Books on HEMA add credence and authority to how one is perceived as an instructor. Maybe it works that way for a whole school, too. I’ve been meaning to write a book for many years, and even have a few outlines completed, but never seem to find the time to complete any of them. Well, until now. I can’t take full credit for this one, though. It’s a collaborative effort of many people over several years’ time.
Part of the AES curriculum includes scholarly efforts. Members are required to contribute to our knowledge of Western Martial Arts in order to progress past the level of Initiate in their martial ranks. We call these scholar projects. They can be lessons, including a proper lesson plan and notes for the class; an essay; or a photo-essay. Most members choose to do these before they even attain the rank of Initiate, and many do more than one long before it’s required. I guess we inspire each other this way!
For years we used to post every project online, but that stopped a few years ago. I’m not sure why…
This past August I took the time to compile several of these scholar projects into a book called The HEMA Scholar and made it available on Amazon. Have a look, see if it’s something you’d like (buy it if you like), and even post a review (as long as you’ve read the book).
There are plans to keep this going as a series. There are many more scholar projects that are worthy of publishing in a book that we have in our archives, and so making more books from these is certainly in the works. This one, the first volume, has a wide variety of articles in it, as well as some small side articles that include tips interpretations on martial arts, general HEMA, and fitness.
Oh, and if you have suggestions for future articles, we’re certainly interested in knowing what those are!