Meyer Freifechter Guild Open Letter for 2011

[Mike Cartier]

Happy Hollidays Everyone
This email is going out to all study group leaders and/or co-leaders, please feel free to forward this to any of your members as it is news for all Meyer Freifechter Guild Members. I will post this open letter on the HEMA Alliance Meyer Freifechter Guild Forums so lets take our answers or questions to this letter there so we can all discuss this openly with all MFFG members. The thread will appear under the Guild Sub-Forum there with the title Open Guild Letter for 2011.

2010 has seen us grow to 9 study groups with 2 forming study groups in Southern California and Vermont in all probability joining us in 2011. That was the easy part, this year our goal as a Guild is to

1) Help new and existing study groups develop more targeted and useable curricullum using our website and other technology

2) Release our Journal which has been developed by Chris Van Slambrouck (Illinois) and Kevin Maurer (Florida) with input from all over the guild

3) Release our Research section of the website (You can already see the new menu item), this was also developed by Kevin and Chris)

4) Hold Seminars at every study group location around the country

5) Hold a new Dixie Krieg event in Tallahassee with a Southern Regional Fechtschule style Tournament

6) Develop and release marketing materials, websites and any other necessary media for study groups

7) Develop a Study Group Care Package of needed materials and training tools for existing and new study groups


Thats a shotload of stuff I know but we are gonna do them all or die trying, and of course I am not talking about our already existing projects of Translations in progress, website Device guards, handworks and other video guides along with new study guides.

So to start with let me give a little bit of a talk about each of these 7 primary MFFG goals for the new Year


1) Help new and existing study groups develop more targeted and useable curricullum using our website and other technology
and this can also be tied in with goal 7
7) Develop a Study Group Care Package of needed materials and training tools for existing and new study groups

This I think is a very important goal especially for new and forming study groups, while our online guides are helpful I think they need alot more substance to help the newer groups. In the new year its my goal to keep developing our guides for the standard Meyer weaponry but also to add some new materials for Axe, Pike, Sword and Buckler and Grappling. We will also finish up our Handworks for Longsword project and begin similar projects for the other weapons. And of course lets not forget the biggest project of them all the video cataloging of the devices for each weapon. If you count up all the devices for longsword, dusack, rappier, halberd, staff and pike its well over 150 devices all together. This is substantial so I think a slow approach is necessary, we do not of course have any intention of simply dictating the devices, the whole point of this Guild is Free Fighting so every group and every members input on this is valuable. I plan to develop an online application which will catalog all the devices and allow members to discuss and upload videos of device interpretations dso that we can not only put them online but give a range of opinions on the devices from every corner of the Guild.

But thats off the point, back to Study Group Care packages and Curricullum. Given our diverse nature we have various subjects being researched at each study group and we have no intention of pushing any sort of uniform curricullum, this is not ARMA. But given our founding purpose and governing Fight Master Freyfechter Joachim Meyer it behooves us to at least develop curricullum based upon his substantial written words on the subject. We have done alot of work in Longsword, Dusack, Dagger (thanks to Jay Vail) and Halberd/Staff, but this new year we intend to push on into Wrestling, Rappier and Pike (if possible). We of course are no where near fi8nsi9shing any of the existing weapons so its just a widening of the goal not a step by step process. So each study group, if desired, should determine what they think they intend to work on and we at the home group will try to develop a collaborative effort between the other study groups and HEMA practitioners outside the Guild to help foster some work on the curricullum desired. What this means is if Study Group A wants to work on Wrestling and Dagger we will put them in touch with Jay Vail and any other knowledgable people on the subject and work with them to develop a series of training guides, videos and a general curricullum to allow Study Group A to begin the path and hopefully quickly become contributors the the general pool of knowledge on the subject. This means we will expand trhe training section of the website in the directions desired by Study Group A and even bring in outside persons of knowqeldge to get it done. So in the new year please think about what it is your study group might need in terms of curricullum help and training guides etc and we will attempt to deliver it.

