We had the opportunity to teach a class to a church youth group this week. That was an interesting experience for me.
Why you ask?
Moreover no proof is needed that it was the custom with our ancestors and the ancient Germans to raise their youth in knightly practice along with other good arts, since this is self-evident from what they achieved.
-Meyer 1570
Meyer speaks about the training of the youth several times in the opening letter of his 1570 work. He also talks a lot about this theme too:
For once the Romans thought they had conquered the entire world, as an overconfident nation they devoted themselves to sensualities more than to good arts, policy, and knightly practices …
-Meyer 1570
These things were on my mind as I showed teenage boys how to fight in the historical German tradition. I wish I could capture for you here their reaction to being shown this. There are so many things missing from the life balance of a typical teenage boy. Lawyers make this hard, but I think our community should train more youth.