Michael Tinker Pearce's Blog, page 7

Self-Publishing after all…

Well, ‘Rage of Angels’ is out and launches officially on May 26th. Huh? Yep, we decided to self-publish after all. We were going to try the traditional route to publish this but have changed our minds. First we submitted it to a literary agent, who was remarkably good about reading it promptly. His take was that there was much he liked but it wasn’t really his thing. We then consulted the editor that had expressed an interest and he said he’d be delighted to read it… next autumn. Uh, yeah.

We know the trad publishing establishment is very, very busy and doesn’t always move quickly. We were prepared to wait a reasonable time to hear from people. Maybe 4-5 months is reasonable and we were genuinely grateful that the editor is willing to look at it at all. But we too are busy people and the advantages of traditional publishing are no longer so great that we’re willing to let them dictate the pace of our life, writing and career.

So- keep an eye on our Facebook page- we’re having a release party on the 26th at 3pm PDT. We’ll have guest-writers, prizes and a lot of fun. We’ll be addressing the question ‘First Contact- is it survivable as a race and culture?” Looking forward to seeing people’s take on that.

Going it on our own yet again means that we are responsible for promoting, advertising etc. ad nausium. But then as ‘new’ authors that would mostly be the case with a traditional publisher as well. If self-publishing does not carry the same ‘street-cred’ as ‘being published’ we can live with that. The ability to self-regulate our work is a big plus, as are the monthly payments and greater profit-per-unit of self-publishing. It’s a balancing act and this time it tipped one way rather than the other.

So check it out- it’s available from Amazon. And by ‘check it out’ we mean have a look, maybe buy it and recommend/review it if you like it.

Submit, Puny Human!

While most publishers will accept a manuscript in digital format it seems that our prospective literary agent will not. He attributes this to the natural inclination of Literary Agents to read while lying as supine as possible, their head and shoulders elevated just enough to see a television or read a printed page. Preferably a single printed page at a time so they don’t strain themselves. With all the reading they have to do it’s hard to blame them for this.

So yesterday we installed a new ink cartridge, fired up the printer and printed out a hardcopy of ‘Rage of Angels,’ boxed it neatly and sent it winging it’s way to New York. Now we wait with breath that smells of bait… uh… something like that anyway.

Linda found this process very exciting; this is the first time that we have sent an actual manuscript to an actual literary agent for the purpose of selling it to an actual publisher. Not that 47North isn’t an ‘actual publisher,’ just that the work we did for them was written ‘for hire’ and did not go through a conventional submission process. Our novel is self-published, so again no process. Etc. So it’s the first time we’ve printed a novel out and submitted it, and that makes it seem real and professional to her. Honestly to me it seemed like a bit of a pain and an unneeded expense, but I have since come around to seeing it her way.

Especially when we looked over the Agent’s website and realized he’s not taking new clients but has apparently made an exception for us and some of the other Foreworld authors. OK, now I feel special. And not in the ‘short-bus-and-yellow-helmet’ way, either. That’s a nice change.

Honestly we were really torn about going the traditional publishing route with this novel.  There are advantages and disadvantages to doing so, and compared to self-publishing it’s pretty much a wash in the long run.  But self-publishing means that we get product out as it becomes available instead of on a publisher’s schedule and we retain complete creative control (which in itself is a double-edged sword.) But we told an agent that we would show it to him and likewise there is an editor that wants to see it, so traditional it is.

But there is an undeniable ‘cred’ to having your work put out by a recognizable publisher; it’s like receiving a ‘stamp of approval.’  A big publisher also does something for you that you just can’t accomplish with a self-pubbed eBook.  They put your book on shelves across the country, where new readers can discover you by accident.  That’s worth a lot.

Regardless that is the road we’re on with this one. We’ll see how it works out and or course keep you posted.

‘The Shield Maiden’ revisited.

At the dawn of the 1990′s my first wife and I moved to New York City for the express purpose of working in publishing.  Well, that was her express purpose; mine was to live in the same city with Katya, then my wife.  Nonetheless I got to know the folks at Tor books pretty well and even did some odd jobs for one of the editors, including writing the blurbs for the back of new paperback novels.  I even got to meet Jim Baen when Katya was doing some copy-editing for him on the side.  At that point in my life I’d sold exactly two short stories and I’m not certain that the second was ever published.  Which is OK; I’m pretty sure it was rubbish.

