Italian Rapier in the style of Ridolfo Capo Ferro at AEMMA

AEMMA is pleased to announce the addition of Italian rapier to its curriculum. Although the Academy focuses on the medieval fighting arts as defined by Italian swordsmaster Fiore dei Liberi (1410), the fortunate circumstance of Mr. Beau Brock, hailing from Vancouver, and instructor at Academie Duello, is now

Instructor Mr. Beau Brock

attending the University of Toronto, working on his post doctoral degree focused on societal languages. During his studies in Toronto, the opportunity presented itself to leverage his skills and expertise in Italian rapier, and his passion for Ridolfo Capo Ferro manifested into a popular rapier class now scheduled on Wednesday evenings between 9 - 10:30pm.


His instruction is based primarily on the treatise written by Ridolfo Capo Ferro of Cagli entitled "Gran Simulacro dell'arte e dell'uso della scherma" initially published in 1610. The treatise provides an excellent theoretical basis for understanding the principles of misura, tempo and stringere, as well as their uses in combat. Classes will encompass basic drills (footwork, blade sensitivity, line control, etc.) followed by reviewing specific elements of swordplay and conclusing with the application of those principles in slow work, or more advanced level of free fencing.

We extend our warmest wishes for his success in cultivating both interest in rapier fencing and creating excellent rapier fencers at AEMMA.

Good Knight Children, Take two....

The Hospital for Sick Children has developed programs designed to elevate their patients' sense of well being and emotional health through almost daily presentations. Such presentations are donated by individuals and by organizations such as Mickey Mouse and Mini Mouse from Disney, local magicians, clowns and so on, with the intent of making the children forget for a few moments that that they are in a hospital. Caron Mills, a Child Life Specialist, has organized this and other presentations for the hospital. David M. Cvet of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts or AEMMA delivered a second presentation this year on Wednesday morning, November 19th on "How a man shall be armed in the 14th century". The presentation was done with the assistance of two students of the Academy, Russ Howe and Adam Trumpour. The venue of the presentation was the Hospital's "Bear Theatre" on the 4th floor, and was broadcast to all of the room occupied by children who were unable to leave their room for medical reasons.

L-R: Russ Howe, David M. Cvet, Caron Mills, Adam Trumpour

At 11:00am, at the conclusion of the presentation, the children were invited to enter the Bear Theatre to experience a second presentation, this time on heraldry. David, donning his Royal Heraldry Society of Canada's hat, along with RHSC member Russ Howe, enlightened the children with the spectacle of heraldry, using wooden shields painted with his own and Russ's arms. The children were provided with dozens of blank shields and with copies of the colourful charges available on the RHSC website. The Hospital provided colouring markers, and many pages of "stickies" which the kids used to create their own personal coats of arms.

The names of each of the children were written onto small pieces of paper, and tossed into David's helm for a draw for a prize - a blank wooden shield give to the winner. A young man called Damien won the shield and his smile lit up the room.

The children had a fantastic time, and their smiles were bright despite being patients in the hospital. The Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts and the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada wish to thank the Hospital for Sick Children for allowing us the opportunity to create moments of joy and fun for the kids, and look forward towards "take three...", hopefully in early 2009.

AEMMA in Ljubljana, Slovenia

The "Narodni muzej Slovenije " (National Museum of Slovenia), the organizers of the workshop, and sponsors of the workshop were "BTC City" (Slovenian business, shopping, recreational – entertainment and cultural centre) and "Rauch d.d." (provider of juices) presented "Delavnica srednjeveških Evropshik borilnih veščin " or Medieval European Martial Arts Workshop, the second of its kind in Slovenia on October 11-12, 2008. This follows the first workshop by David M. Cvet of AEMMA in 2005. This year's workshop featured five instructors including David M. Cvet from AEMMA Toronto. The first half of Saturday covered Fiore dei Liberi's "abrazare " (grappling) and "spada " (sword) by David. The lessons were oriented towards the application of distance and timing concepts. This was followed with the second half of Saturday with a Slovenian instructor from the Celje area, Igor Sancin, who has been working with Sigmund Ringeck's treatise for more than a decade. He is also in the process of publishing Slovenia's first Slovenian translation of a historical fencing treatise within a year. His technical understanding of Ringeck was clearly demonstrated during his class, conveying the necessary technical skills to incorporate Ringeck's concepts into German longsword fencing.

