Well stated Sir Ian and absolutely spot on. Nobody can deny that John Clements is passionate and dedicated about his study of the various HEMA disciplines.
Seconded! Thank you Sir Ian for putting that into perspective.
I may have neglected to mention it in here, but John Clements is the reason that I am even interested in WMA/HEMA at all.
I've long had the interest in medieval armor and weapons, however, the knowledge from that interest all drew from the "typical" sources - Hollywood movies (Excalibur, First Knight, A Knight's Tale, Black Knight, Robin Hood, etc), Renn Faire shows, and choreographed stage combat of "thrust, parry, thrust, parry" or "awkwardly and slowly swinging this sword-thing like a grunting caveman club" (
Crude and slow, clansman, crude and slow). Let's just say I had a normal modern-day mindset of medieval combat, and it didn't match up with actual historical manuscripts at all. I had been looking around the internet for any local SCA practices when I found the ARMA forums and there was a thread about Clements coming to do non-SCA "real sword" classes about a half hour from me, so I signed up...
When I met him in person he was not as unruly as he is in most of his writings; he is also extremely passionate and he's very knowledgeable (whether people agree or disagree with his interpretations is another thread). He did smack down on the SCA, which may have been since I mentioned SCA as my only medieval combat experience (he went around the room and had everyone introduce themselves). It could have been because everything he taught about blade handling had nothing to do with the SCA methods, saying a sword is a sword and not a club, he covered binding, etc.
The class with him was the first WMA/HEMA exposure I had at all. From the start I was in awe of how he handled the sword; 15 years of owning them and I had *never* seen such gracefulness *and* aggression. It's hard to match his physical enthusiasm and aggression in some of his videos when compared to others. He noticed that I was behind the others in grasping the basic guards and strikes; it may have helped I was the only one without a red shirt, which I learned later in the day meant I was the only non-ARMA member there. He didn't say "you slow, boy?" or anything to that effect; he paused what he was teaching and asked if I needed help, and showed me what I was doing wrong.
The class was a couple hours (2, maybe 3?) long, although it all felt a blurry whirlwind of excitement. After class was over, they went to lunch there in town (walking distance). I got to go as well, which was a nice gesture as I was the "odd one out" being the only non-member there. Everyone sat around and talked, I wasn't left out of any conversations, and it was pleasant. After lunch we went back, and there was a follow-up class... however at that point it was "the regular class is over" and "ARMA members only" for the after-lunch portion. I was okay with that since it was not advertised as being a two-part class, so I got what I paid for. I was saddened that there was an online process to go through for applying and approval for membership in the group, as it meant I couldn't ask "Can I join you guys?" on the spot (as the founder/main guy was right there). I always wondered what happened at that second part.
I applied online, but never got an acceptance, which I guess is implied rejection. I didn't own an Albion, I had never heard of one, and my only experience was SCA, and I didn't like the "what you learn here stays here" concept of being unable to share things with my brother or friends, so I'm not too shocked I wasn't accepted. After I learned more, it was clear we probably would not have meshed well philosophically.
After that, I went home with a completely new respect for the European style swords. Had I not gone to that class, even though I didn't end up in ARMA, and had I picked up the local SCA fighter practice again, I likely would have been down a far different path than I am now.
