of texts available to you is staggering. However I will recommend that you find one that’s comprehensive. You’re looking for a text that covers your weapons in-depth. Accompanying secondary sources on YouTube, in books, and on articles, also helps a lot. Looking for other clubs that study your primary source will be important. Establish a good rapport with those clubs. The Niagara School of Arms decided to study Fiore dei Liberi as our beginning manual. This is because Fiore’s text covers many comprehensive plays. The only thing it doesn’t truly cover, is distance and timing. But those concepts are available to us in other manuscripts. And they’re fairly universal fighting concepts. We also have clubs close to us that study Fiore, but are far enough that also studying Fiore wouldn’t be redundant or bring members away from each other. This works out in both of our advantage, as having a larger pool of Fiore students will benefit both schools. But dare I say that the NSA benefits more, from AEMMA’s previous research, and it’s more experienced members. Training methods will be important, as they’ll also shape the goals of your club. Who you will want to attract and keep, the level of fitness in your club,  and so much more. You should be practicing footwork at every lesson. Open with it. Footwork is the alpha and omega of fencing. The NSA also uses a basic “fencing tag” game that emphasizes footwork and the feeling of pressure and binds. It also works on distance, and can be done with no safety gear. You use the palm to strike the front shoulder or upper chest. No fingertips. The arm and hand can be used to move your opponent’s hand aside. Tag and get a point. Be tagged in return and it doesn’t count. We also use a modified “push hands” drill, where we stand with our feet shoulder width apart, and try to push each other off balance while retaining our own. It works well to show people pressure in binds and grapples, and gives them a sense of their balance. We also use good old fashioned running. Beyond this, I am not qualified to give instruction on. I admit I don’t know very much about fitness instruction. I’ve adopted these at the recommendation of local martial arts instructors, and through discussion with other HEMA instructors. I cannot give you a complete lesson physical fitness. But this stuff is rather basic, and can serve as a good basis for introducing people to fitness in HEMA.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Possible Posts, Probable Plans

I have two ideas for new blog posts in the near future. One is to talk about HEMA’s impact on how I view media. This would cover historic documentaries, shows and films, fictional stuff, and other things. Another is to possibly talk about how I’m not the best fencer in my own school. The expectation of perfection on the instructor, and how an instructor is capable of making mistakes. And how to correct those mistakes while not losing the confidence of your students. My school has been going great. We have an influx of new students. New swords are coming to my door within the week. Purple Heart Armoury was excellent in shipping them out quick. I reached out to the SCA and got some interested students. I had fun at their fight night. Three of their members had fun at our night. We all see this as more opportunities to get together and hit each other with swords. This arrangement so far can only work out positively.

I wish to reach out to other local martial arts communities. I know you can’t really steal students from other arts. Martial artists tend to want to focus their training. Trying to convert students is probably also not a good way to go. But I wish to make ourselves known in the local MA community. And to build good rapport with them. They also have easy access to mats. Those are good for practicing Abrazare. Gotta start getting thrown more. Getting thrown onto hardwood seventy two times sucks. I also wish to do more lectures, and maybe one specifically aimed at the community at large. That may have to wait until after I get some steel and gear.

The plans for a Monday evening class are going forward nicely. They’re going to happen sometime in April, and that’s pretty swell. I’m glad we can get this going and I’m going to look forward to running a two month long trial of second classes.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Establishing a Club and Finances

Unfortunately I do not have very many tips about saving money. I’m actually really poor with finances. Luckily HEMA gives me a goal to use my money for, which helps me save. That said, I want to talk about how starting my own club has affected my goals in HEMA.

