ARMA membership consists of two forms: Individuals may join as Associate members --or they can also join as collectives of 3 or more Associates who have qualified to register as an official Study Group (see below).  Details for each memebrship status is presented here.

Associate members are official students actively following the ARMA Approach and Methodology. Associate members are designated as Scholars working toward eventual Certification Ranking (Free-Scholar, Senior Free Scholar, Provost, etc.) and weapon proficiencies in individual close combat skills. Associated membership implies just that, association –with the ARMA name, ARMA reputation and ARMA standard. At this time, affiliated membership is restricted to persons at least 18 years of age (see the Youth page for younger members). Study Groups, in constrast, are collectives of 3 or more members actively employing the ARMA system in regular practices or classes. Group members act as a club working toward eventual accreditation and license in teaching the ARMA system. Study Groups typically will reflect members having received some official instruction in accredited ARMA workshops, seminars, and courses. A purpose of Study Groups is to allow members not to just practice or work out together, but help prepare one another for certification testing. 

Annual Associate membership fee is $40 (less than $4.25 a month annually).
We offer a $5 discount to active duty US military and law-enforcement. 

Each ARMA Membership provides for:

• Associate Status & Member Certificate
• Ranking Certification as an ARMA Scholar
• Individual Contact Listing on the ARMA website - the Practice Partners List is a major way of officially networking with fellow Associates.
• Annual Progress Review – once per year members can send in a 15 minute video of their basic stances, cuts, and practice routine for a 2-page personal feedback response from ARMA Directors (issued 7 months from membership date)
• Priority registration for ARMA events and seminars
• Special member discount rates at ARMA events
• Participation in exclusive instructional courses open only to ARMA members
• Invitations to Associate-only workshops & events
• Access to Associate-only website areas with articles, AVIs & animated GIFs
• Member notification for early release of new research material & equipment
• Discounts on purchase of wooden weapons from our approved vendors
• Discounts on future exclusive offers
• Study Group Access – open practice network with other ARMA members worldwide
• Eligibility for Participation in ARMA National Training Program workshops and eventual Competency Assessment for higher certfiication ranking (in addition to our public Open Seminars).
• ARMA E-List participation – exclusive e-mailer for associated members
• Networking contacts with ARMA members worldwide
• Online purchase acces for official ARMA logo t-shirts & sweatshirts

Three Associate Members may apply for recognition as a Study Group. Group registration is an additional $5 per existing Associate Member (or $45 for first-time Study Group members).  After initial Study Group registration, future annual group member renewal is only the regular Associate rate of $40 per member.

We also offer a $5 discount to on-campus University student Study Groups in the US, and to active duty US military or law-enforcement. *We also have a special 2-Year Study Group Membership renewal rate for only $50.

Study Group Membership offers:

• Official Study Group Status
• Group Contact Listing on ARMA website
• Annual Group Review – once per year Study Groups send in a 30 minute video of their basic class exercises, drills, routines, and sparring for a 2 page feedback response from ARMA Directors
• Exclusive member Workshop & Seminar opportunities
• Preferred registration at ARMA events
• Exclusive Study Group training and practice consultations
• Special email updates
• Space for your own local ARMA page on our servers
• ARMA decoder ring and official secret handshake (just kidding)

If you and at least two other members with whom you will be regularly training together are nearby then Study Group status is the way to proceed. The very basis of a Study Group is to study together as a group, to learn and help one another and pool efforts. All of our Study Groups, if not all our Associate members, were to one degree or another once beginners and novices themselves. Our whole system is devised around educating and assisting new members, which is one reason why we provide the kinds of study materials and resources that we do.

