Research and Discussion Forums

In ARMA we try to have as few rules as possible because the purpose of sparring is for learning, not competing. We don't keep score (except in Prize Playings, where it's necessary), we don't use judges, and we don't wear lots of armor or padding. Calling hits is on the honor system between the two ...

Thanks, Matt! Very helpful.

Hi folks. I'm also in Charlotte NC and would be interested in training....if you don't mind beating up on a mid-40's age guy. :) I've had a life long interest in the Dark and Middle Ages and actually did my senior paper on The Evolution of Arms and Armor in the Middle Ages for my Anthropology/Archa...

thanks so much for offering your help. we'll be moving down to charlotte in about a month or so, and i will gladly take you up on your offer. thanks again for the advice. btw, sweet monty python quote. \m/ Hey Scott, I live in Raleigh, which isn't right around the corner, but it's close enough we c...

Looking at the krump in the link I gave, do you see problems with it's execution? You don't have to be specific, of course, but I would appreciate a critique from you, or from others here as well. Hi Mars, Perhaps I can offer some general advice that you might find helpful. First, be careful about ...

These videos are incredibly useful to someone like myself. I'm brand new to Renaissance Martial Arts, and, unfortunately, here in Raleigh NC there are few practice partners or instructors to be found. This forum is a goldmine of sorts for me. Thanks, Kevin Hey Kevin! I'm so glad you posted to the f...

The only way I envision this working is if the "reversed thrust" is actually a pommel stroke, but this one of those passages that has mystified me. It is the only clearly described "turn your back to him" spin I am aware of Wow, that's an interesting passage. I'm certainly not a...

Fiore also shows kicks, including a kick to the groin and a kick to the knee that are made from the bind (Pisani Dossi 20A and 20B). And in Meyer's wrestling section he also suggests stomping feet if your opponent gets too close.

Currently I live in D.C., but I'll probably move up to MA permanently sometime next year. It's actually really easy for me to find a ride into Boston, lots of students go at least once a month. Oh, wow! If you're in the DC area you should drop by and practice with ARMA DC sometime. I just moved out...

Hi Robert,

I'm also up in that area a couple of times a year. Although this doesn't solve your problem of finding people for a study group, I'd be glad to practice with you when I'm around. My wife is from South Hadley so we're in that area once and a while.

Ben Strickling

Welcome to ARMA everyone

Hi Ray, As Brian pointed out the article is actually from ARMA Ogden's site. We just have a link to it. Also, our website it up and running, but it's now <www.armadc.org>. If you had it bookmarked the old link might not work anymore. We had to change it a little while back. Sorry for the confusion.

Interestingly, the guy seems to have thrown a Meyer-esque wheeling blow from above. Why would a trained man do so under the confines of a low roof? Why not thrust as Swetnam recommends I wonder? I thought about that too and I guess I assumed that he was untrained. On the other hand, maybe striking ...

I'm pretty sure that a prize playing is mentioned in the Scarlet Letter as well. Wow, I hadn't noticed that the last time I read the book. I'm guessing this is the passage you remember: Nor were sports wanting, such as the colonists had witnessed, and shared in, long ago, at the country fairs and o...

Hi everyone, I ran across this short mention of the use of the quarterstaff and I thought it was interesting so I figured I'd share. It's from an account of a witch trial of Susanna Martin in Amesbury, Massachusetts in 1692. The text is a summary of the testimony of Bernard Peache (referred to as th...