What does any of this have to do with ‘The Shield Maiden?’ Nothing at all, except that my experiences in the Big Apple taught me something important about a career as an author: it was a sucker’s game.  I switched to the field of custom sword and knife making.  Not a good business decision either, BTW.  Yeah, when Tinker Pearce talks business… no one listens. Some times they leave skid-marks.

Against all odds I achieved modest success as a sword-maker and was active in the online community, writing tens of thousands of words each year about my craft and related subjects.  I even wrote a book, ‘The Medieval Sword in the Modern World,’ which has been quite successful as such things are figured.  But I wasn’t a writer. *nods earnestly*

Eventually as a result of my success as a sword-maker I fell in with writers, first teaching medieval swordsmanship, then as a consultant on a little project they had whipped up called ‘The Mongoliad.’ If you hang out with car thieves sooner or later you are going to steal a car.  If you hang out with writers… sooner or later you’re going to steal a car, ’cause God knows you’ll have to pay the bills somehow.  But I digress.

When ‘The Mongoliad’ sold to Amazon they decided to break it into three books, and to fill in between with novellas to keep the juices flowing.  The fellows on the Farm (as the group of writers was known) threw together plot synopses for proposed novellas and sent them out to the groups email list, which included a sword-maker who was not really a writer. *Nods earnestly*  My wife liked on of the outlines and said, “You used to be a writer; why don’t we take a crack at this one?” I think Mark Teppo (at this point Chief Cat-Herder for the project) might have been a bit surprised, but dutifully verified that we could between us string more than four words together at a time and remain coherent.  Next thing we knew we were under contract to produce ‘The Shield Maiden.’

Our first discovery was that the story ideas that had sprung from the collective fevered imagination of The Farm had not been vetted for historical accuracy.  At that point Foreworld was supposed to be  historic fantasy.  We struggled with trying to force the square peg of the plot into the round hole of history and I think we did a modestly credible job.  There was a slight technical issue however.  They didn’t like it sand worse yet could articulate neither why they disliked it or what they would like.  Finally in frustration Mark said, ‘Just write a story.’  So we did.  Thereafter our weekly reports to the Farm about our progress consisted of a hard look and the words, “It’s Fine.”

Finally we turned it in and got back some notes on how to tighten up the story and we did.  Then suddenly the publishing schedule changed and they diffidently asked if we might not have it finished ahead of deadline, say yesterday maybe? Perhaps the day before?  We went into overdrive and turned the story in on the new deadline and a few days later we got back the edits and read through them.

After about three hours when my voice and vocabulary gave out we sat down and began making a list of the things that were culturally incorrect in the edited version.  This only took five single-spaced double-sided pages.  We approached Mark with some trepidation about possibly fixing these things and to our immense relief he sat down and we very calmy worked through the list. “You’re supposed to be an expert on this period,” Mark said, “We can’t have people wondering if you were on crack when you wrote it.”

The amended ‘Shield Maiden’ was published and has been quite successful.  But readers have justifiably complained that it is short and leaves them hanging at the end. They have speculated that there might be a sequel. They have stated that there SHOULD be a sequel.  Well, they are right.

See, ‘The Shield Maiden’ was originally going to be 25-30% of the story.  Two sequels were planned as part of the Foreword Side-Quests which would have completed the story arc.  These still exist in outline form.  So what happened? Things changed.  The Side-Quests were shut down for a variety of reasons including the creation of the new ‘Kindle Worlds’ program, where fans can write fan-fiction set in the Foreworld and sell it through Amazon.  The best of these MIGHT be selected as official additions to the Foreworld Saga.  Mind you, I am not privy to the inner councils of 47North (Amazon’s scifi/fantasy imprint) and don’t know where they are taking Foreworld from here but for now it continues as part of Kindle Worlds. So now the onus of carrying on the Foreworld resides with the fans, who can now write and self-publish additions to the mythos.

Have I mentioned that we’re fans?

Rage of Angels Recap-

OK, now that the book is finally going out for editing I thought I’d offer a recap; it’s been so long I’m not sure anyone but us remembers anymore…

Set a few decades in the future, ‘Rage of Angels’ is what happens when smart but very alien aliens attack the earth.  In a nutshell we’re screwed.  Civilization is virtually erased overnight and those that remain are forced to fight a campaign of high-tech guerrilla warfare against the aliens.  The problem is that they won’t come down here and fight us because they’re too smart to do that.  Another problem is that they have an iron grip on the orbital ‘High Ground’ and won’t let us come to them.  They’re not talking either.  They’re just taking what they want… and we’re not sure exactly what that is, why they want it or what their endgame is going to be.