Now onto Study Group Care packages, along with curricullum needs sometimes new study groups need more tangible help, so I intend to develop a whole section for study groups only with poster sized plates and training materials. In addition we will get with our brethren at the HEMA Alliance to get some good prices on basic training materials. Every study group needs basic training tools.
For example we are probablyh the HEMA group with the most Albion Meyer Training swords in the world (last count was 15 Albions)
I think the new Hanwei Federschwert is an excellent entry level longsword training tool and every group should have at least 2 pairs if they don't have Albions. Wood and Nylon is fine but only steel teaches properly in our not so humble opinions. That means some minimal protective equipment is also needed. Dusacks, Staffs, Rappiers, daggers , Halberds etc are all desirable but only of course if you are working on that weapon. So I think a basic study start up package could include 2 Hanwei Feders, 2 pairs of gloves and 2 fencing masks. A CD with all our training videos on it and a version of all our written materials, translations, Guides and posters.
My Longsword book which is currently in the process of getting published with the HEMA Alliance is also a good idea, also if a study group is intending to delve into Dagger Wrestling Jay Vails book is an absolute necessity. Obviously not every formiung study group needs all this and each group will be deal;t with individually, but it is our goal to get new stuidy groups up to a basic starting point so the long process of abosrbing this art of Kunst Fechten can begin. Right now we only have a few study groups in need of stuff, but please contact me and let me know what you think might be added to this list and what you might need as a study group to get started. I have a small fund going here from the advertising on the website and donations which I will use to help get training tools to the needy groups. Ok enough of that onto the next goal.

2) Release our Journal which has been developed by Chris Van Slambrouck (Illinois) and Kevin Maurer (Florida) with input from all over the guild

This absolutely fantastic idea is the brain child of Kevin Maurer and Chris Van Slambrouck, in Feb 2011 on the anniversary of the death of Joachim Meyer the guild Journal will be released with quraterly journals to follow. It will contain work from all over the guild but mostly very important research and articles on our beloved subject. Kevin and Chris are headed over to Northern Italy to visit our brothers studying Marozzo with Roberto Gotti. These guys are set up pretty much like us, studying one master diligently over a long period and branching off into similar works. The world of the Northern Italian HEMA Guilds will be introduced to the general HEMA world in the journal. These guys are very very important IMHO. Not only are they connected to us directly By Marozzo because Meyer in all probability learned his cut and thrust from Marozzo or his students but Roberto Gotti has found the training sword of Joachim Meyer in a collection and will be releasing it to the world in a upcoming book. But the journal is also so much more. Alot of the translation work done by Kevin Maurer will be released throughout the year in the journal, this is of utmost importance to us as it means the world of Meyer is about to go from one book in 1570 to 3 books. This means if you study longsword you will now have 3 works by Meyer to work from as you try to let Meyer teach you his art of war. The journal will also have truly incredible research information on Meyer himself, research which will in all probaqbility formly place a foot in the ass of the notion of Meyer as a sport fencer outside the Lichtenauer art of war. All guild members will contributing to this journal, myself included. I think this will set a new standard in the media concept for HEMA groups and help raise all our collective knowledge levels. If you have something you think might be gfood for the journal contact Chris or Kevin. This journal will be a released to everyone.

3) Release our Research section of the website (You can already see the new menu item), this was also developed by Kevin and Chris)
The research section of our website will also set a new standard in HEMA research, it will contain all the tools necessary to jump into the world of renaissance German fight manuals and begin to read them and understand them directly. This is a brilliant concept developed by Kevin that will help put us fiormly inside the world of the Kunst Fechten by letting us read these manuals ourselves, without having to rely on other translations. I look forward to this myself so that I can begin to do translation work myself. Kevin's work on Fraktur Script and development of the glossary of Middle High German will help us all get a hands on feel for the works. We will also expand this area into work on the Italian language as soon as possible. i won't say much more as Kevin is the man to explain it all but it will open a new chapter for us all I think and I am very excited by bot hthe Journal and the Research arm of the Guild. Thank you Kevin and Chris.

