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.

Destreza: a reintroduction to Spanish swordsmanship

Maestro Ramón Martinez of the Martinez Academy in New York, will be coming to AEMMA to give a weekend workshop on Spanish Swordsmanship, la Verdadera Destreza, at the Fighting Arts Collective on Dupont St, May 14-15th. This workshop will pick up where the last workshop left off after last year's workshop in April, 2010, and as such, it will be generally reserved for three kinds of students of the art: 1) those who took the workshop last year, 2) those who are currently taking Italian rapier, and 3) those who have done Dall'Agocchie, or are currently in the Spanish study group on Wednesday nights. If you would like to attend but do not fit into one of those three categories, contact AEMMA.

The fencing equipment required will give people a good idea of what will be covered over the weekend. Without exceptions, all participants must have the following gear:

1. rapier,


2. fencing mask,


3. fencing jacket or gambeson (a sweatshirt, sweater, regular jacket is NOT an acceptable substitute),


4. leather gloves,


5. gorget is highly recommended,


6. 16th/17th century dagger for rapier, as a good chunk of the time will be spent with sword and dagger.

If you do not possess any one of the above items, and are not currently in the pursuit of them, contact AEMMA immediately so we can set some equipment aside. AEMMA has three rapiers which can be released on loan for the workshop, including up to two daggers.

The cost for the weekend will be $125, and AEMMA will require a $60 deposit by the end of this month (31st of March) to reserve your spot.

March Break @ the ROM

Since 2003, AEMMA has been delivering programs for the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) which includes annual static and dynamic displays and presentations during the March Break, to individual programs and lectures such as "How a man shall be armed in the 14th century" to classes including introduction to medieval swordsmanship, Italian rapier and medieval longbow.

This year is no different, with the conclusion of the Italian rapier classes, AEMMA will be participating once again in the March Break activities on and between March 14 - 18th. However, this year will be slightly different, in that static displays of arms and armour will not be included, but visitors and children will be treated to the usual plethora of medieval interests and activities including medieval dance, falconry and an interactive presentation of "How a man shall be armed in the 14th century" daily at 2pm.

However, the really big "production" is scheduled on the weekend of October 1 & 2, whereby, in partnership with the ROM, a medieval festival weekend entitled "The Field of the Feast of Archangels: A Fall Mediaeval Fair" which will be featuring medieval falconry and hunting, heraldry, and a historically authentic pas d'armes (armoured tournament) on the Saturday, and an unarmoured tournament on Sunday. A truly activity packed weekend for all to witness and experience the medieval period. Details are being worked out, and look forward to more information and brochures on that weekend distributed during March Break.

FMSS Event : How a man shall be armed in the 14th century

The Friends of the Medieval Studies Society (FMSS) of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) presented to its Members, along with an invitation to the members of AEMMA, a presentation on how a man shall be armed in the 14th century, delivered by David M. Cvet. The intimate audience witnessed the arming up from the feet (solarets/sabotans), to legs, to body and arms and head. Each component of the armour (harness) was described in detail with respect to its design and function. Additional historical details on the specifications of the armour including sources, weight and time frame were included.

David M. Cvet is the founding President of FMSS; the Founder and President of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts; and an Honorary Fellow and President of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. David has spent the last 15 years in the research, reconstruction, training and instructing in the mediaeval fighting arts.

Click here for a downloadable copy of the Fall issue of the FMSS newsletter.

Helping out a brother in arms

Ken Mondschein, a student of historical fencing, originally from NYC, contacted AEMMA and asked if we'd be willing to help him in creating a demo of him narrating the Battle of Poitiers (1356) for the possibility of narrating a series on History Channel. After much discussion, AEMMA agreed to assist Ken and the film crew, scheduled on Thanksgiving Monday.

The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the English and French, which highlighted Edward, the Black Prince ("a bad ass" as Ken puts it) where the English had about 6,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 archers against the 3,000 bowman, 500 knights and 17,000 foot soldiers on the French side. The battle was won by the English, and to add further misery to the French, their King John II was captured. The demo focused on the English foot soldiers and how they defeated the heavily armoured French knight.

The AEMMA personnel included David M. Cvet and Kel Rekuta (both armoured), Aaron Bolarinho (unarmoured) and Jacqueline Miller who was a great assistant in harnessing up. She also took the photos in this post as well as those found on the AEMMA photo album.

The day began around 8am at the salle d'armes on Dupont, loading up the Jeep and pickup truck, and north to Newmarket, where the site was arranged at a horse farm near the woods. A timeless setting with trees and a babbling brook which could look like any period in history. The day concluded about 4pm, with the film crew having generated tons of video. Editing will take this volume down to about 2 minutes to present to History Channel. Good luck to Ken, and hopefully, he'll get the gig!

