Aaron out ranks himself!

Aaron Bolarinho, who's had a passion for medieval fighting arts since he was 16 and who has been training with AEMMA since 2005 challenged for the rank of Scholler earlier this year, and proved

Aaron fencing his 10th bout during the test, presently fencing with Free Scholler Kelly Rekuta

himself worthy of the rank of Scholler as a result of the Scholler test held Sunday, December 14th 2008. Spectators on hand to witness this event included his parents, and friends of his from the University of Toronto and other recruits training at the Academy.

He faced 9 Schollers and 2 Free Schollers, including his previous instructor, David B. Murphy who instructs in Guelph - the test being presided by Brian McIlmoyle and David Cvet. The test was long and gruelling. He was first tested on his knowledge of the art described by Friulian

Provosts Brian McIlmoyle and David M. Cvet both attentive in observing and assessing Aaron's skills and abilities during the fencing bouts

swordsmaster Fiore dei Liberi, combative theory and techniques. He was able to adequately demonstrate his skills developed over the years on the various grappling, dagger and sword techniques. Following this first portion of the test, all schollers and free schollers to fence prepared themselves for the fencing bouts with Aaron. Aaron would challenge with either arming sword or longsword, and the schollers and free schollers would comply. He fought admirably against all those he challenged for the rank. All of the schollers, free schollers and provosts then retired to the armoury for diliberation on

A lonely figure of a man sitting on a stool in the middle of the salle d'armes, in contemplation of his performance, awaiting the results of the deliberation of the schollers, free schollers and provosts at the conclusion of the test in private, in AEMMA's armoury

whether or not Aaron should be awarded the prize of Scholler. Once the testing group re-formed the circle, with Aaron in its centre, he was conveyed the title of Scholler by principle instructor and provost, Brian McImoyle, and was awarded the traditional symbol of the rank of Scholler, a rondel dagger, presented to Aaron by AEMMA president and provost, David M. Cvet.

As tradition dictates, all would retire to the Armoury, where the newly created Scholler would show his thanks and gratitude to his new peers by providing significant amounts of libations for the pleasure of all those who participated in the test.

Being congratulated by all fencers and fighters for his successfully achieving the rank of Scholler, and awarded the traditional Scholler rondel dagger

Congratulations to Aaron for his well earned rank of Scholler!

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.