Did I mention that we’re screwed?

The story is told primarily from three perspectives- A soldier, a Spec-Ops Operator in an ultra-high-tech powered armor suit and an intelligence analyst.  Along the way we get bits of other perspectives as well, but these are the protagonists.

The book is steeped in bleeding-edge technologies but the story is very much about the people.  We’ll be doing a reading from the book next Friday morning at Norwescon if you want a taste.

Wrapping up here’s a little RoA humor-

Q: How does an Eatee change a lightbulb?

A: They don’t. If it isn’t working they just back off and nuke it from orbit.

Hope to see you Friday and thanks for following the long, drawn-out process of creating this novel.

One Gun to Rule Them All

Forget the Colt Peacemaker. All due respect to Colonel Colt and his fine creation the 1873 Single Action Army was not the gun that won the west. Nor was it the Winchester Rifle. No, it was a humbler arm that really bears that distinction. It was the shotgun.

Originally the shotgun went west as a single or double-barreled muzzle-loader, but the guns that really won the west were double-barreled breach-loaders, usually in ten or twelve gauge. If you could have only one gun that was what you chose. Why? Because depending on the load it could do most anything, at least at relatively short range. A light load with fine shot took rabbits, squirrels, and game birds. Load it with a bit heavier shot and it took waterfowl. Buckshot took medium-sized game and was fearsome for self-defense. A ball or later a slug could take even the largest North American game.

The shotgun is no less versatile today- with modern loadings even more so. It is possible to buy a single shotgun to handle every job from home defense and big game hunting to shooting squirrels or partridge- and to get it for the cost of a decent hunting rifle. It always astonishes me how many ‘preppers’ neglect the humble shotgun— or misunderstand it’s role— when building their arsenal for the end of the world.

I am not a ‘prepper’ but I understand that where I live natural disasters are possible. Earthquake, Lahar… even a major storm could disrupt services, possibly seriously, for days at a time. A modicum of preparation is just good sense. In the most extreme of the likely scenarios it might even be wise to be prepared to defend ourselves against opportunistic criminals. This is not a major consideration when we consider purchasing a firearm, but we do sometimes give it a passing thought.

I’ve owned a few shotguns over the years. When stationed in Kansas I had an ancient single-barrel Savage 16 Gauge that I used for Prairie chickens and pheasant, and a .410 Snake Charmer that I bought… I have no idea why I bought it. I did actually kill a snake with it, but he had it coming. When I was in Law enforcement and security I had a Savage 690 12 gauge Police shotgun that I occasionally shot clay birds with. I also had some experience with a department-supplied S&W pump shotgun that turned out to be terrifyingly unreliable.

More recently we thought we might enjoy shooting clays and bought a used (ancient) Winchester 1911 12 gauge. It was inexpensive and we figured if we didn’t enjoy it we wouldn’t be out much. Despite being a Browning-action long recoil gun it kicked like a bastard even with target loads. That and other circumstances caused us to lose interest.

Then there was the J.Stevens damascus side-by-side 12 Bore that we had solely because it was a work of art. The damascus, the construction, the details and tasteful, beautifully decorated engraving, the balance and feel of it were astonishing. But we couldn’t shoot it; it just wasn’t safe with modern loads and we were discouraged from trying it even with ‘period’ loads. No room for a gun we can’t shoot, so eventually we bid it a reluctant farewell… but it gave me a taste for fine doubles. The unfortunate thing is that a fine double is usually a very expensive proposition.

Considering the matter recently i find that my tastes swing to opposite extremes- either a .410 or a 12 gauge.

A .410 is generally light, has low recoil and with slugs can take up to medium sized game. Ammunition is light and compact. My wife Linda would be comfortable shooting it and we could even practice at the local pistol-range. The disadvantages are that it is relatively low-powered and actually more expensive to shoot than a 12 gauge. With the right gun, though, it is worth considering.

12 gauge is the most common shotgun ammunition. It’s easy to find a great variety of loads for different uses. Even in these days of ammunition shortages there are shelves full of 12 gauge in most stores. As mentioned previously with the right gun you can take any game animal in North America.

If you fancy a double the importation of eastern european brands has recently brought these guns back into the realm of affordability. Baikal, a Russian manufacturer, is imported by European American Arms and has a number of offerings for both side-by-side and over-and-under shotguns. These are stout, serviceable arms priced in the $450- $600 range.