I pay for the hall at Niagara School of Arms, and the insurance. I try to share the cost as much as possible with my fellow students. However I do not hold them to any obligations of paying extra after they have paid club dues. Sometimes there are not enough dues to share the entire cost, and that is totally fine with me. I know in my mind that if I did not need to pay for the hall out of my own pocket, I could pay my own due into a club account and let the insurance and rental money come from that. That stability would then let me purchase my personal HEMA equipment at a far faster rate than before. I’m currently struggling with the knowledge that I could have a much better collection of swords, safety equipment, and other things I desire to advance my training. But the other option is to not have a club, and that gets me (and everyone else) nowhere. I am currently at the stage of purchasing club equipment. This does not bother me because a purchase for the club can be made back, which can then be reinvested into the club. I resell the swords I purchase from Purpleheart, which lessens the financial issue. That has been a good strategy. We take club orders together and save some money that way. Currently the Canadian dollar is weak compared to the USA and the Euro. So any purchase will take a hit with the exchange rate. Followed by any import taxes, and shipping fees. I cannot guess what these would be like for your country. But I highly recommend you look at the options available to save money. And bundle up gear to buy. In the meantime, if you start a HEMA club, consider the financial impacts of being first. Financing a club is not a casual fun evening. It is a social responsibility. It is an obligation that you should not back out of, unless it is out of your means. If it is, consider asking help from your community. Save money, start a club-specific bank account. Get the club established as an official business. If you have the account, put payments through the account. That will soften the impact on your personal finances. Currently I am thinking of ways to get this club to be less of an impact on my own finances. This may mean looking into business assistance from my government. It may mean community fundraisers with demonstrations. I do not want my members to be the only people paying for the club, and when we get enough members, I want their dues to come back to them in a shower of club gear and training equipment. But those are goals. There are many things I admire about HEMA. The never ending personal and club goals definitely is one of those things.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

Next Article Ideas

For the people who read this blog, I want to ask if you have any questions about what it’s like to be new at fencing, while teaching it. I come across a few challenges that are fairly unique. Getting me to vocalize about them may help others gain insight. And it may help me organize my thoughts more. An article I want to talk about is the struggle of financing a club. It’s definitely not for everyone. I find it more difficult to afford fencing gear because I keep paying rent for our hall, and insurance. I do charge my members for the classes they attend. But so far it has not been enough. However I do not mind the financial challenge. Give me a few days or so, and I should be able to write that up.

[the-history-of-fighting]

Old School Fencing Ladies

[ritasv]

‘Mark Caple’ courtesy of Stephen Moss/Photosm

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

First Times, Rare Privileges

Something remarkable happened in my journey of HEMA last Thursday. For the first time, I have spoken publicly. I was talking about the lessons I teach at the Niagara School of Arms. I had the privilege of speaking at Brock University. It was the first time I did a real presentation since elementary school. I kinda skipped out on doing that in high school. I was a terrible student and a lazy teenager. While I was there, I had the attention of about thirty or so people. I talked about what HEMA is, the process of reconstructing fighting techniques, and the difficulties I come across. I talked about myself. I talked about Fiore, and the system of Amizare he constructed. I had many questions asked to me, and I answered them well, I think. The room was full of attentive people, and I highly enjoyed it. I performed a small demonstration with the other main instructor, and he did very well. We had people come up and try out some of the safe and simple techniques present in the system. It was definitely easy to get people to learn pommels and peasant strikes.

Months ago, this was originally planned. Then myself and the professor I planned this evening with got extremely busy. Finally we set a date, and we did it. And I am very glad that it happened. I would definitely do something like this again, and gladly. I had so many butterflies going into the discussion. I was nervous, and I could not focus on practicing on Wednesday evening. I did forget some of my specific talking points. But I did have my general ideas on my phone, which really saved my bacon. I’m glad for that. I think I did a good job for HEMA that day, and I would totally look forward to doing more in the future.

[whowouldbringabooktoaswordfight]

Danelli Armouries Basic Rapier Review

Weight: 994 g Length: 119.5 cm Blade length (from cup): 100 cm Point of Balance: ~5.5 cm from cup Length of crossguard: 27.7 cm Diametre of cup: 14.1 cm The basic rapier from Danelli Armouries is pricier than the well known Darkwood and Alchem rapiers but is well worth the money. The sword handles very well, has excellent tip control, and the blade presence is phenomenal.  The tip is of the blunted type and the blade has a blunted diamond cross-section. Some problems I have with this model is that there is a bit of rattle between two parts: 1) Where the knuckle guard meets the pommel and 2) where the cup mount meets the blade. There is also an issue I expect later on where the pommel will squeak as it becomes looser and is able to freely rotate. (2015 June 4) I could have just asked someone, but I assumed that these were hot-peened.  They are in fact threaded and, fully tightened, contact with the blade gives a deep and gorgeous ‘gong’ sort of noise/tone. There is zero rattle, whatsoever.  Keep in mind that the cup is secured with two screws. Now, this means that it isn’t very historical, construction-wise, but it also means that it is easier to transport, especially if you have a sword bag or case; it can lie flat against other blades. It also looks quite neat without the cup, as well. I have handled Darkwood’s, Alchem’s, and Zen Warrior’s rapiers, but the Danelli is, by far, my primary preference. You can purchase this from Danelli Armouries or Wild Geese Fencing. You might also want to take a look at the Basic Sail Dagger that accompanies this rapier. This dagger is available on both sites as well. Here are some bad pictures.

