Lone Star Schwertlager Event Report

[Gene Tausk]

Just a few comments to echo Stacy's post:

1. Matt Andersen played his prize beyond all expectations. Fifteen minutes into the prize playing he had already gone more than 50 bouts. I remember going to Stew and showing him the stopwatch and both of us just looked at each other, wondering "what do we do now?" Very well done.

2. Congrats also to Brad Patrick of the Houston Southsiders and Aaron Pynenberg of Appleton, WI for their excellent GFS testing. Stacy is correct that Aaron is going to be "fun" to spar against at any time. <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

3. A very big thank you to our instructors: Stew, Shane and Matt, Stacy and Dr. Ron Harris (modesty forbids me from commenting on my own class). The only problem with these events is the amount of information that is presented is so vast I am lucky if I can even absorb even a small part of it. Stacy - you will definitely be teaching your staff classes again at future events if I have anything to say about it.

4. A very big appreciation to Erich Wagner and Kyle Cook. Although both the North and Southside Houston groups pulled together to pull this thing off, Erich and Kyle deserve most of the credit for an event that started on time, ran on time, and finished on time and, more importantly, where all the participants (from what I saw) had fun and learned something.

5. As always, I am more than impressed by the gentlemanly conduct and desire to learn which is prevalent in ARMA members. Half the fun of these events is simply putting names with faces of people that have posted on the forum and/or written articles. I consider myself fortunate to be able to associate with such quality people.

6. Shane and Matt - it is always good to see the two of you and it is unfortunate that the two of you live so far away from H-town. Why don't you guys move over here? The humidity is about the same as North Carolina?!? You should be used to it by now. Ron - I hope you and your family and your home is safe from that monster hurricane.

7. Jaron - thank you very much for the Buckeye candy. OSU grads need their Buckeye fix. GO BUCKS! BEAT MICHIGAN!!! See you in October.


---------------&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;gene tausk
SFS
Study Group Leader - Houston ARMA Southside
Bruised and battered from this weekend but very happy

[Randall Pleasant]

I want to express my thanks to the ARMA Houston scholars for putting on such an extremely great event. My thanks and respect to all of the instructors for their great classes.

I also want to express my full respect to Matt Anderson. After watching Matt fight who could doubt that ARMA is producing some of the best swordsmen in the world. The man was on fire.

I also want to thank Gene Tausk for the extra grapping with the new members of the DFW study group. I told Gene at the end of his class that these guys were hungry for grapping. Gene fed them well over the two days.

[Jaron Bernstein]

It has already been said above so better than I can phrase it, so I would just like to thank all who organized, taught and attended the event. I appreciate the chance to learn a vast amount of things (which I hope I can retain!) and got to meet with veery cool people. <img src="/forum/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" />

[Matthew_Anderson]

Yes, an awesome weekend indeed. I'd just like to send out a huge thank you to the Houston ARMAteers for doing a superb job hosting a very special event. And a special thanks to Kyle Cook and family for hosting the prize playing at his home, and everyone who came in early to participate in the testing. I'd also like to thank Shane Smith for beating the crap out of me all Summer to help me get ready for the big day. ARMA folks are the best! It was a day I'll never forget.

[Aaron Pynenberg]

Like Jaron said, there is just way too much to say about an event that well planned.....but I will say it anyway.

First off thanks to all the planners, and support staff for all of your help. The event ran really smoothly and was never lacking of subject matter or activities. I was completely wiped out by the end of each day- awesome job.

The Instructors did an awesome job, it was very easy to see all the hard work and preplanning that each of you put into those classes-again really well done, if I can bring a portion of each of those classes back to my group, we will have enough material to train on for weeks.

A word on the prize playing- I really wanted to witness one of these to see a number of things, I wanted to expirence the intensity level of something like this, as a check against our own training habits here in Appleton, and also to see what kind of level someone should be at to test out for the SFS Rank. Man, I was impressed beyond words! Matt is an incredible swordsman, and his abilities were without question. He fought hard and fast from begining to end, with beautiful form and control, Matt- well done, I will be thinking of your display when I conduct myself in solo drills these upcoming months. I heard you say that you are a man of few words, and I would say that with your skill there is really nothing that needs to be said. Thanks for the inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, as a swordsman who has good sparring partners here, (Kevin, Brad, Mike, Mark)- I know that these partners are critical to one's own skill building. There is no question that Matt has a great benefit and resource in Shane. The quality skills Matt displayed reflect on Shane as well, well done Shane. This was proven to me first hand in a few very spirited sparring that I had with Shane. Thanks man, that was a quality expirence.

