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The world's foremost practitioner *Private Training Program Workshops and full ARMA Seminars available: Contact us with requests and information on fee and travel schedule. Presentation and lecture requests are welcome. Private lessons also available. Special arrangements possible for video, motion-capture, and CGI modeling. Advisor & Consultancy Services:
"What we demonstrate in a presentation is a reconstructed exhibition of authentic European martial arts skills delivered not for amusing performance or stunt display, but education, cultural heritage, and self improvement." - John Clements Email the ARMA Director at: theARMA@comcast.net
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ARMA
Director John Clements John Clements is a leading authority on historical fencing and one of the world’s foremost practitioner-instructors of Medieval and Renaissance fighting methods. As a long-time Western martial artist who has been studying historical fencing since 1980, John is the most prolific writer on historical fencing active today. He has practiced European cut-and-thrust swordsmanship and rapier fighting for more than two-and-a-half decades, researched swords and arms in 12 countries and taught classes and seminars on the subject in 10 countries. Based outside Atlanta, Georgia, he instructs nationwide and internationally as well as (since summer 2005) from his one-of-a-kind private facility, Iron Door Studio. John's writings on swordsmanship and historical close-combat have appeared in eleven different published books since 2001. He was most recently the senior editor and major contributor to the new title, Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts (Paladin Press, 2008). John was also the writer & producer of the first of its kind web documentary on Renaissance martial arts. He also appears in and contributed to the new documentary feature film, Reclaiming the Blade. He also appeared in the documentary special featurette, "Knights in Training," on the 2008 special edition DVD re-release of the film First Knight. He lectured on historical combat at the Origins gaming convention '02 and has consulted on historical combat for the video game industry. Clements teaches, lectures and writes on historical European martial arts professionally and has authored articles on swords and weapon fighting for magazines in 6 languages, including: Military History, Renaissance Magazine, Tactical Knives, Karate International, Histoire' Medievale, Le art de la Guerre, Master at Arms, The Sword, Hop-Lite, Sword Forum International, Rapio Journal, Pallasch, and Dragon magazine. He was a contributor on arms and combat to the archaological anthology, Cutting Edge (Tempus Pub. 2007), and the anthology, Hundred Years War: A Wider Focus (Brill, 2005), as well as a major contributor on historical fencing and editorial board member for the new Martial Arts of the World encyclopedia from ABC-CLIO Press (2001). John has presented historcial fencing seminars and workshops in more than two dozen cities across North America and Europe. He has also presented demonstrations of Medieval and Renaissance martial arts at the Royal Armouries in Leeds and the Wallace Collection Museum in London, the Philidelphia Musem of Art, as well as exhibited at Oxford University and the National Arms Museum in Hungary. John has been featured twice on The History Channel, instructed cadets and officers in historical fencing at West Point, and was a keynote presenter at the Sword 2000 event of the New England Bladesmiths Guild, the Schola St. George Medieval Swordsmanship Symposium 2001 in San Francisco. In 1982, he founded the Medieval Battling Club, and in 1999 was the creator and a founding member of the original Swordplay Symposium International. He also presented at the 2001 Texas Medievalists Association annual conference in San Antonio, the 2003 conference at the Univeristy of St. Thomas, and the 13th Biennial New College of South Florida conference on Medieval-Renaissance Studies 2002. He has lectured for the History, Anthropology, and Military Science departments at both Texas A&M and Texas A&M International Universities. He has presented on Medieval and Renaissance combatives to classes at Brigham Young Univeristy, Rice University, and Furman Universities. Clements is also a patron member of the Oakeshott Institute, has consulted for the US Army's unarmed combative systems program, and has taught historical European martial arts to underprivileged kids at a college-prepatory academy in Houston. Previously, in 1993 he taught two semesters on swordsmanship at Western Nevada Community College, and in the state of Texas is a Court certified Expert Witness in the area of bladed combat. From 1997 to 2004 he taught public classes and private lessons in Houston, Texas. John is also the author of the groundbreaking books Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods & Techniques (Paladin Press, Nov ’98) and Renaissance Swordsmanship: The Illustrated Use of Rapiers and Cut-and-Thrust Swords (Paladin Press, March '97). Currently John trains in longsword, sword & buckler, sword & dagger, spear, rapier & dagger, and is an ardent promoter of weapon sparring and of test-cutting. In the past decade, John has had the opportunity to practice with actual historical swords and has handled more than 200 antique European blades from the 12th to 17th centuries in private collections, auction houses, and museum storerooms across five countries. John is a member of the British Arms & Armor Society and helped pioneer the realistic use of both historical wooden training swords (wasters) and steel tarining swords (federschwerter). He ha slong advocated a true martial arts approach within the modern study of European fight literature. In September 1994, John took first place in the Advance Weapon-Sparring competition of the US National's Kung Fu tournament, in Orlando, Florida. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Historians and was a feature presenter on Renaissance swords at the 2006 Blade Show in Atlanta. As a professional writer-researcher and practitioner of historical fencing, Clements has committed his life to a career in advancing and promoting the study of Medieval and Renaissance combatives. He presently teaches and researches on historical fencing full-time while working on book, video, and consulting projects. To quote ARMA instructor John Clements: "As a historical fencer and Renaissance martial artist, I can think of nothing more satisfying than to simply declare, 'Yes, I am a swordsman.'"
Read some of John Clements's articles here: Why Are There So Many Kinds of Swords? Top Myths of Renaissance Martial Arts What did Historical Swords Weigh? Historical Fencing Study - The British Legacy
Pinder's
Contest - 16th century rural English Prizing Peachey
the Shoomaker's Challenge The
Myth of Cutting vs. Thrusting Swords Wasters - The history
of wooden swords Renaissance
Martial Arts Literature Using the “F" Word – The Role of Fitness in Historical Fencing Questions and Answers About the Rapier The Weighty Issue of Two-Handed Great-swords See some sample videos below:
Practice of unarmed disarming counters
"John Clements a leading authority on Medieval and Renaissance Combat. He has shaken the dust off of the real history of our European Combat Heritage and has brought it back to life accurately and honestly, in all its brutal and elegant forms. Seeing John in action is a testament to the effectiveness of the actual fighting skills that these knights and nobles perfected and used in real life and death combat." - Ernest Emerson - Matt
Larsen
- Keith Ducklin
“John Clements and his associates at ARMA put on a wonderful demonstration for a focused audience at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His researched lecture included fascinating illustrations of art and history that helped illuminate the Museum’s collection and our commitment to the artistry of martial objects. Of course the highlight of the workshop was the fighting demonstration that allowed the audience to experience first-hand a different—and equally important—artistry. Many audience members expressed their enjoyment in seeing weapons in action and the techniques and strategies of Renaissance martial combat. All in all, John Clements presentation was excellent; it gave new life to the objects on view in our galleries.” -- Adam Johnson, Staff Lecturer for Academic Affairs
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