Our ARMA Athens Study Group hosted a NTP 1.0 event attended by more than 25 enthusiasts, many from the Greek martial arts community, including several leading practitioners of jujitsu and grappling arts. Thanks to ours Athens group leader Angelos Pantelios for organizing and hosting this excellent opportunity to bring Renaissance martial arts back to the cradle of Western civilization. It was a pleasure for me to visit and to be able to offer for the first time a course like this in Greece.
I was happy to see the Athens Study Group has considerable potential. They also have one of the most unique areas to practice in, an outdoor amphitheatre surrounded by natural rock hills overlooking this ancient city. We also viewed weapons and armor at the National Army Museum in Athens, where some interesting pieces were on display. Finally, I can definitely testify that the famous hospitality of the Greeks is not exaggerated.
In the gorgeous city of Budapest, Hungary ARMA was welcomed by the SAGA medieval combat reenactment society (Schola Artis Gladii et Armorum). Thanks to our host Garbo Erényi with the help of Péter Györfi the event was held in the magnificent Budapest Castle, Magyar Kultúra Alapítvány Háza (“House of Hungarian Culture”).
The event was a bit of a challenge given the translation requirements and the equipment, but the students were very eager and talented. For myself, it was a personal experience to be able to return something about this craft back to Hungary, given that my own original saber instructor was the well-known Hungarian saber-master, the late Louis Bankuti, former Olympian and long-time fencing instructor at Columbia Univ.
It was a pleasure to be able to present the first-ever serious course on authentic Renaissance martial arts in Hungary. The eagerness there for genuine information on real historical European fighting arts there is as strong as anywhere, as is the potential. It was also interesting to be able to learn something about the actual facts surrounding supposed “experts” on alleged “medieval Hungarian saber fencing,” and to learn the true details. It certainly helps our community to evaluate the false claims and hype from certain individuals of dubious character. (Not only that, but the information one acquires from local sources when investigating such things at their source can be quite amusing.)
Most exciting in Budapest was that we were also able to spend some invaluable time handling antique swords and arms at the Hadtörténeti Múzeum (Museum of War History), where curator László Töl shared ARMA’s enthusiasm for evaluating historical blades from the perspective of design and function. Some splendid pieces were on hand to inspect and the research gathered will surely prove useful. The opportunity to conduct research into Eastern European swords and fencing artwork was invaluable.
My 8 day trip was exhausting, and I returned with the flu and a sprained shoulder, but it was time well spent.
Thanks to everyone for making it a success. Given the enthusiasm of my welcome and the overwhelming reaction to the seminars, I am sure I will visit again.
A full report on the trip and the event will be posted soon.
John C.