Sick Kids gig

On Thursday afternoon, Oct 8, David M. Cvet of AEMMA, assisted by Alex Wagner also of AEMMA delivered a presentation to a group of excited children and patients at the Hospital for Sick Children. The presentation included a combination of a brief background on heraldry, having the kids draw and colour their own coats of arms, and how a man shall be armed in the 14th century, called the "Tin Man" presentation within the hospital. Thanks goes out to Susie Petro, Child Life Specialist of the Hospital. This is the fourth such gig for David and AEMMA, and undoubtedly, more will be scheduled in the new year.

End-of-summer BBQ in Smiths Cove, NS

The AEMMA NS Chapter's 3rd annual BBQ celebrating the end of summer, hosted by David at their summer residence in Smiths Cove, was an afternoon and evening of good cheer and lots of fun. The afternoon began with the boys playing with a throwing spear. David's wife, Gail retrieved a large pumpkin from the target, providing a much more challenging target for the spear throws. David, after numerous attempts, nailed the pumpkin, whereas, Dieter nailed the target post.

This was followed by archery, which included a number of different archery styles, including longbow, recurve, compound and crossbow. This took up the rest of the afternoon till the BBQ itself. The students and their wives, brought great food contributing to a well stocked dinner, of burgers, sausages, potato salad and other salads and great lemon marange pie created by Rob himself!

The day continued into the evening with a fireside, with the firepit blazing, and more libations well into the late evening. Despite the rather wet weekend produced by "Earl", the BBQ materialized and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. A number of selected videos can be seen by visiting the AEMMA youtube channel by clicking here.

Swinging Swords in Digby, NS

On a hot and sunny afternoon, on Sunday, August 28th at the bandshell next to the Digby Wharf, swords were swinging, arms and armour were on display, depicting a little piece of historical martial arts by the AEMMA NS Chapter. The spectators were treated to something quite unique for this little fishing town near the coast of the Bay of Fundy.

The presentation included a weapons display table, depicting the various training weapons used by the Chapter, including spears, poleaxes, swords and daggers. The volunteers included AEMMA NS students (L-R) Jurgen Griegoschewski, D. Jeremy Walsh, Timothy Simms, Robert Wilkinson and Dieter Jilge. Dieter's wife Marion also volunteered to help out with the event. Demonstrations began with a brief look at the three styles trained, beginning with "abrazare" (grappling), "daga" (dagger) and "spada" (sword). Various drills executed with efficiency by the students dazzled the spectators. This first part of the presentation concluded with a number of cuts with a sharp arming sword, using "HFTs" or Human Facsimile Targets composed of rolled tatami mats, having been soaked in water overnight. The image on the right depicting Jurgen preparing to take a cut at the target.

Following the demonstration of the fighting art, David delivered the popular "How a man shall be armed in the 14th century", donning his complete harness, suitably impressing the spectators. This generated a number of questions from the spectators and concluded with a photo opportunity whereby photos with the "knight" were made with donation of funds for the AEMMA NS Chapter by those taking the photos. David, accompanied with "Lady Marion" did a walk-about in the town of Digby, terrorizing the locals concluding the demonstrations of the day. Click here to view a short youtube video on the walkabout.

All in all, a fun and successful presentation. AEMMA wishes to thank the volunteers for taking the time out of their busy weekend to participate in the event.

8th Annual OMSG Camping Weekend

The Ottawa Medieval Sword Guild (OMSG) hosted their 8th annual camping weekend on the farm of John Woods (co-founder OMSG) and his wife, Liz in Groveton near Spencerville, ON south of Ottawa during the weekend of July 30 - Aug 2. The weekend featured many of the usual events including an archery contest, bonfires, libations and a pig-roast banguet on the Sunday evening.

This year's event, John had extended a challenge to Dale Gienow to a joust followed by sword on horseback and grappling on horseback. A jousting list was built on the east side of the farm. The event also featured the return of the "Scallagrims", a Viking re-enactment and fighting group from Toronto. They challenged the AEMMA & OMSG combatants to armoured combat within the lists. This was concluded with a small melee, in which four of the Scallagrims formed a shield wall, and the four armoured combatants from AEMMA & OMSG attempted to breach the shield wall with some success. The "battle" was a hard one, and a Scallagrim was the only one left standing.

The banquet was held Sunday evening. Prior to the meal, Anton and John of OMSG, awarded medallions to all armoured combatants, including the Scallagrims. Other awards went to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for the archery contest taken by North Gienow in 1st, Dale Gienow in 2nd and Samuel Cvet (Anton's son) taking 3rd.

AEMMA wishes to thank the OMSG folks for another great weekend and do look forward to next year's event!

