And each man stands with his face in the light. Of his own drawn sword, ready to do what a hero can.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Hello!!
I know this is primarily a DIY site but from time to time I will step out of my daily life and into showcasing much more awesome people, places and events. This is one of those times. I will start by saying this, I am a renny. For those of you that do not know what a renny is, I will tell you. A "Renny" is a person that attends or works at rennaissance fairs. Often if not most of the time that includes in full garb. Rennies study the time period, the garb, the people, the atmospher and yes that includes the warfare. I love all things historical and when I heard about the Laurel City Historical Fencing School I was so excited to see what it was all about. This school teaches the art of German Medieval Combat and it is a bit before the rennaisance, but I find it so intresting that there is a school that teaches this art.
The Medieval time period is a very studied time period. Ranging from the 5th century to the 15th century, the Middle Ages was often a time of war. Every country, society, and culture had their own style of fighting. Each with their own variation of long and and short swords, melee weapons such as axes and maces and long weapons such as poleaxes or spears.
I have the pleasure of knowing Chris Valli, who trains in the art of German Medieval Combat and runs the Laurel City Historical Fencing School. He trains students from all over the state of Connecticut using the teachings of Master Johannes Liechtenauer. He himself has been training for 10 years under the direction of Christan Tobler.
Here is a statement from his website to explain all that his school does.
Laurel City Historical Fencing is a school in the northwest corner of Connecticut focusing on the German School of Medieval Combat. Our weekly class consists of warm up exercises, solo cutting and thrusting drills with the sword, and partnered drills.
Our curriculum is based on the teachings of master Johannes Liechtenauer, a 14th century fencing master. His teachings were passed on to later masters such as Hans Talhoffer, Paulas Kal, Joachim Meyer, and many more. Later masters add their own commentaries as well as new techniques to their manuals.
Beginner classes focus on the two-handed longsword, wrestling, and dagger. Advanced classes will continue the student's training in these three fundamental areas, but also add additional weapons such as the Messer, Poleaxe, Spear, Sword & Buckler, in addition to armored combat.
While the school does not have a complicated belt system like many Eastern martial arts systems, we do have a basic rank system based on the school's curriculum. The ranks are: Student, Novice, Scholar, and Free Scholar. The student is anyone starting their journey into historic martial arts. The Novice is expected to understand and execute the fundamentals of the longsword, dagger, and wrestling. The Scholar is expected to also understand their choice of single handed sword (Messer or Sword and Buckler) and long weapon (Poleaxe or Spear). The Free Scholar must know all weapons and wrestling, in addition to armored and unarmored combat.
It is an awesome thing he is doing out there and It really keeps the Medieval arts in the spotlight. It is still so important to where we are today. It is an art that most people are not even aware of. I hope you will help me in spreading the word about this awesome school. I know with people like Chris and his team will make sure that this art is never forgotten.
If you are interested in taking a class or just want to see more about what they do at Laurel City Historical Fencing, Please visit their website: http://www.laurelcitysword.com/ .
~AC~
