Sunday, October 25, 2015

Friday, October 23, 2015
I'm rather excited.  I discovered yesterday that we have an official HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) training club here in central Oregon, High Desert Armizare.   Armizare  is the term used by some for Italian martial arts, it is fighting techniques based on the manuscripts and illustrations by the fourteenth century master of this art Fiore dei Liberi.

Got that display cabinet cleaned of and out of the glass shop, yay!  Yes I stretched and practiced.

Saturday, October 24, 2015
I've really waffled over whether or not I was going to be brave enough to actually go to the club meeting on Sunday.  I have encouraging friends, but the clincher was the wording of the e-mail in response to my requesting information. " My goal is to create an awesome community of people that happen to like to swing swords."   I am going to be brave enough to do it.

Tired today and just no motivation to work in the glass shop after putting in my eight hours at my "real" job.  So I ended up taking it easy.   Went dog hunting for my step granddog at ten pm.  He jumped through a closed window and no trace or sign of him to found.  As he pushed through the curtain we believe he is uninjured.

Sunday, October 24, 20
No one has seen Buddy.  Tomorrow I will help my step son to fix the window.  He gets the glass and I will install it.  Hoping that dog is okay and safe.  Lack of energy is due to unhappy sinuses.  Not sure if it's irritation from stuffy air, allergic reaction, infection or a super mild cold.  Extra sleep and making sure I eat well and take my vitamins.

I went to the club meeting.  I am so glad I did.  My anxiety and fears were groundless.  I was soon at ease and enjoyed getting to know our coach, and the other lady in the club.  One thing he pointed out is that in many clubs the members go and train yet they don't really know each other outside of the club.  His goal is for us to get to know each other beyond the club setting.

I got some advice on making my training sword easier to handle as I was right about that "hand and a half" thing.  Going to be taking sandpaper to that pommel to round the "sharp" edges down so it doesn't bite my hand like it tries to now.  He also recommended where to go and what to purchase for a real training sword.

I learned about the two basic steps used in Armizare.  Then three different dagger strikes, blocking, disarming and using the disarmed weapon back on the attacker.  One thing I liked is how he pointed out openings and other things that could be done in different circumstances.  

I learned more about Fiore too.  That these manuscripts are the equivalent of a college level training and instruction.  They assume you already know the basics.