introductions

[Ryan Ricks]

i just kind of jumped in here without bothering to introduce myself, however john asked me to tell everyone a bit about what's going on, so here goes:

my name is ryan ricks, i'm a 24 year old graduate student studying for a master's of science in international affairs at georgia tech. currently i'm in the process of applying for arma membership.

i have been studying and practicing from john's book and a couple other credible sources for a couple years. recently i decided to try and get a study group together.

our group consists of 9 people, myself, two other guys, and six girls, all college age. our goal is to build combat proficiency with sword and shield, long sword, dagger, and spear. we also seek to incorporate equestrian combat (several of the girls have horses) in the future.

currently we are studying the basics of sword and shield. we have covered the three guards, basic attacks and how to execute them from each guard, coordinating attacks and footwork, attacking the pell, combination attack drills, test cutting on milk jugs filled with water, and we are just beginning defensive concepts. this week we'll cover how to block and deflect with the shield and how to step in and out of attacks.

we're taking a long-term approach. most of the group has no prior experience, so i'm trying to break things down in such a way that we can master simple concepts and then build onto them. we also avoid any kind of role playing, although the girls did paint pink ponies and purple helments on their shields...what can you do?

ryan

[Matthew_Anderson]

Hi Ryan,

Welcome aboard!

[GaryGrzybek]

Welcome Ryan!

You have 9 people in your study group already? <img src="/forum/images/icons/confused.gif" alt="" />

That's an amazing start so consider yourself lucky. It can be very difficult to find people who are dedicated and don't mind putting in the hard work and time. I know for me, time is the biggest issue.

Good luck,

[Jared L. Cass]

Cool. Great to have you with us! And wow, that's super, 9 people! We'll have to call you guys and gals, "The Pink Pony Brigade" <img src="/forum/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" /> Any of you going to make it to SK?

Jared L. Cass, ARMA Associate, Wisconsin

[Shane Smith]

Welcome to the forum <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

It's also a little abnormal that there are twice the amount of girls as their are guys. Although my class is about half and half, I figured it would be predominantly men.

[leam hall]

Who wants to be normal???????

[Guest]

Good point.

[Ryan Ricks]

yeah it just kinda happened that way. i was asking around on the net, and this one girl i'm friends with about had a fit to be in on it. so she volunteered her boyfriend and her friends from the girl college. so we've got about as many people as we can handle.

ryan

[Jay Vail]

Ryan, you guys want to play any time, get in contact. we're in n. fla.

[Lance Chan]

Wow, more girls than guys! Do you have any secret tricks in attracting girls to swordsmanship group that you don't mind sharing?

[Ryan Ricks]

do y'all practice with sword and shield? give us a little while longer to build up some skills, then we can play. maybe about a month or so, and when the weather's nice we can work something out. how many people are in your group?

no tricks really. i think the thing is to find a girl's college with history majors, though.

ryan

[Guest]

Ryan--
Congratulations on starting up a group! I think you have the right idea on all accounts. (especially having more girls than guys...hats off to you for that! <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" /> )

My advice:

keep doing what you are doing as far as how you approach the subject,

practice in public places so people can come up and ask if they can join (like on campus, if you can manage it),

join ARMA and become registered as a study group (it's worth it, man!), and get John (or if that doesn't work, a Senior Free Scholar) out there for a seminar!

and become a campus club at your local universit(y)(ies)!

My story:

I was the joker who started up ARMA Provo*, and that is basically what we did here. Recently we upgraded our club status! We were a Brigham Young University Student Association (BYUSA) club, but seeing that they are made up entirely of volunteers that happen to be full time students that get easily distracted and have a bad habit of losing charters, and an even worse reputation (rightfully earned) for red tape, we wanted a better situation.

We shopped around, had a few friends in high places, and got lucky, so now we are a Military Science Department club. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" /> It just fits better, we don't have to deal with BYUSA and we automatically have more prestige that way (Would the military science department sponsor a club that taught non-martially sound techniques?).

*(I was lucky enough to be able to attend ARMA houston classes with John before going to college, so when I went I started practing outside and well...people started coming out of the woodwork. after about a year of school I took a sabbatical to be a missionary for 2 years, so now people that I tried to teach basics to back in the day have gotten really good (like Stu Feil and Jake Norwood), while during those 2 years I didn't have time to practice, so I got suckier. I guess they now can say with their best Darth Vader accent: "now I am the master!")