Study Group format

[Mike Zettle]

I have the books Medieval / Renaissance Swordsmanship by John Clements, (more material on its way) downloading lots of free old documents, Wasters will soon be on there way, Next I will be having the first meeting of our study group (no less than 3 but probably around 8 of us).

I was wondering if some of you could tell me what goes on during your meetings. As a Martial Arts instructor I dont want to run the meetings like my classes unless that would be helpful. For the most part we are all coming into this with equal experience in Medieval swordsmanship, in other words, none. Although many in my group tend to be able to absorb and put into practice Martial Ideas fairly quickly. My part besides organizing is not to teach but keep us on track and going, for we will be learning together. So I would like to hear what goes on at some of the meetings. I'm sure there are many differences in how some of you go about it. Are some formal with structure? are some kind of loose and do what you like? How long do some of you go? How often do you meet? Do you have a "warm up the muscles" workout? stretch time? Is there part of the meeting spent around books researching together? any thing I'm missing? any advice?

Does any one have a salute or something to signify the beginning and end? I find having some kind of quick ceremony or something is good for getting the mind set for what is about to take place. At the moment what pops into my head is all of us getting in a circle facing each other, salute each other (with swords ?) then get started.

Maybe its my Martial Arts background but I do like having structures at meetings, I find its get way more done in less time. But I also see value in what I would call 'free time" where a person kind of goes off and works on specific things they want to work on.

So I'm looking for ideas to bring to the group, thank you for your time and thanks in advance for any advice!

[Jaron Bernstein]

A lot of will depend on what you and your folks are interested in. I will tell you the format we use for our local study group. You are welcome to modify it at need (or adopt it whole cloth for that matter).

You need one person to be the coordinator. They may not be your best fighter, but they do need to be the person best suited to get your site scheduled, equipment storage space arranged, route the emails and other housekeeping issues. Having an indoor site is preferable if you live somewhere with bad weather. A matted floor is preferable if you are going to make ringen/abrazare part of your study. And it should be at least a partial component of what you do. Have a regularly scheduled practice time that everyone is able to attend. That class then becomes a fixed part of your weekly routine.

Here is class format we use:
1. Start out with some stretches and ARMATURA exercises (listed in ARMARIA) to get warmed up. You might do cutting exercises. Or flourish. Teach your folks how fall safely early. Then make roll falls part of every warm up. Learn how to roll while carrying and retaining a waster.

2. Then do an oppositional drill to get in the right mind set and "live" feeling. We use a few local drills (one each practice, rotated weekly):
a. Dagger defense. Everyone wears fencing masks (YOU MUST HAVE EYE PROTECTION FOR ALL OF THESE). One person gets against a wall. Everyone else, one a time, goes after them with committed attacks with a wooden rondel simulator (a rolled up magazine wrapped in duct tape will suffice). Once that victim has been attacked by everyone, the next person rotates in to be attacked.
b. Sword defense. Same as the previous drill, only the attackers (one at a time) have a waster. The defender is unarmed.
c. Dagger vs. sword. Same as above, only the defender has a dagger simulator and the attachers have a waster.
d. Multiple opponents. Everyone has masks, wasters and possibly gloves. One person gets attacked by everyone else. Then rotate everyone with their turn as the target.
3. Technique instruction. We make a group decision about which manual we want to go through from beginning to end. Then that master is the curriculum. I figure the masters knew what they were talking about more than us, so we follow their lesson plans. Task one person (whoever has the time or inclination) in your group with preparing the lesson. The lesson should be prepared in advance of class so people aren't standing around stagnant while they puzzle over a plate. We are currently going through Wallerstein and von Aeurswald, but we have in the past spent 1-2 years on Fiore, and also gone through Ringeck.

4. Freeplay/sparring. Somewhere from 1/4-1/2 of every class should be devoted to freeplay.

We don't have much ceremony. If I wanted that I would do Iado! Treat each other and the Art with respect. You don't need ritual and BS to do that.


Again, feel free to modify that as needed.

[Stacy Clifford]

Here's a thread from a couple of years ago on that same topic with a lot of good suggestions:

http://www.thearma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23421

[william_cain_iii]

As a side note, not all ritual is 'bs'. It depends on why you're performing the ritual in question.

note - I am not a member of ARMA, and do not play one on TV. As an independent practitioner, I speak only for myself and to a modest extent for my group.

For example, in our fencing group, we have a ritual we go through during sparring. It's more etiquette than proper ritual, but it has become a fairly standard habit. Before every fight we salute, and touch blades lightly.

The reasons for this are severalfold. Primarily, it is a psychological step to remember that fighting is a process. You don't simply jump in and wail on eachother - there is another student across the way, and you must respect him. Remembering to take the time to salute, and to touch swords between each exchange, reminds us to use control. It reinforces that there is a way to do things, and they are to be done right or not at all.

This is the same reasoning that goes into how my judo class also performs their rituals. We line up, bow, and then immediately begin warming up. It is simply a behavioral nod to the fact that we all acknowledge we are in class, and while in class we are focused on learning. After class ends, we do a lineup where everyone walks by everyone else to give a shoulder-bump/hug thing. This is a way of showing that once class is over, we're all friends, and it gives us a chance to congratulate eachother on things we saw in class. Simple rituals, done for reasons that are obvious and unintrusive.

In judging whether a ritual is BS, you have to look at why you're doing it. If a ritual is ever justified simply as an appeal to tradition and for no other purpose, then yes, call it bs and try to discuss it.

Traditions should have a meaning, and there is nothing wrong with a good tradition. A shorthand way of examining it is whether the motivation is pedagogical (this behavior is tradition because of the following reasons), or rote (we do this because it is tradition).

I've rambled a little.

