Bob Charron asked me to post this message for him:
To the scholars of ARMA,
A friend informed me of this thread, and so decided to take a look and see for myself. I suppose the greatest disappointment of all this was that while my e-mail address is available on the very site that these videos appear, I have not received a single personal request to explain the situation surrounding those videos. It could be cleared up immediately if someone had done so. I realize it is easier to speculate about someone or something in their absence, but it is unnecessarily difficult, and can lead to error and sometimes offense.
Much of the material on the web site is in need of updating, and interpretations may have changed significantly. As the two-volume set on Fiore nears completion, some of the photography and text, along with new videos, will appear. Those of the cutting referenced here will remain though, as I’m quite fond of them J
The material being cut is double tatami mat, properly wetted as is advised by those who make them. They are commonly used in Japanese cutting arts. The swords are Peter Johnson models, which he kindly supplied during a visit to Albion Armouries in New Glarus, Wisconsin.
My first cut went through the mat without my feeling I had hit it at all. This lead to an adjustment on my part, in order to use a more “serene and slow hand” as advised by Philippo Vadi in his treatise, as I realized I had used too much power. When this adjustment was made, I found that as long as I believed it would happen, and moved from one of Fiore’s poste to another, the sword cut smoothly through the target without any difficulty. There were others present that night who had more difficulty in cutting, and there were several unsuccessful cuts. However, I found full power unnecessary, which completely affirmed everything I have read in the treatises (including Vadi’s famous quote above – and the Italian is “tarda”, so there’s no mistaking what he means). I decided to test this fully by moving simply from dente di cenghiaro to posta frontale through a smooth sottani cut. It went right through the target. The natural body mechanics of moving from posta to posta, along with an exquisitely made weapon with proper blade geometry and point of rotation, created a harmony that practically did the cutting for me. No great effort was required.
When fighting with sharps, it is unnecessary for me to cut through bone (my opponent will be quite discouraged from continuing by cutting through muscle and organs), and if I attempt too much power I become disordered, endangering my balance and my ability to change what I’m doing if it starts to go wrong. The masters knew this, and that’s why they refer to other who use too much power as “villains” or “buffalos”. Again this is a matter of semantics, as of course you intend to cut – that is intent.
Some have speculated whether I am able to do the techniques at speed. I am sure that I can, but in not in a way that satisfies me. I can produce witnesses who can attest to speed and strength of technique on my part. You can inquire among the students at the CSG if you wish, as I fought some of their scholar’s prizes with them over a year ago, and I’m certainly much better now that then. In addition, I’m careful to teach that your body must be entirely clear following a setting aside action (a thing commonly missed if the technique is done too slowly), and I practice frequently with metal swords at ½ and ¾ speed. I just take a very slow, deliberate, safe approach to learning swordsmanship. I’m on the 30 year plan with Fiore.
I can go hammer and tongs with anyone in sparring with longswords and hold my own, but it won’t be consistently within the system I’m studying, and to me that will be a huge disappointment. I believe personally that it takes many years of practice in order to fight properly and scientifically within a particular master’s system, and I believe I have a long way to go before I am able to do that. There are individual moments when the system manifests itself, but not consistently enough for me to claim expertise at full speed. Again, achieving that expertise will take many years of patient study and very hard work on my part. I personally believe many people are far too anxious to get to bouting, and therefore create bad habits that may be very difficult to break later.
However, this has nothing to do with teaching a seminar to people just beginning to learn a system. I find that a great amount of concern for safety and control is necessary so that no one is injured. In order to bout at speed with proper technique, only the control that is gained through many years of practice can keep people from getting injured, and I’m not going to be teaching in a way that gets people injured. If anything I’m going to go overboard on safety. I feel responsible for the students and their safety, and I feel they have years to go before they need to be going full speed at each other. Wasters are deadly weapons, and fencing masks are insufficient protection. Highly developed control is the key.
Now, you don’t have to agree with me. Everyone has their own individual approaches, and that’s OK. But you do need to contact *me* if you have a question about something *I* did, right? How can you determine what really happened if you don’t? Plus, it makes me feel a lot better about dealing with you if you will come to the source. This doesn’t just hold for me. If I have a problem with you I’ll come to you. So any further comments or questions you would like to address concerning Bob Charron, please send to me at this address:
stmartinsacademy@juno.com A pilgrim,
Bob Charron