The second day of the workshop featured two instructors in the first half, Petr Matoušek from the Czech Republic and Martin Fabian from Slovakia representing "Spoločnosť pre výskum a praktické prevádzanie vznešeného umenia šermiarskeho " (The Free Brotherhood of the Honourable Art of Fencing) instructing initially on "ringen" or wrestling techniques of Ringeck, von Danzig and from the Codex Wallerstein. This was followed by longsword techniques led by Martin sourcing Joachim Meyer. The last instructor for the second half of Sunday was instructor Roman Vučajnk, from Ljubljana covering grappling and dagger techniques derived from Filipo Vadi.

The workshop's venue was a large gymnasium in central Ljubljana offering extremely high ceiling and tall windows creating an excellent workshop environment. Twenty students registered for the workshop and all felt very satisfied with the level and quality of training received. The weekend workshop included visiting the "Narodni muzej Slovenije " at 8:00pm for the opportunity to physically examine numerous medieval arms and armour artifacts from the museum's collection. A rare opportunity for the students of the workshop, and the second time the museum has offered students of such a workshop the chance to examine the artifacts, the first being on the Sunday evening after the weekend workshop in 2005.

Proclamation of the Grant of Arms, Flag and Badge to AEMMA

L-R: Dr. Claire Boudreau, Chief Herald of Canada, David M. Cvet, founder of AEMMA, Dr. Darrel Kennedy, Assiniboine Herald, Canadian Heraldic Authority, assigned to the file, Bruce Patterson, Saguenay Herald. Canadian Heraldic Authority

The Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts received its offically granted arms by proclamation at a formal event in Montreal, on October 4, 2008. The proclamation certificate text is reproduced below.

"In 1988, by Royal Letters Patent of her Majesty the Queen of Canada, the Governor General received the authority to grant armorial bearings, such grants being part of the National Honours System.

Pursuant to this authority now vested in Her Excellency The Right Honorable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and to the terms of my commission of office, I, Claire Boudreau, Chief Herald of Canada, do hereby proclaim the arms, flag and badge of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts as granted by me, entered in Volume V, Page 197 of the Public Register of Amrs, Flags and Badges of Canada, to be borne and used for ever hereafter by the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts according to the terms of the grant and the law of arms of Canada.

These Letters Patent were signed and sealed at Rideau Hall in the City of Ottawa on the fifteenth day of January in the year two thousand and eight and proclaimed and presented here in the City of Montreal on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada, this fourth day of October in the year two thousand and eight.

God Save the Queen."

Smith's Cove Swordsmanship Training

It is without a doubt, a story which has garnished much interest in the press and television network during the summer's swordsmanship training in the tiny community of Smith's Cove near Digby, Nova Scotia. The training course delivered by David M. Cvet of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts or AEMMA was patterned after the introduction to swordsmanship offered by AEMMA through the Royal Ontario Museum, but with extensions that introduced some basic concepts and foundations with respect to "abrazare" and "daga" fighting styles.

The student count was 7 regular, with a periodic visit from one or two other individuals during the summer curious about what the training was all about. The students themselves have appeared in the spotlight in the small town of Digby, with such comments from the public they've received like "hey, you're that sword guy on the TV!".

Given the success of this experiment in measuring the interest locally, the residents of Digby County can expect to see a repeat of the training and possibly additional or more advanced offerings during the summer of 2009.

