Author: corethree

Last year’s massacre was a total blast.

I can’t wait for this year’s massacre. The change of seasons is a really great time where the group comes together and talks about what we will work on in the next year and takes out the last year’s frustrations on the deserving evil pumpkin army.

Its a glorious tradition.

I’m pretty sure its in one of the manuals somewhere.

The Circle has been practicing for over six years now. This is now the longest I have been in any specific local historical European martial arts group in my life (mostly due to moving). I think it is time to say a few things.

This martial art continues to be a beloved Godsend in my life in many ways. My vision that a circle of “sword brothers” would come together here has become very real. I have made some irreplaceable friends through this circle. I have seen young men finish high-school, get married, and dive into life all while staying in our circle. I spend time with these guys outside of the context of sword fighting in many different ways. I counsel with and discuss life with my friends I have made here. To me, the guys who practice here are certainly brothers in my circle. This circle has become everything I wanted it to be and I hope others who are nearby and thinking about visiting us come see what we have created here. The world does not have enough of what we found here together six years ago. Its unreal.

Here are some notable things going on right now to report:

• We continue to work hard on moving through the 1570 manual and are presently deep in the middle of the Rapier material.
• We are taking shirt orders this week for the next run of shirts.
• We have already citified several in our circle and plan to test more soon.
• We are going to probably make an interesting announcement about our circle soon. Discussions are rapidly taking shape around topics our affecting our community.

The Circle is now offering certifications of several different types and we are even offering them to fencers outside of our circle.  The details are below.

I grew up with martial arts in the 1980s.  When it comes to things like belts and ranks I have seen all the bad stuff.  That is what what inspired this April fools joke and everyone that everyone thought was hilarious (except for that one guy who lost his mind over it, you know who you are.)  I bring this up because it was with great hesitation that I have developed several certifications that our circle offers.

I have many examples of this kind of thing done wrong and I have a few examples of when it was done right.  Let’s get it right!  First, this is not “rank”.  This is certification.  These certifications certify that a person has demonstrated specific skills, fitness, and knowledge (yes, all three of those).  People are certified by our circle of sword brothers.

I based these certifications from other similar tests that I have seen in the past and I think we have the balance right.  In the end, we are doing this because laying out the skills, fitness, and knowledge required creates a road for membership to follow and a check-mark that has meaning, even outside of our circle.  When a certified General Initiate moves into a new group, that new group can look at the certificate (which lists the things that were demonstrated during the test) and know what that fencer has already achieved.

This creates a baseline of growth that is helpful to many in our circle and for those that don’t find it helpful, they can just ignore it without any coercion.  That is important too.

I invite other groups to develop similar certifications and I approve of them using our system of certifications as a template (you have my permission to copy us as much as you like.)

Today I will publicly release information about our first test, and I do it for this reason: regarding our General Initiate test, we will certify people who are not local and we will offer this certification remotely.  If you would like to work towards this certification, contact us and let’s get to work.

After all, that is the point of it all.

Evaluation Documentation:

It has come to my attention that I have been studying and practicing the German Liechtenauer tradition and Meyer for twenty years now. I cannot easily express to readers how much this tradition and its teachings have brought into my life. I have a legacy of memories, moments, and achievements to reflect on. The experiences and relationships I have formed while doing this have been priceless.

When I hold my trusty Albion in my hand (which, at this point, has been with me most all of my 20 years) I am overcome with many feelings. I’m so glad I have this in my life.

As one of my Circle brothers said one day:

There is just something spiritual about this. If I don’t do it, I get depressed. If I do, I don’t.

paraphrased from a brother of the sword

A couple months ago, during a practice I discussed applying our art with improvised weapons and I shared this image with my sword brothers.

I told them stories about a renaissance student of Meyer who was known for being a brutal brawler with improvised weapons.

I told them that a lost manual of this musician had been found and that we were going to take place in an exciting pilot program to study musical instruments as improvised weapons.

I then passed out cheap dollar store recorders and invited everyone to pair up and try out different techniques using the recorders.

Several (not all) guys in the practice gave me suspicious looks.

I told them after 5 minutes of practicing with your partner we would go around in a circle and see what techniques each group came up with that they liked. Finally, just before I cut them loose, I started playing Symphony of Destruction by Megedeth.

I wish you could have seen what I saw in those 5 minutes. Oh, wait, you can. Here are some pictures my wife took while hiding with a camera near by.

When it was my turn to share my techniques that I came up with, I broke out my secret break apart nunchaku recorder technique.

Admittedly, this is when the group began to figure out that it was April 1st.

Even though the joke was out in the open at this point … there was one participant that was (frankly) too willing. One who not only got into the practice but even sang along with Dave Mustaine while attempting murder with a Dollar Store recorder.

God bless him, he was worthy of the prized golden recorder.

And so, thus, the April fools tradition continues among Meyer students in my circle, year after year.

Keep your recorder sharp! I’ll be at it again next year.

As we prepare for our fifth annual pumpkin massacre, I think about how fast this last year has gone by and how much has happened.

• First look at Meyer’s newly discovered 1561 Valdenz
• New growth for the group and a stronger membership than ever
• Completing our 4th year of The Circle
• Saying goodbye to one of our longest members as he moves away
• A successful public event that was a huge blast

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this last year’s good times. Lets massacre some pumpkins!

Just before the start of practice last Saturday I quickly took this picture. It just makes me smile to see the inviting sight you see here. This gear is worn and well used. If these tools could talk, they would tell you stories of a brotherhood and the their glorious ascension of historical combat skill.

I still get really excited just before the start of a practice. I still love doing this just like I did the day I discovered it.

Guy out there looking for a group to train with, yes, we are still here and active.

I have to remember to post to this site from time to time to signal to others that our group is still out here and busy.

We are in fact both out here and busy. Our last practice kinda merged normal practice, my birthday party, and our yearly test cutting pumpkin massacre. I mean why not.

I hope those reading this who think about joining us are struck with just how much they are missing out. We were short 3-4 of our other regular guys which was too bad; but that is October for you. Everyone gets booked up fast. But for those of you who have never done this …

… and think historical martial arts are interesting; I can’t imagine what would be holding you back from diving in. How do you not want to learn how to do this?

On a side note, a couple days back my wife went looking for more pumpkins because she could not find any at our house. The problem did not end there. She could not find any at Walmart, Home Depot, or any of the two grocery stores in town. Strange that there is such a shortage right now.

Due to insane weather, the date for the workshop with Chris is moved to March 13th. I doubt that I have to explain “the why” to anyone. See you all in March.

March 20^th The Circle will be hosting a private workshop by Chris VanSlambrouck.  It will be in two parts, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon.  This is a great opportunity to grow understanding of Meyer’s art and meet the president of the Meyer Freifechter Guild.

Contact us using the contact page if you are interested in attending.