No support for European martial arts in Europe!

[Jonathan Mulhall]

Hello from Ireland!

For the past two years I had been considering joining ARMA and intended to apply at the start of this year. Some five years ago I realized WMA was what I wanted to do with my time, however I spent three years sifting through all the falsehoods and misconceptions before I found the ARMA website. Realizing ARMA was dedicated to WMA as a Martial art and not some LARP or reenactment group, I knew this was the way to go. To my knowledge there is nobody who practices WMA in Ireland, “o.k. That’s hurdle number 1” I thought. First order of business was to start practicing. I purchased both of John Clements training manuals and started looking for a waster supplier. None in Europe “o.k. That’s hurdle number 2”. After checking the links section on the ARMA website I found “Wooden Weapons”. I placed an order for 2 ARMA approved Longswords and a Zwiehander.

That was November 2004! By the end of January 2005 I was wondering if these wasters were ever going to show up. I sent 4 e-mails over the space of 3 weeks before I got a reply. They said that they had been busy with trade shows and my wasters should arrive within 2 weeks. No problem I thought, they were busy and it can take a while to import something from the U.S. to the E.U. It is now near the end of April and still no wasters! I have sent 5 more e-mails requesting information and have not received a reply. How hard is it to send a quick response? They were quick enough to take my money! I checked my credit card, over $300 within 10 minutes of placing the order. I had convinced several friends that WMA was a true martial art and they had agreed to start a study group with me. However in the interim, they have become disillusioned and no longer have any interest. Hurdle number 3, find new sparring partners.

Sorry that this post is so long and please don’t think I have lost faith in ARMA. From what I’ve seen ARMA and its members are a dedicated positive force for WMA. I am simply annoyed that I have already lost month’s that could have been spent practicing and starting the first ARMA study group in Ireland. I wish my first post on this forum could have been positive and I hope that Wooden Weapons don’t think they can simply take my money and then ignore me. Anyway, thanks for listening and I hope my next post will be more positive.

[M Wallgren]

Don´t loose faith...

while waiting for your waisters you solotrain with some homemade sword-looking object. There is also always the Kampfringen. You need that as much as the swordplay. Try to find a translated copy of Codex Wallerstein and start go trough the tecnics in the Ringen section. You have also the dagger tecnics, here you just need two 45-50 cm wooden sticks to train.

Welcome abourd this wonderful quest....

Martin

Ps: check out this link for online stuff...

http://www.nada.kth.se/~jsh/hobby/tekniker/index.html

just toggle down for english version.... Ds

[Jonathan Mulhall]

Thanks for that! I hope it's sooner rather then later <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Brian Hunt]

So sorry to hear of your troubles in obtaining a waster. If you have any wood working skills, you might want to consider making your own in the future. As for places to purchase wasters, I prefer hollow earth or NSA wasters over any other commercial wasters I have handled, I also understand that Ravan wasters are very good. Plus, you might check out this website, they list a couple of supplies in the UK for wasters. http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/equipment/ I hope you manage to get your order from the people you ordered from, be sure that if you feel you are not getting proper resonse time to contact you credit card people and see what you can do about a possible order fraud.

Good to see you interest take fire for WMA, and I hope a sour order experience doesn't blanket it.

Good luck in your training, and I hope this helps.

Brian Hunt.
GFS

[Aaron Pynenberg]

Hello Jon, I am a big fan of your Country I visited twice, the first time in 1997 and then again in 2004. I really enjoyed it and I am 1/2 Irish, (mother's half.) Starting this up can be troubling. When I began I recieved this advice which I pass on to you. Spend about a year getting all of your basic skills squared away. Then get yourself to an ARMA event somewhere, a 1.0 class. Obviously join the group officially then you will have the basic tools to start. Then try and find one other person to train with on a regular basis. I sold it to some of my other buds as a good way to get in shape. Then let it take over and go from there. Do not let other people's interest level dictate your passion. I do not have everyone with the group that started out with us, people drop off and stop practicing from time to time, but that is no reflection of my level of interest or some kind of failure, just keep at it.

Just as a side note I will be going to Ireland again very soon, probably next year, we always end up in Dublin and I would love to hook up with you and do some work with you- welcome to the journey- Aaron
PS- you have some beautiful landscape to serve as backdrop for your training, I envy you-

[JeanryChandler]

Johnathan,

Isn't there still a tradition of traditional Irish Stickfighting, trois-de bata (pardon my spelling) or also "whiskey stick dancing"? Some of these guys from Ireland were supposed to do a demonstration here in New Orleans at a Celtic festival last year but it was rained out.

You might be able to find folks involved in this activity who would be interested in going the next step into some renaissance WMA like what ARMA does.
There are also other WMA groups in Europe.

Here are some web pages on Irish stick-fighting...

http://www.geocities.com/glendoyle/bata/
http://johnwhurley.com/
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4933/shillelagh.html
http://www.thewildgeese.com/pages/facfight.html

Jeanry Chandler

[James_Knowles]

ARGH! I hope that you can get your money back. That's a seriously rotten piece. Unfortunately WW --- which was once a pretty good source --- suddenly went silent. You're not alone in the troubles department, sorry to say.

I studied from JC's books solo for a few years alone before I found that ARMA existed. I was part of a sword tag group, but they ignorantly denigrated the material. At least they gave me a lot of good exercise. Once I found that ARMA existed, I never looked back. Then it took me a while to discover that there was a study group two towns over.

You should be able to make a very simple waster to train with. (If I can do it and not seriously injure myself, anybody can.) There is an instructional article on our study group website on making "ugly but simple" wasters. http://www.arma-ogden.org/content/view/7/30/ It may help to bridge the gap.

The only thing I do different now is I (1) bought a hand plane to bevel the edges, and (2) drill a hole through the pommel and insert a steel rod. These two items help balance the "simple but ugly" wasters.

Finding people serious enough about the subject takes time, patience, and a lot of faith sometimes. We're all waiting for somebody to discover the magic method to attracting like-minded individuals. Let us know if you find it. <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

Stay the course. Best wishes!

[robrobertson]

Cead mile failte!

I'm the father of a rather large family <img src="/forum/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" /> We homeschool and are building a homestead from the ground up.

I'm not about to waste my precious resources on something that I can make for a few bucks! It also adds to the fun. Follow the instructions from James Knowles article and start to make your own wasters. I agree, that WW is irresponsible to not have sent you your wasters! But don't let them hold you back any longer!

There's too much to gain from this to allow "them" to determine when you can start. Remember: illegitimae non carborundum! (Don't let the bastards grind you down)

Slainte mhath!

Rob