Hey folks. Just wanted to let you all know that our group has completed our photoshoot for the upcoming Albion/Hanwei sparring line review.

You can view the pics here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150329696284741.424039.603894740

Caleb, any way we might could get the shots into a high res album if I emailed them to you? Thanks

Regards,

IMP

Today I wrote our first article:
Updated Introduction to Starting the ARMA Method
I hope to write a few more and I think after refining some of them we will get a feature on the main ARMA page. I still welcome submissions from the rest of our membership. Even a small article would be appreciated.

It looks like things are going to start picking up again this spring as they usually do. Ian has an interesting review of Albion’s entire blunt sword line that he is working on. Our group size is back to where it belongs and we are getting new inquiries. That is why I thought I would brush up the web page a bit. I have uploaded new pictures of a fight night from last year. I have also started a video section for this web page and I’m working on a complication video to sum up last years work. Notice tomorrow’s study group meeting on the calendar.

I’m looking forward to another phenomenal summer, full of regular practice with great guys, Ian’s upcoming article, some visits to the Birmingham group, maybe a visit from Aaron P., and perhaps we can make it to IDS as a group this year.

Fighting season has started!

Hello members of ARMA Montgomery. Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you guys... just been very busy with work and other things at the moment that it has been very hard finding time to meet up (on that note, I am very gracious for the times I have been able to meet with Ray when he is available. I have learned much from our one-on-one sessions).

Just a few quick updates on what I've been up to:

1) Had a training session with Jeff Hansen from ARMA Birmingham a few weeks ago. Absolutely amazing experience from one of the organizations best members. I really enjoyed it and I send my thanks to Jeff for his time. Some pictures of the session will be uploaded once I can get a hold of my primary laptop.

2) I have 2 articles in the works; one about how our group has grown and how we have increased our learning ability by geometric rates thanks to the transition from wooden wasters to historically accurate steel trainers from Albion.

The other will be titled "Not Applicable?" and will attempt to dispel the modern perception that attempting to learn a "lost, forgotten, outdated, and inefficient martial system" is wasteful and overall not applicable by showcasing some examples from my own personal experience where I used the techniques and devices I have learned from the Fechtbuchen and my training with the ARMA to properly defend myself against unexpected surprise assaults of both serious and playful natures.

Sadly, as mentioned above, I have no access to my notes due to my father taking the laptop I use with him in his travels. But if I can find time between work, job hunting, odd jobs, errands, personal ARMA practice and research, etc, I promise to work on these articles as much as I can once I am able to work on them again.

3. I have acquired some new books, among them are 3 titles by the late Ewart Oakeshott and the recently released Spirit of the Sword.

Apart from that, nothing much beyond a few random personal mini practices with a few casually interested friends. It's nice to get new people interested in learning from the historical manuals as well as have a few new guinea pigs to experiment some devices and drills on ^_^

On another note, I am also working on a period costume inspired by the clothing featured in the treatises of Joachim Meyer and Paulus Hector Mair. Its about 50% complete but should look nice once finished. Would be great for demonstrations and future Renaissance themed events :)

Anyways, I'll try to come back and keep you guys updated if I can. And as always, feel free to call me or shoot me an email if you want to meet up and train with me!

Take care everyone! Keep up the good work!

Regards

IMP

It looks like our study group is changing as the summer winds down. Members are leaving town to start back up at school (see you next summer Rob!) Some members are no longer able to meet due to work (Ray has been well missed.) And even I have been out due to surgery and schedule changes. This is normal behavior for not only this study group but also many others. At this time the two main members of the ARMA study group in this area are Ian and myself (Caleb.) But Ian and I are having a hard time finding a regular time we can both meet. I’m not sure if there will be two study group meeting times available or if there will only be one less often meeting time sporadically. Those who which to visit this study group should watch the event calendar carefully. I will keep it current and correct. Also contact both Ian and myself if you are looking to meet with ARMA in this area. We are both available and exited to help. If, like me, you are not able to meet with a larger group here in Montgomery for a while; DON’T STOP PRACTICING! When ARMA gets back into a normal schedule it will become very apparent who was practicing/improving and who is out of it. Stay sharp!

-Caleb

I am back in town and going to be at practice tonight. Thanks to Ian for keeping things going while I was gone and lining up our new meeting place. The Montgomery Armory.

Thanks Ian!

I would like to invite all of our members to write an article on anything you wish to be included on our web page. I may restrict the access of the article to nonpublic, ARMA only, or public as I see fit but as long as the article is related to our subject it is unlikely that anything will be rejected. Here are some suggestions of articles I would like to put on our page:

How newly interested people should go about getting into ARMA.
What kinds of things our local group is learning and working on.
Descriptions of the kinds of training activities we do without going into too much detail.
Reviews of equipment that we own and use in our study group.
Your report on an ARMA event that you attended.

These need to be short and simple articles that are very readable. I encourage all of you to find a way to contribute to our web page. This is a great way to do so.

I just added our Event Calender as well as a chat room for members. I am thinking about adding a file uploading system as well. What kinds of functionality do you guys want?

Last night I might have told some of you that it was getting to be time to build a page for us to all communicate with. Well, here you go. It took me 2 hours. Hope it serves us well.

As time goes on I will change the look of the page and fill it out with content. I will also add the functionality needed for us to share files and other related content.

Next week we may be meeting at the Maxwell mats for Fight Night. Please check here for certain notification the day of practice.