Polar Bear's first WMA event

Discussion in 'Western Martial Arts' started by Polar Bear, Jun 5, 2009.

  1. Polar Bear

    Polar Bear Moved on

    Hi All,
    This month I'm hosting my first western martial arts event. It's in Glasgow (of course) and called the Celtic Exchange 2009. It's an annual event put on by the Celtic WMA clubs of Scotland and Ireland. Though in recent years primarily it's the four main Scottish club in attendence. Namely Dawn Duellist Society, MacDonald Academy, Aberdeen Sword Group and the Glasgow Company of Duellists.
    I thought it would be worthwhile talking about my experiences in trying to arrange the event and how successful it is.

    Hosting the event:
    Well the first thing I did was went looking for a venue. This is not easy when you mention swords and fighting. After an exhaustive process with Culture and Sport Glasgow who control almost all of the public spaces in Glasgow we finally got permission to host the event in Hillhead high school in Glasgow's west end. Hurrah.

    Publicity:
    We since this is technically a closed event, publicity was more about getting members of the four club interested enough to come. So with this I designed a website www.glasgowduellists.co.uk/CelticExchange2009/ and posted this to all four clubs. I also spoke to my good friend Koyo and invited the Makotokai to the event and a Glasgow club that is associated with our called the Chivalric Dreams Society which is a HEMA/Living history/LARP group based in Glasgow University. All in all were hoping for an attendance of around 30 - 40.

    Stay tuned and I'll add more as the month progresses.

    The Bear.
     
  2. embra

    embra Valued Member

    Some vids that demonstrate the different schools/styles/whatever would really be of interest (at least to me), as European MA is not well diseminated to the wider public - yet. Asian and American MA is pretty well covered everywhere, but European MA could do with a bit of publicity and and general MA public awareness.

    Glad your not calling it RangersExchange2009.

    Have a good session or 3.
     
  3. lklawson

    lklawson Valued Member

    Sounds like a blast. I wish you a lot of luck, good feelings, and all that jazz.

    Say hi to Paul MacDonald for me (he may remember me as the "Rabid Weasel").

    Peace favor your sword,
    Kirk
     
  4. lklawson

    lklawson Valued Member

    What do you mean by "American" martial arts? I'm curious.

    Peace favor your sword,
    Kirk
     
  5. embra

    embra Valued Member

    Probably American-ised would be more accurate.



    Broadly speaking
    1) Fillipino arts adapted and integrated with other arts e.g. JKD by folk like Dan Inosanto, and the American evolution by the Stockton emigres from the Phillipines like Angel Cabales. Also I view (rightly or wrongly) a lot of the success of MMA due to the marketing and TV exposure of grapplers/bruisers like Erik Poulson.
    2) South American MA, most noted by Capoeira. Ther are also some native Indian arts from Venezuela and other countries (but these are unfortunately not well exposed.)

    Just referenced your site, where you have Irish and what looks like native Indian arts as well, so there is more to the pie than I thought! Is what you teach European MA and/or adapted European MA with native arts (Bowie/Tomahawk) ? I suppose Western MA covers it all. It looks interesting what you have there.

    To be more complete, its probably worth adding that there are a lot of African MAs that are still remote and largely undiscovered. Maybe some one here knows more on this? Ethiopia, Kenya, Burkino Faso, Sudan and Ghana are countries that spring to mind, but I dont know what the arts are called, but mostly long stick fighting and grappling.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2009
  6. Polar Bear

    Polar Bear Moved on

    Publicity isn't always a good thing. Many arts have been ruined by it. Basically I don't really want to get into the YouTube game. I have taken to doing live freeplay(sparring with swords) in parks around Glasgow, it makes people appreciate the effort when they see the bruises and cuts up close.

    The Bear.
     
  7. embra

    embra Valued Member

    Fair point. I will follow this thread with interest.
     
  8. koyo

    koyo Passed away, but always remembered. RIP.

    Bruises and cuts and bears oh! my.

    I might not turn up!!!!!


    koyo
     
  9. lklawson

    lklawson Valued Member

    Well, I'm not looking to start a fight, however, the introduction of steel revolutionized "Native American" ("Indian") fighting arts. They had "Tomahawken" weapons but they were typically Maces instead of Axes. The cutting edge on a flint/chert axe is too fragile. Now a stone "lozenge" tied to a haft, on the other hand... Same thing goes for Bowies. "Native" fighting knives, essentially, weren't. You need metal working in order to get a functional blade longer than a few inches, particularly for fighting. "Native" American tribes didn't have any metal working to speak of. Thus when Europeans introduced steel trade items such as Trade Axes and knives, it revolutionized the militaries of the Native tribes. They either had to invent new techniques and strategies to accommodate these new tools or borrow them from the Europeans. The Europeans, on the other hand, had these tools for centuries. I'm in the middle of researching an article on the origins of the Bowie Knife and, suffice it to say, that the design dates back a long LONG way in Europe. The Europeans already had existing traditions to use these weapons. However, most of it was fairly undocumented. Nothing noble or romantic about these "peasant weapons."