Going a bit more up-scale we have the CZ-USA shotguns made by Huglu in Turkey. These feature better metallurgy, better fit-and finish, finer balance, better mechanisms and better wood that the Russian guns. A bit more expensive starting at $700 or so, they are easily worth the difference in price. Each comes with five different screw-in chokes ranging from Full to Cylinder Bore. Recently these guns have received excellent reviews and the consensus is that they are competitive with guns costing much more.

In the pump-action shotgun category the Mossberg 535 offers exceptional value, with kits featuring a 28 inch barrel with a variety of chokes and a short cylinder-bore barrel for defensive use. It comes with a full stock and a pistol grip (which I loathe) in a combo package for around $400.

For those with tactical tastes the Catamount Fury is a semi-auto based on the venerable AK-47… or more correctly a Chinese knock-off of the Saiga shotguns based on the AK-47. Available in twelve-gauge it comes with two five-shot box magazines that accept 2-3/4 or 3 inch 12 Gauge shells and three screw-in chokes, Full, Modified and Cylinder Bore. They appear to be well made and I’ve seen some good reviews so they are worth considering at around $600. Saiga offers AK-based guns in .410, 20 or 12 gauge for $700-$900. These guns have an excellent reputation. It should be said that in 12 gauge these guns are quite heavy and might not suit smaller persons.

Whatever your taste and budget choose carefully, lay in a variety of ammo and you can be ready for anything from the Apocalypse to Duck season. The shotgun is truly One Gun to Rule Them All.

Deer Season in the Pacific Northwet

It’s Deer Season again in the Pacific Northwet. Long ago this would have meant that I would be baking a ham-and-egg pie for trail food. Getting my ‘please don’t shoot me’ vest and colorful fisherman’s cap out of the back of the bottom dresser-drawer where they had been wadded up since the previous season. Grease up the boots, get out the thermal underwear and get the camping gear in order. When all was in readiness I’d load up whatever battered, unreliable vehicle that I was driving that year and head into the mountains.

For me hunting was a chance to get out into the great outdoors, camp in the rain, take a long walk in difficult terrain and inevitably get shot at. I got a deer or two over the years, but that really wasn’t the point. I’m not sure but I think the point was to have an experience so miserable that no matter how the rest of the year went I could comfort myself that at least I wasn’t hunting.

Did I mention getting shot at?

OK, in those days I was six-foot-four and around two hundred pounds. I did not, one should note, in any way resemble a deer. To enhance this un-deer-like appearance I would wear a garish orange vest and a hideous light-green, orange and red fishing cap that I’d bought at a garage sale. I’m pretty sure that on a clear day it was visible from space. Furthermore I would walk upright and carry a rifle, something that few, if any, deer do. Despite this every year, without fail, at some point I would experience the hair-raising sound of a bullet passing so close I could hear it’s passage through the air. It’s a unique sound, and even if you have never heard it the first time that you do you will know exactly what it is.

This sound would inspire immediate ducking behind the nearest solid object, followed closely, at maximum possible volume, buy a stream of profanity salted with speculation about the shooter’s ancestry and sexual habits. Sometimes this would elicit a tremulous, distant ‘Sorry!’ I’m sure that there were hunters whose weekend wasn’t complete until they heard the sound of distant swearing drifting over the hills.

I eventually quit hunting. There were several reasons for this. One was that I discovered that I could go to Seattle Exotic Meats and buy New Zealand Red Deer, which was expensive but much superior to the local venison. It was also less miserable than hunting. But the thing that really decided me was an incident that showed me where my true sympathies lay.

I had spotted a lovely two point buck. Not spectacular, but decent enough. He was about twenty-five yards away, broadside to me. I slowly began to raise my rifle, moving carefully so that I wouldn’t alarm him when suddenly…

BAM BAM BAM BAM!

The bullets split the space between me and the deer without coming particularly close to either of us. I ducked behind the nearest tree. The deer kind of jumped in surprise, looked up the hill towards the source of the shots, then turned a wide-eyed, disbelieving gaze to me. Our eyes met and it was as if I could read his mind. Holy crap he seemed to say, is that guy trying to kill us?

He stood uncertainly for a moment and I waved him off and yelled, “RUN you fool! I’ll cover you!”

I swung my rifle around the tree and scanned the slope over the sights as the deer bolted away along the slope. I couldn’t see anyone and it suddenly occurred to me that even if I did it would probably be a bad idea to return fire… That was it. When I got home I put the hunting gear away for good. No more wet, miserable fall weekends. No more getting shot at by random strangers. I’d had enough.

