The Western Martial Arts Coalition, in association with the Historical European Martial Arts Alliance, is pleased to announce our first annual Open International Gathering!

This Gathering will be held in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. from March 19th -21st, 2010. Instructors from across North America and Europe will be offering workshops, lectures, and presentations on a wide variety of Western Martial Arts! Topics will include German and Italian Longsword, Sword and Buckler, Basket Hilted Broadsword, Rapier, Montante, Dagger, Grappling, Langes Messer, Bartitsu, and more! (Yes, we have a few surprises in the works!)

In addition to the workshops and lectures, the Gathering intends to host North America’s largest WMA / HEMA Open Longsword Tournament! There will be two Longsword Tournaments, one each featuring Modified Shinai and Nylon Longswords. Furthermore, there may be a Dussack or Rapier Tournament as well, pending interest. You can place your vote when registering for the Gathering. The rules for the Tournaments will be announced in January, 2010.

We are offering an introductory first year registration rate of $175 US to all participants registering before February 26, 2010 and $225 thereafter. In addition, arrangements have been made with the Courtyard by Marriott hotel to reduce participants’ lodging fees. Those who choose this option will also receive a complimentary hot breakfast.

In a few days, registration will officially kick off and a full schedule of events, class descriptions, and instructor biographies will be released. Visit the Events page at http://www.wmacoalition.com/ to stay up to date on all the latest details.

If you want to secure your place at the event before registration opens please contact wmac_admin@wmacoalition.com and you will be added to the pre-registration list.

A few more instructors are likely to be added in the next weeks, but here is a partial list to whet your collective appetites:

* Matt Galas
* Steve Hick
* Alex Kiermeyer
* Colin Richards
* Anders Linnard
* Jake Norwood
* Jeff Tsay
* Steaphen Fick
* Stew Feil
* David James Knight
* Brian Hunt
* Scott Crawford
* Chris Amendola
* Lee Smith
* Scott Brown



One of the many goals of this event is to provide opportunities to up and coming WMA / HEMA instructors to present their material on a larger scale. If you are interested in teaching at this event please contact wmac_admin@wmacoalition.com

Please join us for some of the best WMA / HEMA training possible. We look forward to crossing swords and seeing you all at the Gathering!

Sincerely,

The Western Martial Arts Coalition
The Historical European Martial Arts Alliance