From the President

January 20th, 2000

Dear Membership,

As President of the Association for Historical Fencing, I extend my hand in welcome to all of you. The motto of the AHF is "The future of fencing is its past," and in joining us, all of you have shown dedication not only to the art and science of fencing, but also to the preservation of our Western martial heritage. In other words, by becoming part of the AHF, you have already demonstrated faith in our goals.

As members of the AHF you must always remember that this is an association of fencers, for fencers, and that it exists to serve the needs of all of its members. To that end, I encourage all of you to become as active as possible in our organization. As members, you must feel free to express your views, needs, comments, complaints, observations, and questions to the board, so that we can better serve you. I also encourage all members to volunteer to work on committees for future projects.

The AHF has had a very strong start. In November 1999, Vice President Jeannette-Acosta Martinez, board members John Kovacs and Keith Cini, and myself attended the first international meeting of ancient, historical and classical fencing held in Milan, Italy. To begin the New Year, the AHF, in conjunction with the Martinez Academy of Arms, hosted "The Weekend of the Rapier." A seminar/workshop was held on January 15th, 2000 as an intensive introduction the Italian Rapier technique, and followed the next day January 16th, 2000 by our first rapier tournament. Both the workshop/seminar and the tournament ran efficiently and received sterling reviews. More events of this type are planned, and will be invaluable in furthering our goal to educate and inform all who are interested in Western martial culture.

It is heartening indeed that, in entering the new century, we find much interest in the preservation and reconstruction of historical and ancient methods of fence, as well as in the resurgence of classical fencing. This parallels what took place in England during the later years of the 19th century through the pioneering work of Egerton Castle, Captain Alfred Hutton, and Sir Richard Burton. I urge all members of the AHF, including the Board of Governors, to join me in my personal goal of taking up the banner that has been passed down by those who came before us.

Sincerely,

Maestro Ramon Martinez
President, Association for Historical Fencing