I've been pretending to have sword fights ever since I was old enough for my brothers to be forced to play with me. These days I exorcise that need from time to time by playing at the same with my brother's kids. However, I've always wanted to learn the true art of swordplay. Modern fencing is an incredibly difficult sport, but it's not what I was looking for. Some groups dress up in full armor and whack the shit out of each other, but that wasn't my goal either. Quite recently I was directed to the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (theARMA.org). This group feels like it is on the right track.
The organization's website has all of the right kinds of information. Contained within the Features section is a huge list of articles and essays relating to the martial arts of Western Europe. In the Resources section are links to a wide variety of original historic fencing manuals (though now available for members only), as well as book reviews and a reading list. The highlight of the site (also primarily in the Features section) is the extensive list of videos wherein the
director of the organization explains and demonstrates a variety of the
movements and the reasons behind them.
Honestly this site is packed with information that will take me quite some time to explore fully. It's really exciting to see people exploring this area of history using both scholarly rigor and practical physical application. Now I just need to find some friends and form my own training group...
No comments:
Post a Comment