Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94125281066?pwd=T3BPcU1wMmphNmhnTHpaNGFjSGphUT09 The knife is arguably the oldest weapon and tool ever made and used by man, dating back to almost 2.4 million years ago. Knife designs and materials evolved over the millennia, but even today a good knife is still an indispensable tool for outdoorsmen, soldiers, chefs, etc., basically people from all walks of life. Late 19th and early 20th century manufacturing improvements ushered a higher quality of mass production military style knives that saw service in all conflicts worldwide across the 20th century, and into today’s world. Yet there was and still is a place for innovation for customized, hand-made knives, both in the 20th century and today. The presentation will first focus on describing some of the “classic” knife designs that possibly influenced and were incorporated into 20th century military knives: The dagger, poignard, sword/dagger canes, bowie knife, dirk, sicae, etc. We will then discuss both factory made and customized (ex., Randall made) 20th century military designs that possibly were influenced by those earlier designs, and those that are likely newer styles of blades. Many of the Randall knife designs have great “creation” stories behind them. We will also look at modern materials that modern designs are made from, from high quality steel(s) to titanium blades, and even copper beryllium knives used by Marine EOD specialists. John H. Dowdle   (COL USA RET) spent over 29 years in the Army: with the regular Army, then with the Army National Guard, and finally as a full time Title 10 Army National Guard officer.   His military background was in Infantry and Special Forces, first with the 9th Infantry Division, and then over 16 years in Army Special Forces (SF), with tours in the 5th, 10th, and 20th 'SF' Groups, and was the 5th SF Group Operations Officer in Desert Shield/Desert Storm.  The last 10 years of his military career was at the Pentagon and National Guard Bureau as an Operations Research Systems Analyst and a Strategic Plans and Analysis Officer, retiring in 2010.  He has graduate degrees in Public Administration, Educational Technology, and a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the Army War College.  He currently works as an Instructor/Facilitator/Course Director at the Army Force Management School at FT Belvoir, VA, where he instructs students in national defense strategy, the Department of Defense Plans, Programming, and Budget process, and aspects of Army Force Management.  Besides having a keen, lifelong interest and study in history and both land and underwater archeology, John is also a certified docent at the National Museum of the Army at FT Belvoir, VA, as well as occasionally leading regional battlefield/historical tours.  John studies and practices Historical European Martial Arts, calligraphy, collects bladed weapons, hikes both nature trails and battlefields, scuba dives, and bicycles/swims as part of his many interests and avocations.

Dr. Mary Valante is back! This time she leads us in a discussion on women in the Viking Age. Vikings are usually stereotyped as fearsome warriors who raided western Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries – the last of the great (apparently shirtless?) barbarian invasions according to traditional histories. But the reality was that the Scandinavians of the time were more often traders and craftsmen and town builders, who expanded and inhabited trade routes from Byzantium to North America. The inhabitants of those new trade centers needed food. They needed ale, they needed to prepare against the possibility of famine or sieges. They needed large-scale textile production to create fabrics to use, wear, and trade. Shifting from domestic scale production to an urban economy built on these necessities fell largely to the Viking Age women, without whom there could have been no towns, no sailing for ships, and no Viking Age. Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/96991502599?pwd=dWlPaEU5dmdPYmtmLzIrV3JpSUV3UT0

https://zoom.us/j/95127172611 First session of the new source study project, looking at an abridged version of Leckuechner's messer. You can find all the material on Wiktenauer, here: https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Johannes_Leck%C3%BCchner Suggested reading is: 1. In the abridged, everything before the "The Rouser (Waker)" header 2. In the original, everything up through the text accompanying the third plate (not counting the frontispiece) - 4v in the Munich I We'll talk through the organization, as well as some of the historical background on this stuff before we get started on the material itself.

