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.