Then it was time to suit up and begin drilling. At first, the drills were similar to what one might see in classical foil, the training tool for smallsword. With the help of Provost Jeanette Acosta-Martinez and Instructor Kim Moser, M. Martinez made corrections to grips, guards and the execution of actions.

As all the students present were versed in foil, the basic drills progressed quickly, with additional counter actions added on as the day progressed. The second set of drills then dealt with those combative actions that are allowed in smallsword but illegal in classical foil. Most of these drills involved the use of the unarmed hand to either aid in defense or to execute a seizure or a disarm. These drills proved very popular with the fencers who had not experienced them before, and soon they were coming up with their own variations on the techniques. As in the first set, M. Martinez kept a close eye on the pairs of fencers and made numerous corrections to increase their efficiency.

By the end of the day, all the students were well aware of the lethal nature of the weapon and how greatly it differed from foil while also understanding how the proper study of the foil can aid in the study of the smallsword.

Christopher J. Umbs
AHF Seminar Chairman

The membership meeting was well organized and full of information about current and future AHF activities, developing resources for membership research, future website changes, newsletter information and planed changes to it. The meeting was aimed at refining the AHF's role as an organization that would provide direction and a powerful resource center for the entire historical fencing community. It was truly refreshing to see a group of people with diverse backgrounds work together to identify common interest and need and then actually do something about it. I would highly recommend to any that can attend a AHF membership meeting to do so in the future, even if it's just to put faces to names.

The seminar was the next pleasant surprise. I don't really know what my expectations were, but the wealth if information provided by Maestro Ramó Martínez was enough, and more than could have been anticipated. This is not to say we sat around and listened to lectures all day. We worked at the practical application of all the skills and techniques the Maestro described and showed, without any more than a five minute break throughout the entire day. Great stuff.

	Photo by Kim Moser

When the seminar was done we went to dinner as group of ten at a really nice restaurant located somewhere, I have no idea where. [Hoboken -ed.] I got in the back seat with a pile of people to go and come back. The food was good but the conversation was better. There is nothing like the sound of likeminded, animated chatter interspersed with laughter. Some of it may have been nervous laughter, knowing that the competition was the next morning, but that never occurred to me until just now.

The competition was an interesting mix of familiar faces (from the day before) and new faces there for the matches. It was evident to all, by the style and sword technique, who had attended the previous day's activities, and who had not. The academic bouts were a three-touch round robin with limited target area. There were two strips going at the same time, one directed by Maestro Martínez and one by Provost Jeannette Martínez. Both pistes had four judges and a timekeeper. The central table had scorekeepers and the tournament director.

The directing and judging were flawless (unless, of course, you count touches against me). Competitions do not get any better organized than this. The decorum and etiquette of all were exceeded only by their fencing. What a pleasure!

In some of my bouts I was the victor; in some I was not. They were all a challenge. After four hours of fencing we started the combative portion. These were open target, off-hand parries, no right of way, kill or be killed, no quarter given, fought in a twenty by thirty box with a central starting circle directed by the Maestro with the full compliment of judges. This was a challenge for the judging as much as for the fighting.

The need to determine wound vs. kill and keep track of the combatants as they used every bit of space allowed was tough, but done to perfection. There was not one public or private complaint about the judging or directing all day. Imagine that!

I died; someone else didn't. It was a fine day to die, and I'm sure someone can give the final standings.. I just wanted to share my overall impressions of the weekend and offer a special thanks to a few people for a great time. Special thanks to Michael Su, Kim Moser, Fawzi Al-Nawal, Ken Mondschein, Chris Umbs, Jana Umbs, Tristan Trout and Ramón and Jeannette Martínez for an outstanding weekend.

W. Kevin Dougherty
AHF Member