Finally we have a decision on the awardees of the HEMA Scholar Awards 2013. After careful consideration of all nominations sent in by the HEMA community five excellent researchers and instructors have been selected. Who they are? Well find out by reading about them here http://www.hroarr.com/hema-scholar-awards/hem...s-of-2013/

Congratulations Christian Tobler ! Well deserved and just in time for Xmas. I enjoyed the dvd's acquired at Pennsic last, and always the ambiance and arms related conversations one can be a party to at your site. Hope to get back there next summer. Cheers, and three cheers for Christian Tobler.

Might be a good idea to post a comment I made on FB here as well. :)

"A comment regarding the HEMA Scholar Awards.

I would like for people to look at this not as a competition of researchers, but as a way of recognizing the good, hard work of great people. We could just as well have given away 20 awards and we would still be missing people who deserve recognition. But, as that isn't feasible, five people were selected this year. Several others were equally deserving, but doubtlessly these awardees have all done amazing work and are extremely dedicated to what they do and therefore more than deserving of the awards they have received.

The idea is of course not unique, and a similar idea originally came from the Swedish HEMA Federation which introduced a national commendation last year, although just given to a single person. I just expanded and magnified the concept as I felt we needed something like this for the whole community, to help encourange the very important research aspects of HEMA. I also know that other countries are planning on introducing awards following the HEMA Scholar Awards example. You are all of course quite welcome to borrow the concept in full, with rules and all for your national research awards.

To keep this effective and strong the first few years I will personally dedicate time to make things happen, but I will make a point of neither me, nor anyone else having any influence over or even insight into the jury's decisions. The credibility of these awards is crucial and with that in mind I would strongly advice future juries to aim for objectivity and not let personal allegiances influence their decisions.

The jury of Bob Brooks, Daniel Faustmann, Daniel Jaquet, Keith P Myers and Karin Verelst have done a great job here in making this real, just as I hoped and thought they would. I am incredibly grateful for their help.
Next year's jury will consist of this year's awardees should they accept that responsibility.

Likewise, the incredible support from the sponsors has been invaluable and I would again like to thank Acta Periodica Duellatorum, AGEA Editora, Albion Swords, Arms & Armor, Darksword Armory, Freelance Academy Press, Henk Pardoel, Mblades.com, PBT Historical Fencing, Péter Regenyei, Sparring Glove.com, SPES Historical Fencing Gear and TheHEMAShop for their amazing support and generosity!

Now let's all work together to make this a tradition, starting with this year. Nominations for the awards of 2014 can already be sent in. Please make sure they are in line with the formal requirements found on the site. With your support, both from the community and the sponsors we can make this into something truly great."