4) Hold Seminars at every study group location around the country
This coming year , near the third quarter of the year, after I am release back to combat sports following my lengthy journey through hell after my neck/spinal operation it is my intention to visit every study group of the guild in person with a small entourage of other crazy HEMA guys. Now this is not big deal to our Florida groups who get together 3-4 times a year but for our groups strung out through Illinois, Texas, and California it is of primary importance. I have always beleived and still beleive that oinly one thing can properly instruct you in the ways of a combat sport. Direct experience with the more experienced. This is as true in the Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Wrestling, Boxing and MMA as it is in the Kunst Fechten. So even though we will bring a seminar to the group the main reason for us to be there is to give these guys direct experience with our senior members in freeplay. I am not entirely sure of the exact sequence or dates yet but If at all possible I will be visiting each group[ at least once and possibly twice on the long journey across the country. I will be taking off a few weeks from life to bring as many skilled folks as I can out to visit our guild brothers. We of course will also learn alot from each of the groups too, this mutual exchange will; benefit us all and help to solidify our brotherhood in the guild. I look forward to this like few things I have done in my life. Any of you anywhere who wish to go are welcome to come with or fly in at various points on the journey. I am also considering making a small HEMA documentary of the journey if able.

5) Hold a new Dixie Krieg event in Tallahassee with a Southern Regional Fechtschule style Tournament
This years Dixie Krieg which is our National Guild Gathering will be our usual fare of classes, comraderie, knowledge exchange, welts and bruises exchange and alol the other good stuff we usually do. This year however we will hold a South Eastern Regional Fechtschule Style Tournament. This event , now in its 3rd year is the brain child of the mighty Jay Vail, this last year Jake Norwood of the HEMA Allianceintroduced us to the wonderful concept of the Fechtschule Style Tournament, it was an incredibly fun event to hold even though it was done on the spur of the moment. This year we will make it a proper regional HEMA event with all the Kudos and backslapping stuff involved and wonderful prizes for the winners. Along with the tournament will be our first Guild Freifechter Rank Prize Play. All our members are of course invited as well as any HEMA brothers out there. Any guild members who wish to instruct a class, deliver a research presentation or hold a demostration are welcome to begin preparing now and alert us to your intentions.

6) Develop and release marketing materials, websites and any other necessary media for study groups
While we have subpages for our study groups it has always been my intention to develop individual websites for each of our study groups with stand alone Domains (if desired). This will help the groups market thier prescence on the web (the primary method people use to find us) and help you keep in contact with your members. I have also developed the ability for the study group leaders to set up class schedules on thjier sub-pages within our guild website but judging by the lack of use it seems to be uncessary. I admit to even not bothering to set class schedules for our home group myself as it seems an unnecessary structure when we simply play it by ear each week. If any of your groups wish to have a website developed, wish to add or change anything in the existing Sub pages for the study groups or have any requests please feel free to contact me. As IT Director I have free riegn over our incredibly expesive internet infastructure with all the associated frills you would expect from a Financial company. I can provide Websites hosted on T1 high speed networks, Coldfusion Application development and Database development as well as Search Engine Optimization to help get your qwebsites up in to the top of the HEMA world on the web. Feel free to make use of it, its there if you need it and you will have full control of it after its set up via FTP. If not no big deal but do take advantage of the web in come capacity as it is the primary way new people find HEMA groups today.

Ok goal 7 was covered so I won't labor the point, sorry to babble on so long but it's sword talk........

Oh wait a bit more. Ranks
I think we have generally agreed upon our ranking system
Research Scholar (a research rank)
Frei Fechter ( a fighting Rank)
Kunst Fechter (a future rank for fighters once we have 30 Frei Fechters to test against for the rank)

Thank you all for being part of this Guild, each of you and your members make us stronger and better
Have a happy hollidays and enjoy your friends and family. See you guys in the new year.

