Hi everyone

I have just joined today and thought I'd write in and introduce myself:
I have been a re-enactor with the English Civil War Society (17c ) as part of the Roundhead Association for 12 years. For the last 5 years I have been fighting with swords, mainly hangers and rapiers, and love it. I teach other members to fight with swords concentrating on health and safety and putting on a good show to the public, as of this year I have been promoted to regimental swordmaster which means I have to organise the sword schools and all that goes with it. I have been searching for a forum to indulge myself one of my favourite hobbies so I was really excited to have come across this web site.

Hi Maria,
I am happy to be the first one who welcomes you aboard this international website.
Obviously your name predestined you to fighting with swords !
Cheers,
Jean

Welcome aboard, Maria! I second Jean's comment on your surname - that was my first thought, as well.

Hey Maria,
Welcome to myArmoury! I hope you have a great time here!
This is definately the place to do a lot of indulging.

:D

Helen

Welcome to myArmoury, Maria !

Nice to have you aboard .... Cheers, Mac

Welcome and glad to have another ECW / 17thc. person around...not many of us.

Cheers,

Bill

Welcome aboard, Maria.

It's good to have another person who's primary interest is in the "Era of Pike and Shot". I suspect that you will discover some great threads in the archives of this site that will really get your attention, as there are some incredibly knowledgeable people posting here, illuminating all they touch upon. Rather astonishing sometimes how deep their knowledge goes!

Lots of nifty stuff to immerse yourself in here, with great cameraderie and polite discourse. :cool: Enjoy!

Allons!

Gordon

Welcome Maria! You've certainly come to the right place to learn and share information of all types of military history, not just swords and armour. This site is frequented by some of the best and brightest of the topic. Enjoy! ;)

Ted

Welcome, Maria!

Hi Maria...

Welcome to myArmoury...

It's so good to have you here!

ks

Welcome aboard!

Maria;

Welcome and I hope you will find interesting topics to view.

Don't forget to use the search function, look at the collections, features and reviews.

Check out any topic threads that Gordon Frye initiated or participated in as a short cut to finding stuff about your particular period of interest.

Gordon is a horseman and cavalry expert you could check out these sites: http://home.earthlink.net/~nebbo/cav/

http://home.earthlink.net/~nebbo/tilburycamp/

and his Blog: http://cavschool.blogspot.com/

I' m risking making Gordon blush here. :p :lol: Gordon has also done film work on movies like " The Patriot ", " The Postman "
" Ride with the Devil " mostly as a cavalry specialist.

In any case, I'm sure you might enjoy following up these links.

Look up also topics threads by Bill Grandy as he does a great deal of sword work: This site for videos of sword works.
http://www.ericwargo.com/sword/

Again, welcome. :D

Maria,

I'm very new here as well but I'm sure you will find, as I have, that the learning possibilities are endless with this site. Make sure you check out the books area as well. I'm sure you'd find almost anything you may be looking for. So welcome and do enjoy yourself!

Thanks everyone for the welcome messages. I have spent a fascinating few days looking into the site in some depth and this is exactly what I am looking for. Thanks especially to Jean ref the links to Gordon Frye and Bill Grandy's sites it's been interesting reading. I found myself nodding in agreement to many of the statements in Bill Grandy's web pages, especially the restrictions that I and my colleagues have to overcome to ensure we meet the safety requirements for reenactment.
There are a few of us who are looking to expand out current experience into authentic swordsmanship, just a shame I live over the other side of the world!
I am looking for a sword school in the UK which can deliver authentic rapier skills, I love this weapon. When I first started sword I used a soldiers hanger (66cm blade) as befitted my rank but found myself constantly at a disadvantge, partly due to the short blade and lack of skills and partly due to the skills of my colleagues who owned a rapier. My mentor suggested it was about time I evened the battleground so I invested in a handmade 17c swepthilt rapier (94cm blade) with left handed dagger and from then on I've never looked back. I have looking to invest in a Pappenheimer and a hand a half (not sharps) this year, the first for sheer pleasure, the second to enable me to practice with a friend who lives locally and is quite experienced in its use.
I have also begun to collect weapons (no allegiance here to any particular era), I currently have a Portugese military ceremonial sword not sure of the era handed to me in pieces and 2 authentic Kukri which were donated to me as they are in need of much love and attention, the kukri are very rusty and the wooden scabbards and coverings are practically unusable. I have the equipment to clean my swords but the kukri require more than the surface clean which I am used to - any ideas on what else might help?

Hi Maria,
Like everyone else, I wanted to say welcome aboard!

Maria Wilkinson wrote:

I found myself nodding in agreement to many of the statements in Bill Grandy's web pages, especially the restrictions that I and my colleagues have to overcome to ensure we meet the safety requirements for reenactment.

Just a note: It's actually not my page, by the page of Eric Wargo, who's a student of mine. All of the writing about what historical swordsmanship is about is his, though I do agree with it. :)