About
The Association for Renaissance and Medieval Swordsmanship brings together practitioners of historical European martial arts so that they may enhance their own skills and further our collective understanding of historical combat technique. It was founded in 2001 and operates in affiliation with the Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies.
Historical Martial Arts
To practice Historical European martial arts is to seriously study the combat techniques of the past: to recreate martial skills in a historically accurate manner. Because no “masters of defense” are alive today, we must reconstruct our combat technique from historical sources, such as period fighting treatises.
Our Methods
ARMS is highly active in the interpretive work described above. We believe that by marrying physical skill with scholarly research we can better understand how historical combatants may have actually fought. At this time ARMS is primarily involved in investigating the German longsword tradition, and is working from several Renaissance manuals.
ARMS holds regular study sessions where manuals are scrutinized and techniques explored. Its members also conduct physical practices, using wooden training weapons and steel facsimiles.
Jeff Lord serves as ARMS' Director of Interpretive Studies. He has taught German longsword technique for a number of years and possesses numerous other credentials. He has been a member of ARMS since its founding.
Membership
Anyone interested in historical martial arts may request to become a member of the Association: please contact us.
Meetings
ARMS holds weekly meetings to conduct its interpretive work. These are generally on a Sunday afternoon and held at the Amherst College Alumni Gym. See the schedule for more information.
Projects
Raymond J. Lord Collection
The Lord Collection is a digital archive of historical combat treatises, primarily from the Renaissance. Each item is freely downloadable by the public and consists of high-resolution scans assembled in PDF format. The Collection was created in 2005 and is hosted by the Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies. ARMS members oversee the Collection and continue work to expand it.
Schedule
Regular Meetings
Weekly Study Group
Sunday afternoons, ARMS meets to discuss and interpret historical fighting manuals and other sources. These meetings are currently held at Amherst College Alumni Gym. Please contact us to confirm.
If you are not an ARMS member but would like to sit in on one of our meetings, please get in touch with us. Directions to the Renaissance Center may be found here.
Contact
If you have questions about ARMS, would like to join, or need information about one of our events, please contact us.
Matters concerning this website should be directed to the webmaster.
Links
Affiliates
- The Raymond J. Lord Collection – An archive of freely-distributed combat treatises and fencing manuals, hosted by the Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies.
- Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies from which ARMS is based.
While the following sites are not "endorsed" by the Association, they are widely recognized sites and should prove useful for further inquiry.
Research Sites
- Schielhau.org – An online translation project of various historical treatises, including Meyer, by Mike Rasmussen.
- Journal of Western Martial Arts – A WMA e-journal.
- myArmoury – An site with extensive galleries of weapons and armor, but also many articles regarding swords and collecting, and hands-on reviews of reproduction blades.
- The Armour Archive – Various essays on the making of maille, and some discussion forums covering a range of topics, including WMA.
- De Re Militari – The Society for Medieval Military History, with its own online journal, book reviews, bibliography, etc.
- Maciejowski Bible – Illuminations depicting Biblical events as though taking place in the middle ages.
- Internet Medieval Sourcebook – Repository for public domain texts from the Middle Ages.
Other WMA Groups
- Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts – A large WMA group based in Canada with a very regularized training regime. Their web-page has an extensive collection of manuals, in various languages, practice videos, and historical documents, including the entirety of the Bayeaux Tapestry.
- The Association of Renaissance Martial Arts – A nationwide HEMA group, based in Houston, Texas. Their site has a large collection of manual scans, a (fairly technical) discussion forum and articles on HEMA.
- Chicago Swordplay Guild – Extensive glossary of medieval terms and many links to online texts and weapon distributers.
- The Exiles – Various resources, including manuals, videos and articles.
Vendors
- Purpleheart Armoury – Makers of good quality wasters (wooden training swords).
- Arms & Armor – Makers of high-quality reproduction blades.
- Albion Armorers – Del Tin distributor. They also make scabbards, aluminum practice blades, and sell the works of some noteworthy smiths.
- Kris Cutlery - Primarily they make eastern blades, but do also have a line of relatively functional (if not pretty) Medieval swords.