You know I am so pumped I could go on forever, everyone did a hell of a job, and I had great conversation with everyone, Stu, Stacy, Ron, Gene, Matt and Shane are all a treasure trove of information and true assets to the group-

I was also glad to see the next "generation" of ARMA leaders there in force. You guys keep training you are all going to have amazing skills when you get to be an "old" guy like me- OK I should probably end this but trouble is I just want to keep on ramblin on- but enough said- Thanks again everyone- please feel free to come on up North whenever, I'll hook you up! Aaron Pynenberg (new GFS!) -sorry couldn't resist

[Shane Smith]

This was indeed a great event! I can't express just how impressed I was with the quality of the fencing I saw and I am particularly amazed at just how fast some of our newer guys are coming up.

All of my fellow presenters at the event did a wonderful job and I learned a great deal from them all. I regret having missed much of Professor Harris' excellent class but the reality of an early return flight to VAB intruded. Also, if Gene won't speak of his and Erich's class, I will. Great job and impressive delivery guys! I have alot of new wrestling techniques to practice and sore muscles to prove it! Stew and Stacy really broadened my horizons with their excellent efforts as well. Indeed, to prove the value of Stew's sword and buckler work, Stew took it upon himself to thoroughly own me in some s&amp;b freeplay later in the day.Stew, put me on your reference list for sure!

Now for the fun stuff. I had one of the most spirited and flat out enjoyable fencing experiences in my life on sunday when I and ARMA up and comer Aaron Pynenberg mixed it up with longsword in a series of impromptu bouts. This man is a fireball of talented energy and I enjoyed crossing swords with him immensely. I also had the honor of fencing with Brad Patrick in his GFS testing. He proved himself a competent Swordsman and a hardy congrats to both he and Aaron on earning their GFS certification.

I will confess that one of my greatest pleasures in Houston was seeing alot of people I consider to be some of my truest friends. While we ARMA-types don't see one-another and cross swords as often as we would like perhaps, our love for the sword binds us all together as a family. I can't wait to see you all next time.


Matt, you did us proud brother...Shane

[Jared L. Cass]

Congrats Matt!

Way to go Aaron!

God, I was and am rather depressed that I wasn't able to attend as originally planned a couple of months ago...but that's life. Sounds like it was an awesome time. Wish I could have been there to see you guys again.

Shane's right on the money when he calls what we do sort of an extended family. It's the people that make an orginazation.

So to all of you guys I didn't get to see (Gene, Shane, Scott, ect), sounds like you all had a great time!

Again, congrats Matt! You do us all proud.

Aaron, I'll see you for the 1.0 in appleton later this year...knew you'd impress the senior ARMAteers from the first time I met you:)

Jared L. Cass, ARMA Associate, Wisconsin

[Aaron Pynenberg]

Thanks for the nice comments guys, Aaron

[Derek Wassom]

I'm really glad I was able to make it to this event. The people were awesome, as was the instruction.
Gene and Erich's grappling class was a great warm up for my body and brain. I don't really get much chance to practice grappling (I train alone), so this class was something I sorely needed.
Stacy's staff instruction was great, I was looking forward to it for a while, and it exceeded my expectations. This is a beautifully devastating weapon, and I hope it will become less awkward the more I practice it.
The half-swording class by Matt and Shane was as illuminating as ever. These guys really know their stuff. Keep up the good work, guys.
I really enjoyed doing the I.33 on Sunday. Stewart is a wonderful teacher, and since I missed out on most of his class earlier this year, I was anxious to get a second chance.
I have been wanting to learn from Professor Ron Harris for a while, and I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was. I only wish my body had been a little less sore and stiff.

Congratulations to Aaron and Brad for earning your General Free Scholar ranking. You guys really deserve it!

Matt really impressed us all in his Prize Playing. You are one intense dude. I have many painful/colorful reminders tattooed on my right leg to remind me to protect it better. Congrats, buddy.

I got to see some old friends, and make many new ones. I hope to do this again very soon... just let me heal up a bit...

[Stacy Clifford]

Fellow ARMA Members,

I am pleased to report that the Lone Star Schwertlager event here in Houston, Texas this weekend was a smashing success. Yes, we all got smashed (no, not like that!). Over 30 ARMA members from all around Texas as well as Utah, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia and Louisiana for a weekend of instruction in grappling, staff, half-swording, sword and buckler, and dagger fighting, and of course, a Senior Free-Scholar Prize Playing. I can safely speak for all members of the ARMA Houston Northsiders and Southsiders in saying that we had an incredible time hosting this event, and we want to thank all of our guests for coming and making this such a wonderful opportunity to share our knowledge and test our skills. Special thanks go to Kyle Cook and Erich Wagner, without whom this event would not have been possible.

It is my pleasure to report that the weekend began on Friday with the awarding of the rank of Senior Free-Scholar to Matthew Anderson of ARMA Virginia Beach, VA. The prize playing was held in the sparring ring at the house of Kyle and Kim Cook, and in one of the fastest and most furious prizings we've seen, Matt fought an incredible 122 bouts in the Texas heat in one hour and five minutes with 87 victories and 35 losses for a winning percentage of 71%. More than 20 fighters showed up to test Matt, and good fighting was seen from all who entered the ring. Matt's prize was hard fought and well-earned, and Stew Feil, Gene Tausk and I were proud to award him with his new rank.