Logo T-Shirt Uniform: Members traditionally wear a solid red t-shirt with solid black sweat pants for class practice. Our ARMA logo red shirt represents both ARMA as an organization and the Associate’s status as an official Study Group member. The logo shirt is the official training uniform for Study Groups. The ARMA logo shirt. The ARMA uniform constitutes a symbol not only of the organization’s dedication to earnest and serious research, but also the individual’s participation and commitment. The prescribed ARMA training uniform consists of solid black athletic work out pants and a plain solid red t-shirt or sweatshirt or the official logo shirt. Official ARMA logo sweatshirts are also available to Study Groups. ARMA formal uniforms (historical-style red blouses and black pants) are entirely optional. Recognition means affiliation with the ARMA – reflected by the adoption of the standard class uniform for Study Groups, an official red ARMA-logo t-shirt. Uniforms provide group identity and encourage discipline. Historically, the wearing of particular matching colors in the Medieval and Renaissance eras identified an individual with a group and demonstrated fidelity with a particular clan, faction, party or lord. Red and black were colors which much of our source literature was traditionaly written in. For ARMA, red and black also symbolizes the blood and the dirt and sweat that historical fighters experienced in pursuit of their fighting skills.

Each Study Group is an independent entity within the overall organization. But each Study Group will be required to use the "ARMA" name as part of its official structure (i.e., "ARMA Seattle" or "ARMA Austin"). Any geographic locale may also have any number of separate recognized Study Groups authorized within it, so long as each group meets the requirements. Thus, there can be for instance, "ARMA Denver", "ARMA South Denver", etc.

For Study Group recognition by members, contact the ARMA Director via email for further details. The ARMA Director has the sole discretion of issuing or rescinding Provisional Study Group status whenever it is deemed individuals are no longer following the ARMA Study Approach or the spirit of the ARMA Affirmations. (NOTE – YES, YOU CAN BE AN ASSOCIATE MEMBER WITHOUT BEING PART OF A STUDY GROUP).

What are the Membership Requirements? 

After being accepted, you become part of a larger effort by simply adhering to the Study Approach and Training Methodology and adopting the affirmations and uniform. Everything else is up to you…practice, training, research, etc. We hope you will become fully involved with a Study Group and develop your knowledge and skills while working toward official Certification in our system of research and practice. We do offer an official Training Program yes, but it doesn’t have to be yours, you can adapt it to your own study without necessarily having to seek Ranking. Instead, you may at a future point apply for recognition in private testing, provided you have the same vocabulary and equivalent skills used in a compatible manner, this is no problem. After all, just because you don’t have the exact same interpretation as ARMA’s doesn’t mean you don’t know what you are doing in your own similar system. There is historical precedent for this in the English masters of defense “allowing” (i.e., recognizing) new teachers and senior students on the basis of their experience or proven knowledge despite their not previously being part of the guild.  We do this same thing in ARMA.

Our Credo of Renaissance Martial Arts Studies:
Respect for History and Heritage

Sincerity of Effort
Integrity of Scholarship
Appreciation of Martial Spirit
Cultivation of Self-Discipline

ARMA was never set up as a profit-making enterprise and it is not structured as a business. It is a European arms & armor and historical fencing association of practitioners, researchers, and enthusiasts. It is not a "franchise". Annual membership fees work toward maintaining the free ARMA website, acquiring new research materials, and supporting the ARMA's effort in advancing legitimate Medieval & Renaissance martial arts. ARMA membership is far more than a "label" and is much more than a "card" or simple piece of paper. It reflects discipline, commitment, knowledge, and skill. Each Member is a representative of the ARMA and all it stands for.

International Applicants: please do not send cash without first inquiring with us about your application.

Note: after one year of Associate status, individual non-Study Group members may be subject to a review of their participation and contribution before approved renewal. Membership affiliation privilege is at the Discretion of the ARMA Directors and may be revoked with refund without cause at any time.

ATTENTION APPLICANTS OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA: Due to policy changes, please inquire with us via email first before sending in any Membership applications or renewals. Do not send unsolicited applications or cash payment without first contacting us.

(Click here for printable form)

Membership Registration Form

To request Associate membership, fill out and submit the following form with fee:

The ARMA has been influential and inspirational to many enthusiasts in this subject. Many other historical fencing groups and organizations have appreared in recent years following our example and many have adopted portions of our approach or followed aspects of our training method. But only recognized Study Groups represent any formal part of the official Association for Renaissance Martial Arts --formerly known as  the Historical Armed Combat Association --(a federally protected copyright) and only registered members can participate in our Ranking & Certification system.

If you’ve examined the ARMA site in detail then you already understand our purpose and know what makes us unique. Since its beginning the ARMA has always endeavored to provide a serious but informal approach to the study and interpretation of our legitimate Medieval and Renaissance fighting skills.  Over time this approach has given us a range of insights and noticeable advantages.  We endeavor to study and learn and train while promoting the subject.

