For better or for worse, most of our students and membership come from those that first saw a demonstration of swordplay in a movie theatre, living room in front of the television or while out being cultural at the local playhouse. The ‘flash, action, and perception the of bravery and the romance’ of swordplay hook our ‘recruits’ into that wish to be Zorro, Robin Hood or even Merida in more modern times. Our HEMA/WMA salles’ give those same people the chance to experience those dreams ‘for real’, and maybe even stay with us long enough to become mentors in their own time to the following generation.
Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk … at least until You reach Measure.
KALAMAZOO GAZETTE (Michigan) 11 May 13 Swords and scholars: WMU's Medieval Congress is a game of tomes (Yvonne Zipp)
When you think about judicial duels, medieval fight clubs and the proper way to flay a miscreant, you have to think ‘Kalamazoo’!
48th annual International Congress on Medieval Studies saw 3,000 historians and amateurs descend on Western Michigan University in order to study all things medieval – culture, arts, song … and yes, sword play.
Our peers in the Chicago Swordplay Guild, La Belle Compagnie and Oakshotte Institute combined their skills to demonstrate how best to conduct a 15th century judicial duel.
Notwithstanding the sheer, albeit short-lived, joy I have at sword-play competitions/ symposiums when I consistently get my butt dramatically handed to me in rapier bouts – by those half my age – and feminine in physique; I always enjoy the little extras that go into major sword-play events. There are opportunities to learn from guest speakers about our chosen time of study, that don’t precisely instruct us on how to approach and exploit measure. On one hand we get detailed instruction on how to best use our weapon of choice, one the other we get that historical understanding of some of those social situations during which our blades were used.
"Passionate people tend to attract other passionate people …."
Three Musketeers … Times Two.
NEWS & RECORD (Greensboro, N.C.) 15 May 13 Swordfighting in abundance in local version of ‘The Three Musketeers’ (Dawn Kane)
Quote of the Week: “Few plays scream “sword fight” like “The Three Musketeers.”
Stephen Hyers, Drama Center managing director with 23 years of teaching stage combat under his belt, best describes what is necessary to create a good sword fight for this production: “To a degree, it needs to be believable, but I like it to be bigger and flashier, … Lots of flourish, lots of stuff that doesn’t work in a real fight, but it’s a lot more interesting to watch.” (As frustrating as stage fights can be to watch as a ‘trained sword fighter’, try to remember what film or program actually attracted you to the art in the first place!)
The rest of the item is a quick tour of what stage combat directors and novice sword-fighting-actors must go through before they can put the fore-mentioned ‘flashier’ fight safely on stage.
There is one line that We like to hope is applicable to any swordplay bout – be it HEMA/WMA, SCA, ‘Olympic’ or stage fencing … “You fight like cats and dogs, …. And then you hug each other”
And on a related matter …
Snippets
PRESS-ENTERPRISE (California) 23 May 13 Ramona Bowl holding auditions for ‘Zorro
Ever grow up waving a stick at slower moving friends and siblings – wanting to be ‘Zorro’? Now’s your chance.
IO9 (USA) 23 May 13 The Search for Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the Lost Imperial Sword of Japan (Keith Veronese)
As our Spanish peers search for the authentication (and ownership) of ‘El Cids' fabled blade, our Japanese friends have their own concurrent search underway.