From the East ...

It may come as a surprise to many that my wife, Gail, and I have sold our principle residence in Toronto and moved lock, stock and barrel to Nova Scotia, one of Canada's Atlantic provinces in the east. It was no easy decision to make, given the many ties in Toronto composed of familial, friends and professional. Not to exclude the fact that living in a big city, everything is close at hand with shops, restaurants, entertainment, steak houses, events, social engagements and ...did I mention steak houses?

Smiths Cove, where our new residence is, is a tiny village on the north side of Nova Scotia, a few minutes from Digby, which is the terminal end of the Digby-Saint John Ferry which crosses the Bay of Fundy. It is a 3-hour crossing, something which I've done many times in the past 12 years visiting Nova Scotia.

From the Academy's perspective, AEMMA Toronto continues to operate, evolve and grow under the careful and dedicated team comprised of Brian McIlmoyle, Principle Instructor and Vice President, and Beau Brock, the newest instructor in the Academy, Kel Rekuta and Aldo Valente. Not to forget, there's Paul Micallef who has been taking care of the traditional archery program at AEMMA. I am certain that the Academy is in good hands. Myself, I have not been involved deeply with the day-to-day operations given my frequent travels, and now, living in Nova Scotia, however, I am still involved with AEMMA Toronto from a more strategic perspective, and annual programs such as the armoured tournament, which I can organize from a distance. I will plan on participating in the tournament as well. With technologies such as the Internet, email, skype, facebook, etc., keeping in touch with what's going on in AEMMA Toronto has never been easier.

In Smiths Cove/Digby, there is a small Chapter, the NS Chapter. The students are dedicated and have an interest in the mediaeval martial arts. Growth is slow, but this part of the province just doesn't have the population density as the GTA! Being here full-time means that I shall afford more time to invest in growing and developing the NS Chapter. Check out the website at http://novascotia.aemma.org to peruse developments and events down east.

regards,

David M. Cvet, Provost

Bow-making course - second time around...

The immensely popular bow-making course, instructed by Paul Micallef returns to AEMMA with a second round of classes beginning on Sunday, May 13 for 6 weeks, concluding Sunday, Jun 17. The class is limited to 10 students, so register early!

The course details:

• the course consists of six classes; each class is 2 hours long,
• includes detailed instruction with lots of individual coaching,
• no previous woodworking experience is needed,
• bowstaves and bowstring materials included in the fee.

Course fee: $250 per student. Registration and payment of fees (cash or cheque only) will take place just before the first class.

For more information on the course or to register, contact Paul Micallef with archery@aemma.org.

AEMMA Chapter formed in Stratford

Free Scholler William Brickman, a resident of Stratford is starting up an AEMMA chapter in Stratford, the inaugural class scheduled at 7pm, Tuesday, March 27th. The classes will be held in the gym at Shakspeare Public School located on 35 Mowat St., Stratford. Bill successfully tested for the rank of Free Scholler in December 2011, and is anxious to get a chapter up and running in Stratford. He will be instructing in the Fiore dei Liberi system, beginning with grappling, dagger and sword classes. AEMMA wishes Bill success in this endeavour and will enjoy complete support from the Academy. Visit the Chapter's website at stratford.aemma.org for further details on Bill and the training to be offered.

Pas d'armes, April 14, 2012

AEMMA is hosting its 5th annual armoured pas d'armes on Saturday, April 14th, 2012. The event will be held at the salle d'armes on the 2nd floor of 927 Dupont St. (near the intersection of Dupont and Ossington). The day will begin in the morning with the arrival of the combatants, repairs to their harness if needed, coffee & pastries for the volunteers and combatants. The bouts are scheduled to begin approximately 1pm and will continue till around 5pm. Visitors are welcomed to spectate, and ask that a "cover charge" of $10 per person be contributed to AEMMA to help support the cost of hosting such an event.After the bouts are concluded, the salle will be transformed into a dining venue with great food, pot-luck and other culinary delights.

Details on the event can be found by visiting the AEMMA website by clicking pas d'armes announcement. As more details and personnel are added to the event, the web pages will be updated to reflect these changes.

Bow Making Course returns in 2012!

The ever popular bow making course, instructed by Paul Micallef returns with its first instance this month, beginning on Jan 22nd for 6 weeks, concluding Saturday, Feb 25. The first three classes fall on the Sundays, Jan 22 & 29, Feb 5th, with the final three classes on the three consecutive Saturdays beginning with Feb 11 through to the 25th.

The course details:

• the course consists of six classes; each class is 2 hours long
• includes detailed instruction with lots of individual coaching
• students must supply: a spokeshave, a round file, and sandpaper
• no previous woodworking experience is needed
• students can complete a longbow valued at over $200 retail
• students will also learn how to make traditional bowstrings
  

Course fee: $200, which includes all materials, Registration and payment of fees (cash or cheque only) will take place just before the first class.

For more information on the course or to register, contact Paul Micallef with archery@aemma.org.

AEMMA Bow Making Course

AEMMA is happy to introduce a bow-making course, instructed by Paul Micallef. Students taking the classes will learn the bowyer's craft and make their own traditional longbow. There will be six Sunday classes, each class being 2 hours long. All materials (bowstaves & bowstring) are included in the low fee of $200. Students must supply a few basic tools including a sharp knife, a spokeshave, round file and sandpaper. The final product is a longbow which would retail for approx. $200. Courses begin on Oct 16 to Nov 20, 2011 between 3pm and 5pm. Contact Paul by clicking here.

Paul organizes and instructs the AEMMA archery group and the Royal Ontario Museum Mediaeval Longbow course. He still takes great pleasure in experimenting with and building primitive and mediaeval archery tackle. Paul helped start two archery clubs in BC and also gave seminars showing camp instructors how to teach archery. By then, Paul was an experienced woodworker, yet he found making archery tackle still pleasantly challenging.

How a man shall be armed...

David M. Cvet, President and Founder of AEMMA, delivered the very popular "How a man shall be armed in the 14th century" to a largely Slovenian audience at Dom Lipa Auditorium, 52 Neilson Dr, Toronto, a senior care facility catering to Slovenian elders on Sunday (Mother's Day), May 8 at 3pm. The audience was comprised approximately 1/2 by patients in the facility, and the other 1/2 by members of Slovenski Dom. Slovenski Dom is an association of members of Slovenian descent, which promotes and preserves Slovenian culture through hosting and organizing social, sport and charitable events and activities.

The presentation began with a powerpoint presentation introducing some mediaeval history of the Slovenian region, followed by the history of Slovenian heraldry and the state of Slovenian heraldry today. This was followed by the popular "How a man shall be armed...". Questions were fielded in both English and Slovenian. It was well received, most never having experienced anything like this form of presentation before.