ARMA

I've recently joined a new group called ARMA - the Association for Rennaissance Martial Arts. They are a group that is looking to recreate the warrior skills of medieval and rennaissance Europe, with particular attention to swordsmanship. And so far they seem like one of the most interesting bunch of folks I've ever run into.

My major problem with most martial arts studios is that there isn't much room to experiment and develop - you go in, you learn a prescribed set of skills, and you're graded (Sort of like school, which I'm also not a big fan of). And many of them are so dogmatic in their approach that to ever question things is some sort of traitorous behavior.

But ARMA is trying to recreate skills that are long-gone. And they are doing this by consulting the existing historical manuals of fencing and combat - the actual works from those ages past. These Fechtbuecher or "fighting books" from the German, cover a wide variety of weapons and such. They are of varying quality, of course - some of that old medieval art is hard to decipher because they didn't have the same sort of anatomical study behind them as later art (such as that from the rennaissance) in many cases.

But the people in ARMA are a very diverse lot. There are some strict scholars, who have studied swords and written about them. There are professional law-enforcement and military personnel. There are life-long martial artists. And there are lots of just plain history buffs (like myself) who are fascinated by the entire idea of truly re-creating history. These folks are smart, athletic, and realize that there is a place for exercising both the mind and the body.

And most importantly, they're all learning together. If someone comes across something in a manual that makes you think a certain way and it's not what other folks in the group have learned or come to think, it's looked at seriously and taken into careful consideration. This is as opposed to ideas being quickly dismissed because of some pre-conceived dogma about the art, as I've seen in a the few asian martial arts I've taken.

I honestly can't think of a more productive way to exercise both mind and body than such a group. We're all learning together, and our learning is being translated directly into our martial arts. How cool is that?