As is obvious, the ARMA is a martial arts club.  We are not concerned with fantasy or role-playing, with stunts or contests, or even re-enacting, but with redeveloping the historical fighting skills of these combat arts. After reading our material perhaps you felt the ARMA'S System and our approach answered something you found missing elsewhere (such as within traditional Asian martial arts, modern sport fencing, established theatrical combat, fantasy role-playing groups, or historical reenactment societies).

As an education group, the ARMA gives away considerable original research free on our public website and we share many areas of our training. Often this material ends up part of other's study and practice or class structure or choreography or whatever. Now that’s certainly good... because we are advancing the subject, improving the craft and promoting our heritage. But we don't always get much credit or even recognition for it, we don’t always get a great deal of thanks, and often we don't get much of anything else out of it either. But, we have the established knowledge base, we have the physical skills, we have the research material and academic support, and we have earned our confidence each through diligence and hard work.

Our organization is essentially set up to cooperate together as a community of shared interests and values in order to assist people training alone. Our various Study Groups all formed when more than one person and got together to practice locally. In each place it started somewhere with just one person. We’ve grown to an international club on the front line of research and setting standards. But helping people teach themselves is still what we are all about. The ARMA Study Group concept is not for everyone, but it is ideal for those who appreciate its purpose and goals.

If there is no ARMA Study Group currently in your area, consider it must begin somewhere with someone after all. Although there is not much substitute for hands-on experience with knowledgeable others, we can suggest to try and locate like-minded individuals in your area who accept the ARMA Affirmations, then try to construct some of our contact-weapons, obtain a wooden waster and practice under our suggested guidelines. Next, register your official membership and feel free to access the ARMA website for support –as it is then your website.

Because most people lack the basis by which to know how to study a martial art, but bring a host of core assumptions with them, we endeavor to provide a means for new students to begin practicing and learning within an online community of likeminded fellows. This way you are not having to go it alone or do it all by yourself.

Although we cannot be present with each interested person or party in order to maintain our standard's of integrity and quality (you can't cross swords over the Internet), we trust that those interested in our association for historical European fighting arts are kindred spirits in purpose and intent. Our primarily online role is to lead and influence through scholarship, dialogue, and the example of seriously practicing our craft. ARMA semianrs and classes and our National Training Program workshops are a major effort toward this. As is well known, the ARMA approach is a very martial one.

Each independent and autonomous ARMA Study Group is concerned with openly practicing, training, sparring, and researching. Yet, even while not every individual student may focus on earnest martial exercise and physical application of real technique, each can still appreciate the legitimacy and formidability of the craft without making up a pretend version or deluding themselves with play-acting. Over the course of years of classes and travel conducting seminars and workshops, it has become clear that more focused and more specific instruction is necessary in order to clearly transmit and accurately convey the ARMA system of learning and training. Naturally, it is only in person or through considerable effort at studying that individuals can attain this. In this regard we have instituted a Training program to teach our craft and certify members. Hopefully, as a new member you will have the opportunity to take part.

Until then, just pick up a good stick or replica blade and train alone if need be –but with earnest sincerity. This is how we all first started. The benefits offered by official Recognition as part of the ARMA consists of being part of a serious movement by experienced students and scholars exploring our Western martial heritage. For membership, ARMA provides a rare and specialized service. But its system and its unique attitude also offer challenge. The ARMA has become the most respected and admired proponent of  Historical-Fencing and Medieval & Renaissance fighting skills. We are happy to be able to further share our interest and our expertise.

Join us and come be a part!

Sincerely,

John Clements
ARMA Director
2001

Donate and support the research and revival of Renaissance martial arts.
The ARMA's non-profit educational website holds over 4 gigs of material, 90% of it free to the public. Help support the cost of hosting by contributing
to research and exploration of our fencing heritage. At any time please
pledge a donation of $5 or more through Paypal at
theARMA@comcast.net.

See also:
Doing Things The ARMA Way

What kind of people are we looking for as members?

National Training Program          ARMA Seminars & Workshops

Practice Partners List