Help in defining our Academy - MAHS
Hi all,
Asking for some help with trying to define the category MAHS falls into. For the longest time, the senior members have all been of the agreement that we don’t tend to fall entirely into one category; we aren’t HEMA, SCA, LARP, etc.
The more recent posts I’ve made received some feedback which triggered this discussion within our group.
This is the primary focus of what we have on offer. It’s not a complete list and does change.
The Historical Fencing System - this has been adapted by myself, from my Master/teacher Andrew Feest, which was adapted from Andrea Lupo Sinclair at Fisas, which was adapted by his teacher, etc. Other teachers to note from 2009 are David Rawlings - London Longsword Academy & Guy Windsor - School of Historical European Swordsmanship. Which were based on the treaties and partly still used.
Muay Thai (sport) - passed down by my teacher James Fuller. I’ve adapted this so it can be used when the historical weapon is being used or if the weapon has been removed.
Strength/conditioning - various qualifications from 1998. We decided to place workouts at the beginning of most classes to improve areas that needed work for each fencer/practitioner. Also, to improve fast-twitch fibres.
Animalist Movement/Gymnastics - Started an online course in 2017 which was another avenue to improve mobility / fitness / strength and conditioning for the fencer/practitioner using additional methods outside traditional strength and conditioning coaching.
Nutrition RSPH - the idea behind this qualification again was to look at the improvement margins by understanding what it is we need as humans to function. These are then relayed to the fencer / practitioner to add into the martial art system.
Syllabus - We have an extensive syllabus that combines all of the above and more into a written format for the fencer / practitioner to utilise. This is recognised by British Combat Association. As such the BCA recognises MAHS as a martial art since 2021. Their website is www.britishcombat.co.uk.
As a standard class, we start with a salute with the weapon of choice. A 20-25 minute workout follows, followed by drill work, then either free fencing / unarmed combat or controlled scenario sparring. Sometimes it’s either controlled scenario sparring for a purpose after the workout for the rest of the evening or free fencing / unarmed combat from the beginning of the class.
This is what we offer at MAHS and it feels we are outside most categories. The closest rounded definition we’ve come across during discussions is “Modern Historical Combat System”.
Thought of asking the community is to help categorise the identity so when people ask “what it is we do” we can have a definitive definition.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks again
Here is the website for transparency www.swordacademy.co.uk