[longswordsinlondon]

As Danelli has replied, the construction (the cup being screwed on) is perfectly historical.

Danelli Armouries: So, a friend of mine pointed me towards this online review of my entry level cup hilt rapier (tinyurl.com/gmugph7).

It is a good review and I’m glad about that but it also denounces a lack of historical accuracy because of the use of screws to secure the cup.

Now, I have no idea who wrote this, but before writing something like would be better to make a simple 2 minute google search.

I could spend the whole day posting pictures of original rapiers with screws, I’ll post one below for the sake of it.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

It makes me happy when someone posts wrong information, and is corrected, and then admits to being wrong, and corrects themselves. This speaks highly of the maturity of everyone involved. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in this situation.

[ritasv]

les “grognards” by Wim K.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

There should be a law stating you cannot recreate the Old Guards unless you are at least fourty. But these costumes are really well done, and the older guy really plays the part impressively.

[newfencernewinstructor-blog]

New Years, New Jobs

I just finished prepping my first slow cooker hot chocolate. And now I have a small announcement to make. I have a new job. I worked four years as a security officer, and two years before that as a bouncer and temp worker. My current job is roofing, with a local company. The people here are great, the company is also excellent. And it has to be, because roofing is a difficult and dangerous job. More than any other work I’ve ever done. I’ve gained a lot of respect for this trade, having worked in it. I switched jobs so I could better orient my life around the Niagara School of Arms. So now I come to a new subject. Switching jobs for the pursuit of HEMA. The general idea of orienting your life around HEMA may sound like a silly subject. Many people get on in their day with a job, casual hobbies, drink, make children, watch movies, and wait to die. Why do something that requires you to take so much time, effort, finances, and why would you orient your job around this thing?

HEMA is a very large undertaking in someone’s life. It takes a lot of money, a regular commitment, lots of mental effort, a community, and physical exertion. To do this, you will need to do one of two things. One is to make a lot of money passively. Investments, houses, inheritances, that sort of thing. Privilege and money could definitely help a lot. Or you could orient your life around this subject.

I haven’t won a lottery, and my family consists of people who live to ninety and above. I also don’t have a house or investments. So I’m going to use my career to further my study in HEMA.

Should you do this? I do not know your situation. If you can, and if you think you want to, do it. My general advice would be to do what you think is correct for yourself. If you switch jobs, make sure to do so professionally. Don’t kick your boss’ door down like a brigand. Leave your two week notice, Help train your replacement. For the love of HEMA, make sure you have a new job before you quit the old one. And try to arrange employment with someone who will help you accomplish your HEMA goals. If you’re going to do it, do it right.

I needed a job that gave me day shift, so I can get a second evening running for the club this spring. So I took the measure of changing work so I can accommodate that better. It helps to look at your life like a system. You have twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. How many club meetings do you do a week? How much research? How much coordination with people outside your club? How many times a week do you train? You’ll need to fit all that in with work, sleep, school (if any), and any of the little things you want in life. Where do you place your HEMA activities into your life priorities? 

I can’t truly answer that question for you. But my answer for myself is that I want to have two evenings a week for club meetings. I want to do a lot more research - both into my primary source, and into the secondary sources around it. I want to train consistently, to make my body safer for HEMA, and for my job. Fitting that in with fourty hours of work should be doable. As for my job, I don’t care so much for the actual work. I don’t have a passion for roofs or security systems. My passion is HEMA, and my job is a tool to build that passion.