On Saturday the day began with three hours of tumbling instruction and grappling and wrestling fundamentals taught by Gene Tausk and Erich Wagner. We all learned some valuable techniques which turned out to be very useful in the other classes held later in the weekend. Needless to say, three hours of tumbling, lifting, throwing, and being thrown got us pretty warmed up, and some spirited sparring broke out during lunch. After lunch, I taught a class on the basic concepts of English staff fighting which I am glad to say went very well considering it was my first time to teach it. I believe everybody learned something that they will be able to take home and practice, and I will definitely be glad to teach this class again at future events. Next I yielded the floor to Matt Anderson and Shane Smith for their class on half-swording. No matter how many times I see this stuff, it seems like I always learn a new trick I hadn't seen before, and the boys from Virginia didn't disappoint. It was a real pleasure to see the consumate skill with which Matt and Shane performed their demonstrations of the various techniques. We finished Saturday off with a steak dinner and more sparring.

Sunday morning Stew Feil put us through our paces drilling the surprisingly complex sword and buckler techniques of MS I.33. I really enjoyed this one, and it's obvious how much time and effort Stew and Brian Hunt have put into interpreting this manual. We were immediately able to put some of the stuff we learned in class to good use as we led into lunch with another round of free-play. (Thanks Jaron for some really well-fought matches, I had a blast.) After lunch, Aaron Pynenberg and Brad Patrick were tested and awarded their General Free-Scholar ranking. Next, Professor Ron Harris showed us unarmed vs. dagger disarms from the manual of Nicholas Petter. Many of you don't need to be told that Ron's classes are never boring, and once again we found good use for the grappling concepts we learned from Gene and Erich. As usual, Ron had a variety of interesting and memorable ways for us to tie each other in knots and take away our weapons. We wound up the day with still more free-play and answering questions brought up about earlier classes. For the record, I want to say that Aaron is going to be one tough dude when it's time for his prize playing, and Shane should be dishing out the pain in the not-too-distant future. We parted company with our comrades until the next time over the excellent Tex-Mex faire of Pappasito's.

Guys, it was an awesome weekend, and we can't wait for the next one.

[John_Clements]

Outstanding, guys. Well done. Congrats to everyone, especially to Matt. I know Jake &amp; I wished we could have been there. Sounds like it was a great event.
I'll look forward to all the pics &amp; a full webreport.

JC

[Matt Bryant]

Truly great event.

Being a new member of ARMA and previously having only a single 1.0 under my belt (then as a white shirt) I can honestly say that this event has proved to me that the ARMA is everything I knew it was. The lack of egotism and open learning environment was just awsome, every class was a blast, and finally meeting so many members of other groups was a special treat. We have some great guys.

Congradulations to Matt on his new Senior Free Scholarship. I still have a bruise on my leg from our first bout <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" /> .

Also, I must really thank all of the instuctors for taking the time to answer my questions and go over some things with me after your classes. I really do appreciate your sharing of knowledge.
Signing out, and ever eager:

[Aaron_Elkins]

First of all congratulations to Matt Anderson on his Senior Free Scholar. Lord knows he worked for it.

As to our new General Free Scholars, congratulations as well. I can't wait til I meet you guys in the ring to bring out the best in you.

As for the rest of the time. What a rush. There was so much new information to absorb and practice that ARMA DFW will be busy for months. It was an exhausting few days, but I wouldn't take back a one of them. I had a great time, and I can't wait til the next one.

Aaron E.

[Travis Beamon]

Indeed, congratulations too all of the aforementioned. It will be great to see all of you at the next event, which i am desperately waiting for.

I cannot wait for this sunday to come up, and even more I cant wait to go back down to Houston to practice with you guys again. It was great to make new friends and the amount of technique and information to absorb will surely increase all of our learning curves.

See you all next time,
-Travis Beamon
ARMA, DFW

Indes does in fencing whatever your heart desires. Indes is a sharp word that cuts all fencers that do not know it. And indes is the key in which the art of fencing is unlocked

[JeffGentry]

Hey Guy's

I Just took the first video from the camera to Video tape, and for those of us who didn't attend we realy missed out by what i saw on the tape.

Those of you wanting Jaron to send you the video he took as i said earlier i am working on getting it done give me a week there is about 2 hour's of video so i'll get to watch it 8 time's.

I guess watching it multiple time's over the next week i should be a master staff and of sword and buckler in no time thank's to Stew and Stacy. <img src="/forum/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" />

Matt

good job on the SFS prizing, realy enjoyed watching that.


If Matt want's i could probably post some of his prize playing.


Jeff