In short, I hold there is nothing wrong with a little ritual if it's done for a purpose. Your desire to have a denoted 'beginning' to class is not a bad one. A salute is a -great- ritual to begin with. It is an acknowledgement of the start of class, and denotes a respectful gesture to your fellow martial artists. It's also simple and unobtrusive, and is less likely than something more elaborate to turn into pure ceremony.

[william_cain_iii]

As to our general class structure (for my fencing group this time, not judo):

Once a number of people gather, we do a technique drill for warming up. I like to emphasise the first zornhau play from ain Ringeck / von Danzig, but others have included binding drills, ringen, etc.

Next we move into another paired drill, which is our technique for the day, in essence. A lot comes from Ringeck / von Danzig (we're primarily a liechtenauer group), but we sub in Fiore when the material is appropriate.

After this, we move into our cutting lesson. This is a series of cutting drills with the longsword, done to the point of arm-exhaustion so that we can learn how to maintain good technique when our bodies don't want to.

Fourth is the secondary weapon of the day. Right now we're focusing on dagger and staff as our secondary weapons of choice. This usually takes the form of, you guessed it, more drilling!

Finally, there's sparring. We have two guys in the ring, a pair of fighters on deck, and the rest are watching the fight to judge when hits occur, and to give advice. Also, this is for safety's sake - we had a longsword bout go to the ground recently, and a mask came off. We called halt before someone lost an eye, as our student later said he'd had the sword pressed into his cheek.

Afterwards, we have the class meeting, where we go quickly over announcements and vote on club business (uniform concerns, loaner equipment, etc).

Hope this helps!

[John Farthing]

Our standard protocol is to begin with footwork, no weapon just footwork. By focusing solely on footwork you build through repetition an unconcious competence. If your feet and body develop this unconcious competence, it means you're not thinking about your footwork when you're doing something else (like sparring for instance). Footwork is also a great first exercise as it gets everyone moving, it gets the blood flowing and the heart pumping. In short, it gets you ready to workout. We do five (5) minutes of footwork at the start of every practice. We use a standard kitchen timer (about $2 or $3 at Wal-mart) to keep us honest (you might think or feel like you've done 5 minutes when you've actually only done three). Once the timer begins everyone does footwork for the duration, in other words, constant movement, no stopping until the timer sounds. Our experience has shown the kitchen timer to be the most effective, you can use the clock/time feature on an i-pod or similar device but these are generally not audible enough. The kitchen timer is inexspensive and produces a clear and audible ring.

After footwork we continue our 'warm-up' with several of the 'Armatura' exercises (these are largely proprietary to the ARMA and are available to members on the members only site. Sorry, but membership does have it's privledges). We focus on those drills or 'Armatura' that are paired drills (i.e.- requiring a partner) it is assumed and expected that each member does the solo execises on their own time. After all the purpose of meeting as a Study Group is to work on the development of skill sets which require training partners (and of course the exchange of ideas, discourse and comradery).

After completing our standard warm-up drills and exercises we spend a large portion of the class working techniques, strikes and counters, any areas which might need improvement (individually and/or collectively), etc.

We 'wind down' each session by having each member do 'tiproggresions' in turn followed by peer review. Having your training partners offer review and constructive critisms, allows you to learn your individual strengths and weknesses and work on improving those areas where improvement is needed.

After each member has done peer reviewd 'tiproggresions', we repeat the process with 'floryshing' (i.e.- each member floryshes and recieves review).

The final potion of each group meeting is free-play or sparring.

Members will frequently adjourn to a local eatery after practice for discussion time. Discussing is an important aspect however, by saving the larger portions of discussion until after practice helps reduce excessive talking during practice and keeps the focus on working out. This also a good time for fellowship and comradery.

I hope this helps give you some ideas on getting the most from your group training!

Good luck and good training!

[Jaron Bernstein]

I don't see a problem with some basic "respect" and demarcation measures as you outline. I just don't believe in running an entire class on the military "dress right dress" style formal drill things (the way I have seen some TKD folks do) or where ritual consumes huge amounts of your training time (like in Iado). The main thing is that the class is relaxed enough that you can learn and have fun, while still being safe and that it not consume more than a minimal amount of time.

[william_cain_iii]

I think we're on the same page Jaron, I just wanted to elaborate on the other side of the argument.

Speaking alongside you, I very much agree that some things get overritualized and ritual shouldn't impede training time (unless you're training -to- perform the ritual, which is different from what ARMA does and from what most HEMA groups do).

As a counter-example though, respect-rituals help establish a basis of behavior that is lacking among the 'bah, ritual' mindset. Once a group with a different process (SCA - style heavy fighting, but a bit crazier: full on bashing swords against plate) was nearby our group, and out of politeness we looked at eachothers' equipment and were cordial. Our group took the time to ask every single time if we could see their equipment, and so forth. By contrast, their leader did ask to see my sword...and then proceeded to strike a pell with it (tinker blunt steel sword) until it started rattling in the grip.

I've never felt more irritated, and that's the kind of behavior I try to drill out of people with our respect rituals.

[Jaron Bernstein]

Also I would suggest getting an adequate portable stereo speaker (and an Ipod). Playing the right music (this is not the time for "easy listening music") during sparring makes it all the more fun. There is some historical evidence that music was part of historical training as well. John C. may have an article on that topic (martial music) in the works at some point.

The freeplay period can also be used for clarification on specific techniques if you have someone who can't rapidly learn it during the instruction phase of class. Recently of our folks had a tough time learning to fall, so their freeplay period consisted of roll falls until they got it. But the main thing is at no point in class should you be sitting around and socializing. Do that after class, and enjoy it and the people, but class time is for moving and learning the physical skills.