For more stories, click on the links below:

1. Knight Class, CTV Halifax, August 19, 2008


2. Class offers a clash of steel on a summer evening, Digby Courier, July 24, 2008


3. Anyone for knight classes?, Nova Scotia's Chronicle Herald, July 22, 2008


4. Grappling with an old art - swordfighting, Digby Courier, May 8, 2008

Call to Arms...

The Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts or AEMMA has been granted an official coat of arms through the Canadian Heraldic Authority in Ottawa. The arms granted on January 15, 2008. The arms are based on the original coat of arms assumed by the Academy in 1998. The petition for

Click on the image to view larger of the same

the officially granted arms included the submission of the original arms, resulting in the granted arms being not to dissimilar to the originally assumed arms.

Heraldry in Canada, as well as the rest of the world, in particular, countries which have a close history with Europe continues to be practiced, and is alive and well. This thousand year old tradition seemed fitting for AEMMA and embraced this tradition with its petition. The entire process took about two years to complete, with receiving the Letters Patent, hand painted by a heraldic artist Ilona Jurkiewicz.

The motto "PRUDENTIA", "AUDATIA", "CELERITAS" and "FORTITUDO" represent the ideal qualities of a warrior as described by Fiore dei Liberi. These qualities are also symbolized in the armorial bearings with the two supporters, the lion ("AUDATIA") and the tygre ("CELETERITAS") and the lynx or wild cat in the crest ("PRUDENTIA"). The last quality, "FORTITUDO" represented in Fiore's manuscript entitled "Flos Duellatorum" or "Fior Battaglia" is the elephant and castle, but design aesthetics of the arms didn't allow for that representation to be included.

The standard depicted illustrates the arms and what looks like a rook and the crest (the lynx). The rook is actually a representation of a single-towered castle ("FORTITUDO") and is charged with three other symbols, the compass ("PRUDENTIA"), the heart ("AUDATIA") and the arrow ("CELERITAS"). The same castle charged with the three symbols also form the Academy's badge, which will be reflected in lapel pins or as embroidered patches to be affixed to jackets, athletic bags or other items.

Good Knight, Children...

The Hospital for Sick Children has programs designed to elevate their patients' well being and emotional health through almost daily presentations donated by individuals or organizations such as Mickey Mouse and Mini Mouse from Disney Land, local magicians, clowns, comedy troupes, etc.. David M. Cvet, of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts or AEMMA, and 1st Vice President of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada, delivered a presentation on the arms and armour of a 14th century "knight", followed by a talk and presentation on the origins and history of heraldry on Thursday morning, June 12th. The kids were very engaged, and listened with great anticipation to every word uttered, never before seeing a "real live knight in person". The hospital also setup some new equipment for the first time, to televise the presentation to the rooms of many kids who couldn't leave their beds. Other kids, numbering about 15 arrived at the theatre room to witness the presentation directly, in their wheel-chairs, and pulling banks of bags of fluids and monitoring equipment. One little boy, Tony, played the role of a reporter during the televised presentation, and asked pertinent questions about the armour, its weight, where it might've been made, and what the coat of arms meant. Another little girl, Emily, perhaps 8 years old, was very charming and who appeared to be recovering from major surgery, and asked questions, and was very intent on drawing her own coat of arms. Other kids, in similar situations, of various stages of recovery were present and focused on creating their own arms.

At the end of the little dissertation on arms and armour and what it was like being a knight in the 14th century, the staff had prepared many photocopies of blank shields, and supplied markers and pages of stickies (horses, balls, geometric shapes, etc.) that the kids used to create their own arms. The kids who were restricted to their rooms, watched the activity via the TV network they have setup in the hospital, and also received their own copies of shields, markers and stickies.

The hospital staff were very pleased and excited about the presentation, and discussion pursued about repeating this presentation sometime in the fall. The children were fantastic and all were very satisfied and grateful with the presentation, and left with big smiles on their faces.