-mike cartier
Hauptmann South Florida Study Group
Meyer Freifechter Guild

[A Froster]

Mike,

I have been thinking a lot about some of the things you are talking about, specifically with regard to supporting new groups. I believe I have a unique perspective on this topic because I was a part of a brand new study group at the time that ARMA South Florida split from its parent organization and went off on its own to form the MFFG. I believe that this perspective is different from your own primarily because you had an already established study group when the “great schism” took place. From my unique perspective I can honestly tell you that we would have not survived as a continuing study group had the South Florida group not supported us by bringing regional gatherings to our area. These gatherings always had the same effect on our group. They encouraged us and they revvitilized our commitment to the art (especially the art of Joachim Meyer). The gatherings gave us momentum to not give up and improve ourselves and as a result three years later we are all better Western Martial Artists because of the energy that those events created. As a secondary benefit we also developed a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood that would have been impossible otherwise.

So what lessons can we garner from this? One lesson is something that I’ve already maintained on several occasions: Hold regional events. They do more to create interest, enthusiasm and encouragement than anything we can do. A second and less obvious lesson (and the reason for my post), is building an infrastructure that makes this support possible. It is unreasonable (in the long term) to expect South Florida and its senior students to visit each study group across the country to provide instruction to the extent that it is needed for the study groups to remain excited and committed and grow to the level that they aspire too. The key in my opinion and the reason that we survived (as a group) is to have enough groups in the area of the new group to logistically be able to hold the all important regional events three or four times a year. So what does this tell us (and everyone who is reading this post)? It says to me that regional events should be a secondary to the task of developing study groups within driving radius of each other. This in my opinion should be a priority for any new area that MFFG wants to expand too.

I propose that we adopt the strategy of developing study groups in threes all within driving distance of each other so that when one group is waning, the others are there to support, encourage and pick them up. I believe that this “triad” strategy will give the best chance for new groups to first survive and then grow. Otherwise we risk creating a bunch of isolated groups whose survival depends on the probability of human nature.

[Mike Cartier]

wow brilliant Allen, nicely put and you are spot on.

As it happens we have sort of developed along those lines anyways.
we have 3 texas groups and soon we will have 2 california study groups.
So in keeping with what you are saying when i do that big tour I will work on setting up regular regional events that we will try to get to but will be self sufficient so they won't need us to keep the energy going.

great Idea man.

[Keith P. Myers]

I like the new ideas, plans, and the way things are trending. I have another HEMA group for you guys to check out. Maybe we can use some similar ideas. Many of you know I have been investigating the Bolognese Method. Its good stuff, but I decided it was not exactly for me. Meyer's Longsword is my favorite for a two-handed sword by far. But I've been looking for single-hand sword material. The Dussack is good, but not quite it. The Bolognese single sword is good, but again, it didn't really "click" with me. But I have "rediscovered" something that does! The Cateran Society has been around for over 10 years now. I got a copy of Christopher Scott Thompson's original book on the Highland Broadsword when it first came out and worked on some of the material back then. But we didn't have good training weapons for it then and drifted away from it. Well, Chris has really worked at developing the Cateran Society curriculum and structure over the years. On my mother's side of the family the line goes back to Scotland. My grandfather's name was Weems. The Weymms clan were the Earls of Fife in Scotland way back when and are directly related to the MacDuffs of Shakespeare fame. There is even a Weymms Castle in Scotland. I've rekindled an interest in my Celtic heritage and recently joined the Cateran Society Apprenticeship Program. I've discovered that the Highland Broadsword is exactly what I've been looking for! I've started with the Regimental style that was used by the Highland Regiments in the British Army...like the Black Watch. I can't wait to get to the older style that used Broadsword & Targe. I've been impressed with the way they have the program organized, so enough digression and on to the reason for this post!

The Cateran Society originally used the typical rank structure of scholar, free scholar and provost. But with some of the controversy surrounding some terms, they replaced it with their own terminology. An Apprentice = scholar, Mentor = free scholar, and Cateran = provost. "Cateran" means "Warrior" in Scots Gaelic. The curriculum is divided into multiple segments that you can study independently. You work for the rank of "mentor" in each segment. Being a "mentor" means you can teach that material to someone else. When you have become a "mentor" in at least 4 of the segments or areas, then you can test for the title of "Cateran." This involves "taking on all comers" in free-sparring.

