At Study and Play Around Town

When you love something as much as we do Historical Fencing, you can't help but to want to share it with others.

We've had a number of opportunities to do just that, both practicing with our colleagues from around the state and around the country, and with demonstrations for the general population, especially today's youth, most of whom have only seen the wild, unrealistic "kung-fu" swordplay so popular in movies and television nowadays.

Few things are as satisfying as seeing a youngster's eyes as he gets to hold a real European longsword for the first time and learns that the swords the knights used were very light and manuverable.

It is only matched, perhaps, by seeing a pair of high school drama students improve their fight choreography in a few hours just by showing them simple things, like not parrying edge-on-edge, and that real duels are not "my turn-your turn", but short flurries of attacks and defenses.

This section chronicles a few of these special moments. Take some time to peruse and enjoy them as much as we did.

Houston MTP 1.0 (Jan. 2010) - On Saturday January 30, 2010, ARMA Texas met in Magnolia, Texas for a MTP 1.0 seminar taught by ARMA Director John Clements. Study group members from Dallas-Fort Worth, Denton, Austin, College Station and Houston were present.

ARMA International Gathering 2009 - On July 17th-19th, 2009 in Houston, Texas, the ARMA held its third International Gathering with 80 members and a few select guests in attendance for three days of instruction, testing, sparring, and fellowship.

Victoria Public Library Demo (June 2009) - On June 8, 2009 the ARMA North Siders were invited to do a demonstration for the Summer Reading Program at the Victoria Public Library in Kyle Cook's hometown of Victoria, Texas.

Jersey Village High School Sword Workshop (Feb. 2009) - A beginning sword workshop for future fight choreographers was conducted at the Jersey Village High School on February 28, 2009.

Houston NTP 1.0 (June 2008) - Stacy Clifford and Gene Tausk, Senior Free-Scholar instructors for the ARMA Houston Northsiders and Southsiders Study Groups, jointly taught a NTP 1.0 training day for the longsword in Magnolia, TX on June 21, 2008.

Jersey Village High School Sword Workshop (Feb. 2008) - A beginning sword workshop for future fight choreographers was conducted at the Jersey Village High School on February 20, 2008.

ARMA International Gathering 2007 - On August 17-19, 2007, the combined study groups of ARMA Houston hosted the second ARMA International Gathering, the largest event in the organization's history.

Texas Test Cutting Event (June 2007) - ARMA Texas met in Magnolia, Texas for another test cutting event. Study groups from Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston were present.

Texas Test Cutting Event (March 2007) - ARMA Texas met in Magnolia, Texas for a test cutting event. Study groups from Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston were present.

Jersey Village High School Sword Workshop (Feb. 2007) - A beginning sword workshop for future fight choreographers was conducted at the Jersey Village High School on February 21, 2007.

Cub Scout Pack 355 (October 2006) - ARMA Houston North-Side visited Cub Scout Pack 355 for Pirate Days in Huntsville State Park, Texas.

Home School Demonstration (October 2006) - A sword demo was presented to several local home-school groups who were visiting the Houston North-side study group.

Northwest Houston Grace Tapestry Co-Op (October 2006) - ARMA Houston North-Side gave a demonstration to a home school group hosted by the Cypress United Methodist Church.

Troupe d'Jour Demonstration (June 2006) - Sydney Yarbrough, Kyle Cook, and Jonathan Moonen presented an hour long lecture/demo for ‘Troupe d’Jour’, an educational theatre company that offers theatre-based presentations to all levels of school students.

Texas Sparring Day (March 2006) - ARMA Members from various points around Texas gathered for a sparring practice day at a central location in Magnolia, Texas.

Houston Community College Town & Country Drama Department Lecture (Feb. 2006) - Sydney Yarbrough and Jonathan Moonen presented an hour long lecture/demo.

Jersey Village High School Sword Workshop (Feb. 2006) - A beginning sword workshop for future fight choreographers was conducted at the Jersey Village High School on February 1, 2006.

Fort Bend Baptist Academy Demonstration (Dec. 2005) - Sydney Yarbrough, Kyle Cook, and Wes White presented six demonstrations at the Fort Bend Baptist Academy.

15th Annual TEMA Conference (Oct. 2005) - The ARMA Northsiders were invited to read a paper and give a sword demonstration for the 2005 Texas Medieval Association (TEMA) conference in Houston, Texas.

Lone Star Schwertlager (Aug. 2005) - On the weekend of August 27th-28th, 2005, ARMA members from around the country gathered at the first Lone Star Schwertlager in Houston, Texas for a weekend of instruction in grappling, staff, half-swording, sword and buckler, and dagger fighting, and a Senior Free-Scholar Prize Playing.

University of Houston Demonstration (Apr. 2005) - On Tuesday April 19, 2005 the ARMA Houston North Siders were asked to do a demo for Lorraine K. Stock. She is member of the English Department and teaches Medieval Literature.

Home School Lecture and Demonstration (Apr. 2005) - Kyle Cook and Sydney Yarbrough from The ARMA North Siders Study Group presented a lecture/demonstration of Renaissance Martial Arts to a group of home school children.

Longsword Seminar (Feb. 2005) - In a rare treat, one of our Senior Free-Scholars, Stew Feil of Provo, was in Dallas. We got the chance to attend and experience his teaching methods.

Jersey Village High School Fencing Practicum (Nov. 2004) - We got the chance to spend a day coaching some drama students on the ins and outs of real duelling.

Texas Renaissance Festival (Oct 2004) - Opening weekend of the 2004 season we were there demonstrating our art to the public.

Cub Scout Day Camp (June 2004) - This demo really felt worthwhile, as the kids learned about the skills to master any sport/art, and that swordfighting really isn't Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles.

Practice Day (May 2004) - This is a good example of what we do once in a while when we get members from across the state together for a day of fun and study.