  The Liechtenauer longsword glosses present a wide array of techniques, which can be daunting to study, especially for new students. Can we simplify our approach to this art by identifying a smaller number of fundamental movements which are consistent across these techniques? This lecture will take an in-depth look at the descriptions of longsword techniques in the glosses and present a set of fundamental movements that can form the basis for a simplified method of studying these techniques. Nathan Weston is a Senior Instructor at Athena School of Arms. Nathan studied a variety of martial arts, as well as Olympic sport fencing, before taking up HEMA in 2012. He teaches Longsword, Broadsword, and Italian Rapier. He is also one of the event organizers of Iron Gate Exhibition, the largest HEMA Tournament in the Northeast. Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99362559615?pwd=QzZxRGhLaFNSQXROak8vTmVHdHl5UT09

Presented by Nathan Clough, Ph.D.                                            Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/98998193105?pwd=VDR4ZEtXQlZNYVVvcDVKdVAwREhYZz09 Dr. Nathan Clough is a former university professor of political geography who left the academy to pursue a love of swords. He is a historical martial artists, a member of the governing board of the Oakeshott Institute and the Vice President of Arms and Armor Inc. He has given lectures on historical swords and swordsmanship at, among others, the International Congress on Medieval Studies, various universities and colleges, and at HEMA events including Longpoint and Combatcon. Ewart Oakeshott is a towering figure among those interested in European swords, but his legacy is often misunderstood. Oakeshott’s sword typology is his most influential contribution to the scholarship of swords.  In this lecture Nathan will trace the development of the typology, briefly review the types, and discuss how the typology enables communication about swords, before turning to the history and world of the Oakeshott Institute and introduces the Institute’s collection of historical objects. Finally, Nathan will present a number of medieval and Renaissance swords from the collection. Photo Credit to the Oakeshott Institute

Travis McLeod guides us as we take a look at the sources and interpretations of one of HEMAs weirdest studies. Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/99201652993?pwd=WXVLUjNkQituVEpnRjFGZFg3ZzV6dz09

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99801677869 Really getting near the end this time. We'll pick back up with the first and second windings on page 194 and see if we can finish things off. We are working off of the Wiktenauer compilation, available here: https://hroarr.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2016/08/wiktenauer-Liechtenauer-long-and-short-sword-gloss-compilation-2016-1.pdf

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99801677869 Happy New Year! Reading this time is from 188 all the way to the end of the longsword section, which we probably won't finish this time! We'll wrap up the sprechfenster material and start in on winden, see how far we get. We are working off of the Wiktenauer compilation, available here: https://hroarr.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2016/08/wiktenauer-Liechtenauer-long-and-short-sword-gloss-compilation-2016-1.pdf

Join us Tuesday, December 15th, as Dr. Mary Valante walks us through the global impacts of The Great Mortality. We have learned the Bubonic Plague, killed 1/3 of the people in Europe. However, before the Plague ever arrived in Kaffa or Sicily, people across Central Asia were dying. People in the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world were dying. For a disease that struck over half a millennia ago – and still exists today – it is surprising how many questions we still have. How can we be sure it was Plague? Where did it originate? How far did it spread? How many pandemics did this one disease cause? The answers to those questions lie in historical sources from many regions of the world, archaeological investigations, and modern DNA studies. Now, as we live through a new pandemic, what have we learned and what mistakes do we seem doomed to repeat? Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/99965311006?pwd=UjBXS25CUUFSVVpqaVRVUnBrSGd1Zz09

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99801677869 We'll start off this time with another look at the sword taking that we may or may not have agreed about and then move into abschneiden. Reading is 172-180. We are working off of the Wiktenauer compilation, available here: https://hroarr.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2016/08/wiktenauer-Liechtenauer-long-and-short-sword-gloss-compilation-2016-1.pdf

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99598516897?pwd=eG5CbDRoSmFoMXUzbWdRaEpYUHZ4QT09 It has been a minute since our last crafting session.  Join us this friday for drinks, creativity, and social interaction! Pass Code: 443912

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/99801677869 This week we'll look at the arm wrestlings and maybe start in on the abschneiden material (not likely, though). Reading (just to be safe) is 168-177. We are working off of the Wiktenauer compilation, available here: https://hroarr.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2016/08/wiktenauer-Liechtenauer-long-and-short-sword-gloss-compilation-2016-1.pdf