Presentation, Juniper House, NS

David delivered a presentation for kids between the ages of 13-15 yrs, associated with Juniper House, NS, a transition house that provides a safe shelter for abused women and their children. The presentation took place in St. Mary's Bay Academy in Weymouth, NS on May 12.

The presentation began with a talk on the history of the medieval fighting arts, and the principles and concepts behind the fighting system, which are applicable to today's potential physical scenarios. The presentation included the attributes of respect and compassion. The presentation in the gym continued with instruction on a few movements of "abrazare" or grappling.

The presentation continued after the gym session with a lecture and presentation on heraldry and chivalry. All of the kids received blank shields on paper, and were asked to draw their own personal coat of arms with symbolisms which reflected who they are and who their families are and their current interests. The winner, determined by the loudness of applause was awarded a Primer on Canadian heraldry, published by the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. The presentation was well received, and the kids were nothing short of attentive! AEMMA NS would like to thank Lori Andrews, RPC for organizing the event.

Pas d'armes 2010

This year's pas d'armes (a reproduction of a late 14th century tournament on foot), on April 25, was held at AEMMA's salle d'armes located near Dupont and Ossington, Toronto. The field comprised of 9 armoured combatants, 5 from AEMMA Toronto, the defendants, being challenged by the appellants, 3 from Ottawa and 1 from Muskoka. The salle proved to be a viable venue for the event, and it was felt that future pas d'armes can be held at the salle. Spectators numbered around 50 people. They were informed on the event during the ROM March Break, where AEMMA distributed flyers announcing the event and its new location.

The defendants included David M. Cvet, Brian McIlmoyle, Kel Rekuta, Aldo Valente and Matt Brundle, all of AEMMA Toronto. The appellants included Dale Gienow, a jouster who hails from Muskoka. The other appellants were John Woods, Chris Penney and Matt McKee all from the Ottawa Medieval Sword Guild, and all appellants were no stranger to the AEMMA pas d'armes.

The pas d'armes began with a lavish procession, complete with heralds, pagentry and banners. It was a memorable site for the spectators witnessing this event. The closing procession was also as impressive. Each of the combatants were awarded a medallion, signying their participation in the event. Despite the bouts being fought with dramatic intensity, there were no injuries incurred by the combatants, save a cut finger, and a slight concussion from being struck to the head with a sword blow. All combatants were extremely pleased and excited about how well the event went, and most certainly, conveyed that they will return at the next one in 2011.

AEMMA was fortunate in having a photo-journalist from Reuters, the results of his work appearing in numerous publications listed below.
Toronto Sun, April 26, 2010 by Mark Blinch, a closeup of the same.
Edmonton Journal, April 26, 2010 by Mark Blinch, a closeup of the same.
Windsor_Star, April 26, 2010 by Mark Blinch, a closeup of the same.
Yahoo News, Photos filed by Mark Blinch
AEMMA Spring Pas d'Armes photos by Emily Tanaka
Washington Post, April 26, 2010 (click on photo #7)
Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2010 (scroll down about 1/2 of the page)
The Vancouver Sun, April 26, 2010
Telegraph, UK
Дневник (Bulgaria)
Terra Networks Brasil S.A.

Spanish Swordsmanship Workshop

AEMMA invited Maestro Ramon Martinez (Martinez Academy of Arms) to Toronto over the weekend of April 17-18, to provide instruction on Spanish Swordsmanship, to broaden our understanding of other historical fencing systems in Medieval and Renaissance Europe for the purpose of enhancing our own techniques as they pertain to Fiore dei Liberi.

The Spanish style, founded by Carranza in the late 16th century, is characterized by entirely circular footwork - as opposed to the mostly linear footwork found in Italian rapier - and is practiced with the sword alone, or with a dagger as a secondary weapon. Unlike the Italian school, which evolved rather quickly from the 16th century onwards, the Spanish school went almost completely unchanged from its inception to the beginning of the 19th century.

The content covered during the workshop included:

• How to stand in guard and move along the circle.


• The cuts and thrusts used in the school (small to large compass, from various angles).


• Blade engagements.


• Stepping along the circle as both an offensive and defensive maneuver (desviar).


• The disarm (movimiento de conclusion) and other actions.

The workshop was well received and was attended by 16 students. Maestro Martinez is an excellent instructor, and everyone who attended found the workshop most useful and were completely satisfied. AEMMA is discussing the possibility of having Maestro Martinez return for a follow-up workshop on the same subject.

Looking forward in 2010

There is always something going on at AEMMA, with projects, papers, new ideas in training, events, and so forth. 2010 will be no different as the year unfolds, and things continue to develop. Kel continues to interface with the public schools in the GTA, providing the students at the schools, a practical look at arms and armour of the medieval period, evaporating the many incorrect perceptions and historical data.

