ARMA

Hello, my name is Ken.

I have practiced Martial Arts off and on over the years, mostly Kempo, Praying Mantis and Tai Chi, but that was years ago. I am 46 years old now and recently retired from the military where my focus was more on modern warfare (go figure). lately I have become an avid practitioner in the revival of Historical European MA (aka HEMA, HES, WMA (Western Martial Arts)) as a Combative Art. I am a member of an organization known as ARMA. To learn more about them, check out this link.

http://www.theARMA.org

Now, this is not the fantasy or SCA type of example that you mostly find in this revival (which to be honest, looks fun, but it's a bunch of crap),and has nothing to do with theatrical stuff like the Seattle Knights, but rather the focus it to bring it back into the mainstream as a true Martial Art. We don't do it for theatrical purposes, or as a sport (which is about 90 percent of what you see out there), but as a legitimate martial art. The focus is also, in a historical context, concerned with medieval weapons, and grappling/unarmed fighting as a secondary, but it is all inclusive. The preferred weapon of training is the Longsword, though included in the curriculum is dagger, short sword and buckler, staff, spear, and poleaxe and then trow in grappling with or without any or all of these weapons as part of the bag of tricks. Of course, the art historically would have included training and fighting in armor, but that stuff costs a lot of money, so the concentration is really in without-armor techniques.

This revival, in case any of you are interested, is derived from many sources, but mainly from scholarship of four to five hundred year old manuals, or "fight books" from the late Medieval and early Renaissance periods. Of course, a book can't teach anything by it's self and since there are no living masters of the art (dead for over 300 years) we don't have masters to teach us. Instead we take what we can get from the manuals, general concepts of combat fighting, and put the examples to practical testing. If it doesn't work, then something is wrong and we go back and look again.

I know this differs a bit from what this forum is primarily intended, which would be a focus on Asian forms and styles of martial arts, but since I am still concerned with HEMA in its martial aspect, I hope I'm not intruding and we can find some good point of discussion, etc.

Other examples of Western Martial Arts would be, for example, Krav Maga, Savate, Pogo do Pau, Fencing, Boxing, Wrestling and MMA (though the last four are sportified versions or Western Traditions). So, Martial Arts is not all Asian styles, and I hope I am accepted as just another brother in arms.

If any of you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I know that there are many misconceptions out there about this art, and the proliferation of enormous amounts of misinformation available on the web and the movie have done nothing to explain the historical realities, so I am also here to answer questions you may have, dispel any myths (there are a lot of them) and generally educate others like yourselves who may know little or nothing about HEMA.

If I'm in the wrong place, please let me know and I'll bounce.

Cheers!