    My personal training in these two particular tools follows closely those of Dwight McLemore and his students, whom I've studied with several times. His system is, essentially, an amalgam of existing European sources on similar weapons, the Spanish Navaja for instance. My personal interpretation for the Bowie also includes a fair amount of Saber, though it needs be adapted significantly to the weapon.

    The wrestling that we study tends to be more early American/European. In that case, the wrestling evolved with the Euro-American culture. It would be fair to say that it is "American" wrestling but it is also "European" wrestling because both largely paralleled each other (think Hackenschmit and Gotch, etc.). This wrestling evolved, grew, from traditional European methods and simply changed to suit the rule sets and proclivities of the time. This still happens today. I'm also researching for another article which traces the evolution of a certain wrestling technique. I'm not above throwing in a bit of Judo, BJJ, or Sambo if the mood strikes me as well.

    Over all, MOST of what we do would have been common or available in the U.S. from Colonial up through early 20th Century. Bare Knuckle Pugilism, Wrestling, Tomahawk, Bartitsu, etc.

    Pretty much, yeah.

    Well, I have no idea where you're located but if you're ever in the Dayton, Ohio area, look us up. :)


    They also are getting more "airplay." Tahteeb, Naboot, Zulu Stick (Nguni), Knobkerri, etc. will all pop up on web searches with relevant info. Finding an instructor might be a task though. ;)

    Peace favor your sword,
    Kirk
     
  10. Polar Bear

    Polar Bear Moved on

    OK Part 2:
    So now you have your Hall and you've told everyone you're having an event.

    Seminars:
    Well how do you get people to do something at your event for free. Well you can try emailing clubs but they'll probably ignore your request. So you send emails to individuals and they'll probably ignore you again. So start calling and making appointments to see people. You turn up at their club and you sweet talk them. Then when all that fails you get down on your knees and you beg. Yup it's a humbling experience, you've just invested £500 of you hard earned and now you need to beg to hope to break even. That's right folks I just spent my own money setting up this event. I suffer for my art I do.

    Registration:
    Well you need to know how many are coming right. So setup online registration but virtually nobody is going to register and you get to sweat how many people are going to turn up on the day. So far I have 6 registered attendees and we're two weeks out. I need 20 to break even. Stressing much, you betcha.

    Stay tuned for more fun developments of the Bear. Added to that today the Bear was approached by a documentay film maker about making Bear the movie. When I stopped laughing and looked back I realised it wasn't a joke. So answers on a post card. Bear Movie in a cinema near you.

    The Bear.
     
  11. komuso

    komuso Valued Member

    Hi Bear,

    this may be way too late, but my band has just come off the back of a three day festival that was run mostly by volunteers, with a core of paid folks. The way that they get the volunteers in is by giving them free attendance. Could this be something you can try?

    Hope it all goes well, sweating on numbers is no fun....

    paul
     
  12. adouglasmhor

    adouglasmhor Not an Objectivist

    They didn't say "We are looking for a bear to appear in our movie" did they? They definitely wanted weapons type "swordsmanship"? Maybe I may be just too suspicious because my Dojo is halfway between Bennets and the Polo Lounge.
     
  13. koyo

    koyo Passed away, but always remembered. RIP.

    I would have opened it to all martial arts inviting them to a taster of WMA swordsmanship.

    Four from makotokai will attend on Sunday


    koyo
     
  14. Polar Bear

    Polar Bear Moved on

    It's a nice idea Bill, but the difference is I know the Makotokai, I trust their training and control. You open the doors and it's a health and safety nightmare. Steel weapons and joe public aren't an easy thing to do.

    The Bear.
     
  15. koyo

    koyo Passed away, but always remembered. RIP.

    I was thinking more along the lines of wasters and wooden , an introduction to basics and demos from those of you who use steel.

    Simply an introduction with safety paramount.

    It is up to the WMA to step up and help when "their" art is being promoted.

    Sadly not always the case.

    regards Bill
     
  16. Polar Bear

    Polar Bear Moved on

    Yeah, it would be good to do a Glasgow Taster weekend with a group clubs as a joint promotion. Get people trying out various martial arts. I think that could work.

    The Bear.
     
  17. cloudz

    cloudz Valued Member

    All the best with this event Bear. I hope one day to give something like this a go.. just not this month!
     

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