Training continues to evolve, looking at expanding the training regimen with the inclusion of drills or "sequenza". Although, in the early formative days of AEMMA, drills were created oriented towards German longsword, and were called "folgen". However, new interest in developing drills, focused on one or two attributes of fencing appears to be making traction in the AEMMA environment. The design of the drills, at least initially, appear to be incorporating Fiore's foundations, with gioco largo plays and leveraging some details of Vadi in their design. If anything, they are fun to do, in particular, when the speed of the exchanges are ratcheted up.

It was a great disappointment that the ROM has terminated the hosting of the annual "pas d'armes" or tournament. It appears that the issue has to do with insurance risks with respect to the spectators. AEMMA does plan to approach the ROM, providing sounds arguments in favour of them lifting the "ban" and returning the event to the ROM.

In the next Medieval Symposium, organized by the Friends of the Medieval Studies Society of the Royal Ontario Museum, scheduled for Saturday, April 27, 9-5pm at the ROM, look for our very own Ariella Elema, who will be delivering a lecture on medieval fighting arts. Check with the ROM website to register to attend this symposium.

Why Become a Scholar?

Over the course of my involvement with AEMMA there have been scores of students who have darkened the door. Some have stayed for just a few classes, some a few months, some for years. Others have decided to commit to achieving the rank of Scholar. A few have, through much training and study ascended to the illustrious rank of Free Scholar. There are examples of individuals who are content with each of these scenarios and have found the appropriate place in their lives for this study.

I have noticed that it is not at all uncommon for students to hover around the decision of whether or not to commit to playing for the prize of Scholar or not. The following are some thoughts and personal reflections which may help your internal dialogue.

Shawn Zirger, who challenged on September 9, 2007, is being observed under the watchful eyes of Frank Williams FS, Brian McIlmoyle and David M. Cvet Provosts, Kel Rekuta FS and Anton Cvet Provost.

Firstly, and this can’t be said strongly enough, there is no timetable, other than the one one imposes on ones’ self, for becoming a Scholar. Some set short time lines and strict training regimens and eagerly set test dates. Others linger, taking time to digest and make sure they’ve internalized key skills and concepts. Both strategies work depending on what type of individual you are.

Secondly, we all start from a different entry point. That is, some are fit and lithe and have scads of martial study under their belts before they enter the salle d'armes. Some are a tad longer in the tooth with conditions or injuries to contend with. Some are single with a good measure of free time. Others have schedules that are not their own. All these things must be considered when developing a time line for your scholar test and expectations for yourself. Many students who get to the point of setting a date for their Scholar test, find it prudent to back the date up for some time to make sure they are ready. This is not out of the norm and can be perfectly acceptable.

Aaron Bolarinho, who challenged on December 14, 2008, sits patiently in the middle of the salle d'armes at the conclusion of his test, awaiting the results of the deliberation of the Schollers and Free Schollers in the armoury.

Some find that there are several advantages to becoming a Scholar. The first and most immediate is a sense of accomplishment. It is no small task to be successful in your challenge. As with anything difficult, success breeds enhanced self-esteem and self-concept proportionate to the task. However, it has happened in past that individuals are not successful in their initial play for Scholar. This is not reason to give up or pack it in. Rather, it’s a time to reflect and retool.

One of the most obvious advantages of “scholarhood” is the opportunity to participate in free-play with a variety of weapons. This is truly a most excellent thing. I cannot find words to describe how much fun, how invigorating, how much of a multi level superb experience this is (and this is written by a person who rarely “wins” a bout!). Participation in tournaments is an opportunity to meet new people in the broader community and test yourself. They are a wonderful opportunity to put your own skills under the microscope and set study and practice goals for the next opportunity.

Personally, I find the biggest advantage to becoming a Scholar is the freedom to self-direct study to a large degree. The very word scholar implies study and, for me at least , this limitless field of study is the single greatest result of becoming a scholar. Over the years our community has grown and accordingly, a greater number of players is becoming available to fellow Scholars. The ability to study together, in text and on the floor is valuable and allows one to propel one’s own study.

For some, achievement of the rank of Scholar is an end in itself. For those people, occasional practice, visits to the salle d'armes or online participation adds to the richness of their lives. For others, WMA study is woven into the fabric of the rest of their lives. They continue, in whatever capacity possible, to train and study and improve themselves and their understanding of the art. It becomes a necessary component of life. If you’re worried about not having “the stuff” don’t. You can do it. If you’re considering to move beyond recruit training, you’ve already taken the first step. Once you’ve decided to pursue this path, it’s simply a question of hard work, hard thinking and patience. Feel free to talk to any or all Scholars at the salle d'armes or online if you have questions. Good luck and I hope to see you in the circle!

A link on the AEMMA website which describe the requirements for becoming a Scholar can be reached by clicking here.

Matt Brundle