The current study group leader is a happily married family man with a busy career and five children. He has many years of experience running study groups. He is a proponent of learning through the historical masters.
Timeline:
- 1986- Began studying martial arts.
- 1999- Begun practicing sword combat and freeplay with wooden trainers in small unorganized groups.
- 2004- Began studying German Longsword, discovery of the sources, joined first Historical Fencing group in Provo UT. (Active Members = 15+)
- 2005- Began attending historical fencing conventions and gatherings. Met with other study groups in Utah area.
- 2008- Joined study group in the DC/NoVA area. Became the study group leader a few months later. (Active Members = 5)
- 2009- Joined a study group in Montgomery Alabama. Became the study group leader about a year later. Lead study group for approximately 3-4 years. (Active Members = 4)
- 2009- Received training and instruction in Longsword from a leading authority.
- 2010- Started the Youtube channel jerkwitha3 and contributed study material to the community through series of videos on dagger, axe, and longsword.
- 2017- Joined the Meyer Freifechter Guild and started a study group in the Richmond Virginia area. Lead the group till 2019. (Active Members = 6+)
- 2019- Started the Circle a study group in Pulaski TN.
Boring Details:
The Cirle’s study group leader studied “other” martial arts starting in 1986 when he began ATF Tae Kwon Do. He earned black belts, trophies, and all kinds of cute things they gave kids back in the 1980s. Adventures in Karate, Judo, Boxing, Wrestling, Brazilian Jujitsu, MMA, and other hand to hand martial arts movements were all a part of his background.
In 1999 he began to acquire training swords. He met like minded friends to experiment with, however, a valid historical training approach did not present itself until later.
Early days of study group practice. Picture taken: 18 March 2005. (On left.)
That happened in 2004 when a friend introduced him to a group that practiced Historical Longsword at a university he attended in 2004. He immediately recognized that this was the community that he belonged to. He would dedicate himself to this martial art and style of study indefinitely.
Training group in Montgomery AL. He was active in a premiere historical fencing club at this time. (On right.)
He has trained in many different historical fencing study groups across the US. During the last few years he has met and trained with several skilled researchers, practitioners, and authors in the historical European arts. At times he has been active in sharing and collaborating with others in the online HEMA community.
This freeplay footage captures grappling with steel longsword trainers in a sparing match that went all the way to the ground and did not stop until the fight became “decisive”. This is the level of full contact/full speed realism that drives understanding of the art. (Taken around 2011 at the Armory of Montgomery AL.)
The local study group method has been key in study over the years. As his pursuit of historical fencing matures, his interests in competitive fencing sports and HEMA’s social media scene have faded. As a result, The Circle is most focused on:
- Learning that comes directly from the sources.
- Drills and free play that give insight to real sword skill in its true context.
- Providing leadership that keeps The Circle healthy and long running.
- That wonderful feeling that comes from standing in a grassy field holding steel swords crossed with a training partner and unlocking powerful ancestral wisdom speaking from ancient texts.