Rapier-thin HEMA/WMA pickings from the press on this pass, it’s much akin to getting a Christmas stocking, but no presents under the tree! Thankfully, there are other things happening around the world to prove that the interest in swords, medieval or modern, is not on the wane.
If It’s not Scottish, It’s Crap!
CHRONICLE HERALD (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 02 December 13 New Scotland stands in for old ( Pat Lee)
Aside from giving you a truly demanding fitness program, a reinforcement of your traditional culture and a perfect topic with which to break the ice with that red head at the end of the bar; your historical swordplay studies are eminently saleable!
Thirteen members of the Scottish Federation of Medieval Martial Arts are in Nova Scotia adding rowdy Gaelic authenticity to the fights scenes that make up an impressive part of Arcadia Entertainment’s docu-drama about Scotland’s most famous battles.
“They fight. That’s what they do,” television producer John Wesley Chisholm said. “And they bring it in a huge way.”
Everybody Loves a Swordsman!
YLE (Helsinki, Finland) 22 November 13 Uutinen miekkamiehestä leviää vauhdikkaasti maailmalla (Markku Karvonen & Maarit Piri-Lahti)
This item by Finland’s national broadcaster explores the international interest in the recently discovered medieval grave in Janakkala – and no little of that interest surrounds the two swords found buried with the interred ‘knight’. Since the discovery, sword enthusiasts and collectors, archeologists and even DNA specialists from all over the world have been following the excavation of the two distinctly, different swords found within a field that also yielded an axe head and a spear point.
Preliminary indications are that one of the swords dates from ‘the Viking Era’: 9th century to mid-11th century, whereas as the other belonged to a later ‘Crusader’ period.
Acting Dangerous!
РИДУС (Russia) 25 November 13 Артистическое фехтование: полет мысли и ловкость удара. Фоторепортаж
Artistic stage fencing first featured in Russia in 2004, and has not looked back since. Last month, a number of Russian stage-fight teams came to Moscow to fence for national honours within eight categories. The fifty ‘skits’ or play-lets ran the gamut from antiquity to the 19th century; real events recreated and myths imagined.
Given the videos offered, its looks as if the audience … and participants, really enjoyed themselves.
‘Artistic Fencing’ is now a recognized discipline with the Russian Fencing Federation, and there are a multitude of ‘salles’ within Russia that specialize in the art.
Snippets
And just in time to finish the Christmas list with that present for the impossible-to-buy-for sword player in your salle; you could sink your tax return – and a good chunk of your mortgage payment - into picking up an original blade that has no historically redeeming features at all. But hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?!
And it even comes in your colour!
Not all honours are won while in uniform.