First of all, I would like to thank Bob and Kristi Charron for sharing your company with us on your very special day. We had a wonderful time.

I have to say that Bob is a wonderful teacher who approaches his topic with respect and a tremendous sense of humor that keeps you engaged in the topic. Starting with a history of Fiore's Italy; a very dangerous place and time, he gives you a foundation for why a system such as this was created.

He explains the symbology of the lynx (mind), the lion (left hand, courage), the tiger (right hand; attack), and the elephant (your balance and footing) and when giving the hands on portion, utilizes the terms to aid the students. "How's your elephant?" "Are you using your Lynx?" You immediately know what he is talking about.

2-Days makes a difference! You get to concentrate on a few things in more depth than the one day seminars gave you. Admittedly, we kind of hurried through the wrestling and dagger section so that we would have time to focus on some items that were of interest to the host group. It was really nice to see the pollaxe work and the equestrian work in Fiore and the counters to get yourself out of some tight spots. Especially the "Catch a ride on the other guy's horse" after he tries to pull you off yours. All I can say is depending on your medieval saddle type, that's a REAL interesting trick. (DISCLAIMER: Do NOT try this at home!)Bob and Kristi (a wonderful teacher in her own right) demonstrated this sequence on foot, but the result drew applause. It looked really cool, just like a lot of the dagger and sword disarms and using even a set of gloves to entangle your attacker's weapon.

It is a work in progress and this participant thinks it is a lot of fun to be part of a historical beta testfor a work such as Fiore. We are looking forward to the time when Bob's work is ready for publication.

This is the 2nd seminar I have been to and it gets better every time. Even though I didn't participate (wearing my organizational hat) I had the chance to observe and take pictures.

On the second day, we were blessed with an absolutely beautiful Spring day; blue sky, green grass, a nice breeze (occasional GUST) minimal insects, and very good company. The longsword and pole weapons sections were done outside and seemed to be enjoyed by all.

From the social aspect, we had the pleasure of meeting some really cool folks from this board and a few other combat groups and re-enactment folks from other time periods who are interested in the art no matter what century it comes from. It's really nice when you can all sit down and chat face to face.

Now from an Organizational standpoint:

For those who might want to host an event, here are some organizational "lessons learned" and things that worked well items:

1) Location, Location, Location: Ours was in a good location. Ample parking, nice outdoor area (make sure there is a large shady spot if you go outside), hall for viewing slides and dining.

2) Ceiling height. Make sure that if you are organizing one of these events that you confirm that the ceiling height will accommodate the weapon types to be used. The reason I say this is we thought we had room, as there are no "From the Roof" blows in the Italian system. However, one must remember that a bec de corbin is LONGER than a longsword!

2) Make sure that when folks sign up for your class that you have the following information: name, functional email address, snail mail address, AND their phone number. One of our registrants dropped off the face of the earth 3 weeks before the seminar and I was not able to contact him and because only a few people signed our sign in sheet, I could not confirm the person's presence.

3) Not part of the seminar fee but a fun after activity on the first day,

Dinner: Keep it simple, fun, and stay away from restaurants that like to keep changing the party numbers on you. :P (Next time we go to the Boston Billiard Club!) Basically, inexpensive but good restaurants work very well. (Remember: Good seafood and non-spicy bird options )

4) Make sure people sign in so you know who is there. (* see item 2)

Things we found that worked very nicely:

1) Morning refreshments and lunch in the same room where you host the event. This makes for a nice, relaxed atmosphere and prevents attendees from getting lost in a strange town if they go out for lunch.

2) Indoor and outdoor facilities. If the weather is beautiful, it is nice to have the option to go outside and "play" so that people can spread out or have a better view when techniques are demonstrated. Plan for bugs, inclement weather, etc... Make sure the facilities have access to water and bathrooms for participants. (It's the little details that will zap you if you don't pay attention.)

I likened the project to planning a wedding. Plan ahead.

Sorry for the ramble. I just thought the whole weekend was Ultimately cool.

Jenn

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Your hawk is beautiful. It was nice to meet her.

The shame of it...

[ 04-19-2002: Message edited by: Jeff Johnson ]

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quote:

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Originally posted by Fire Stryker:
Thanks, Hugh.

Your hawk is beautiful. It was nice to meet her.

Jenn

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Thank you Jenn; I'd like to pretend to be all calm and blase about it, but I just can't. I think she's beautiful, too... and the *perfect* (well, almost; she's not a medieval European species, but don't tell anyone) knightly dress accessory! PLus, she's the sweetest hawk I've had or ever seen (which is relative, of course... I mean, one of the Spanish Inquisitors had to be the nicest one, but that doesn't mean you'd want him at your prom...).

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quote:

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Originally posted by Jeff Johnson:
C'mon, Tanc, we've had a couple such events in the DC area I've tried to drag our guys to. LaBelle always has a few guys there, but wolfes/Warwick - nooo....

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Well, Jeff, I'm planning to set up a Ringeck
workshop with Christian Tobler (I meant to have done it before, but life keeps dropping nasty surprises in the way) very soon. How many guys can you get to come to Allentown for that? I want a class size of 20 or so, and I think I have 5-10 here.

I'd also like to put together a La Jeu workshop. How about that?

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Hache... sweeet...

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Jenn, you did a marvelous job. The entire set-up, site, food, etc., was extremely well thought out.

Bob, it's always fun talking history with you, I get to learn a great deal, and I get to bounce ideas off of you - marvelous.

Bob and Jenn tell me I might be back for some focus workshops on particular parts of the art (so we can drill, drill, drill), sometime in 2003.

Christian's got good material. I highly recommend it.

All the best,

Bob Charron
St. Martins Academy of Medieval Arms

[ 04-22-2002: Message edited by: Bob Charron ]

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