The Cateran Society has put up lots of on-line video clips that are lessons for the various material. I have suggested that they also make the various video clips available on one DVD for ease of review when you don't have internet access. Chris is supposed to be working on that. Check out the main page here:

https://sites.google.com/site/cateransociety/

Here is an example of the video curriculum for the Regimental Style:

https://sites.google.com/site/cateranso ... my/level-i

It would be easy enough to construct similar short video lessons for Meyer's Longsword and other material.

Most of the students are "distant learners." So Chris uses a webpage called "ning" that is the equivalent of having your own facebook-like structure for your organization. Each member signs up for an account and post training updates in their own blog and can participate in a forum. Check it out here:

http://broadswordacademy.ning.com/

Something like this would be an excellent way to keep all the various members of the different study groups in touch. Notice how each member is assigned an mentor to answer questions and guide their study of a specific level. For a study group, this would be a study group leader. But for groups just getting started without someone that already knows the ropes, this would be the way to go!

There are enough guys now that are now conversant with the material, so Chris put together a "Broadsword League", which is a network of people who are willing to have a friendly bout with you if you are in their area. Its a great way to hook up with like-minded people. He also used the "ning" software for this:

http://broadswordleague.ning.com/

So there you have my 2 cents with some good examples.....using our own terminology for rank structure, using a online social-networking model for the various members scattered about the country, and having well-designed on-line video tutorials. Hope that helps!

[A Froster]

That sounds very intriguing to me Keith because I am of Scottish origin descending from the Forester Clan (now armigerous) of the lowland border regions ( I think). If Scottish Broadsword is a workable form of Western of martial arts as you say it is then I would strongly encourage Chris to join the HEMA Alliance to educate us so that we can assist in further spreading its teachings. I really like some of the ideas that the Cateran Society has and how it could be applied to growing the Freifechter Guild.

[Keith P. Myers]

That sounds very intriguing to me Keith because I am of Scottish origin descending from the Forester Clan of the lowland border regions ( I think). If Scottish Broadsword is a workable form of Western of martial arts as you say it is then I would strongly encourage Chris to join the HEMA Alliance to educate us so that we can assist in further spreading its teachings. I really like some of the ideas that the Cateran Society has and how it could be applied to growing the Freifechter Guild.

Hey Allen!

Let me encourage you to explore your roots and check out the Cateran Society material. There are at least 5 historical works that cover the Highland Broadsword....and they are all in English!!! The Regimental style is fairly straight-forward and easy to learn and bears a resemblance to modern fencing. The older style is more like Dussack, because it has passing footwork. They are also working on reviving two-handed sword work. But the historical record here is very limited. So they would benefit from guys with knowledge of Meyer or other Longsword methods that can make contributions. The methods with the Dirk are very much like those of the medieval era dagger that we know, because that is likely were they came from. I'll suggest to Chris that he join the HEMA Alliance as you said.

[Mike Cartier]

yes I have seen them before and I also like the Hurstwic guys who do Viking stuff.

I am very taken by the Ars Domini guys in Italia, they do some very cool work on anceint heavy athletics.

There is certainly alot out there to learn from. i like the scottish stuff to, i am Irish, French, German an English myself which i think means i am at war with my self.

That looks like lots of fun and cetrainly much easier as its already in English, i have always loved the broadsword and the stories of some of the stick with basket hilt prize fighters from Ireland and Scotland. (the sword and the centuries book)

I would love to see some of it next time we get together Keith.

[Keith P. Myers]

I would love to see some of it next time we get together Keith.

Highland Singlestick vs. Dussack would make for some very interesting bouts!

[Mike Cartier]

Indeed Keith, I have been working on Dusack concepts as Stockfechten, so we could do Highland Singlestick vs Meyer Stick
Sounds like fun.