A few years back a friend with some property down by Pe El commented that the deer on her property were out of control and she was asking friends to come shoot them. She has around fifty acres completely surrounded by a stout five-foot fence backed up against Weyerhaeuser land. I bought a rifle and another ‘don’t shoot me’ vest and most years I spend a weekend or two hunting her land. Instead of camping in the rain I stay in her snug, comfortable house. Instead of cold ham-and-egg pie I have a nice home cooked meal. Sometimes I sit in a blind drinking coffee and enjoying the crisp, fall air. Other times I walk the property, admiring the turning leaves and the peaceful sounds of the woods in fall. No one shoots at me. It’s all very civilized.

Some day I might even shoot a deer, but then I think about all the mess of cleaning it, dragging it back to the house, butchering it… it just seems like an awful lot of work, and why spoil an otherwise lovely weekend?

Tyr’s Hammer releases tomorrow!

Our Foreworld Saga Side-Quest ‘Tyr’s Hammer’ releases tomorrow! This is our second Side-Quest novella for Foreworld (set in the world of The Mongoliad) and it is the most fantasy-oriented entry into that world to date, I believe. It was a fun story to write; weaving Norse mythology into the Foreworld was an interesting and enjoyable challenge. We’re really happy with the results, and we hope that you will be too. The story is available as a Kindle eBook and in an audio edition as well.

Getting older sucks…

…until you consider the alternative!

As I’ve gotten older I’ve become less and less able to deal with my chronic migraines. Long gone are the days that I can simply power through them by sheer testosterone-poisoning. Several years back my wife put her foot down and forbade me from working in the shop with a migraine, rightly pointing out that I work with tools that cut steel. Such tools of course will make short work of my tender flesh, as they have proven all too often.

As I’ve aged the migraines became more frequent, other issues cropped up and eventually it got to the point where I had to admit that I am disabled. I simply cannot work in my shop enough to make any kind of living. Getting a ‘real’ job isn’t an option either; who is going to hire someone that will miss 2-3 random days each week? Eventually Linda talked me into applying for VA disability (which epic saga is still ongoing) and these days I have to consider myself semi-retired.

Life goes on and we move on; it’s only natural. I still love working and making new things but my interests have expanded to writing fiction and Linda and I have become published authors. Mostly I can still write when in the throes of a migraine; it helps to distract me from the discomfort. Since one of my former professions was as an illustrator I am brushing up on graphic arts programs and learning to do book covers for our writing. It’s frustrating but is finally starting to produce useful results. I’m spending more time with old friends and working with a Viking group to perform educational demos. I’ve learned to make period shoes and pouches. There’s no shortage of things to keep myself busy.

So given the alternative I think that I’ll keep getting older, thanks. There are plenty off new things to learn, experience and do, and life still has a lot to look forward to! I might as well enjoy the ride; after all, I’ll never get out of it alive…

Making a Viking-Era fighting axe…

So, for the first time ever I’ve made an ax in my shop start-to-finish. I’ve got a Viking fight demo coming up this weekend and I’ve generally been into Viking stuff lately so of course it is a Viking-Era ax. It’s loosely based on an antique I saw somewhere or other and it is a fighting-ax.

I started out with a bar of 1/4-inch 5160 spring steel about 3 inches wide. I cut a piece about eleven inches long flared on one end to form the head. Into the forge to heat, then I bent the narrow end back on itself around a mandrel to form a socket. This took about five cycles of heating and hammering. One more heat and a few taps on the edge of the anvil (a section of railroad tie) and the socket was roughly centered.

Previously I had tried to forge-weld to close the socket but my jury-rigged propane forge just couldn’t get it hot enough. This time I gas-welded the join and ground the weld smooth. I didn’t much like the look of it, and suspected I did not have the penetration that I needed. I carefully heated the material to get the brittleness out (yes, 5160 will air-harden in thin sections!) Then I ground the profile of the socket.

Next I selected a piece of Vine-Maple for the handle. Reaching through the socket with an awl I marked the shape on one end of the wood, then ground the end of the handle to shape with a 60 grit belt on the belt-grinder. I fitted the ax-head, drove it into place with a hammer and drift and sure enough the weld popped. Bugger.

After I drove the head back off of the handle (NOT easy!) I ground things back down and welded more carefully this time. It looked good so I drove it back onto the handle. This time the socket held. Unfortunately the blade fell off. Are you kidding me?!

Looking I could see that somewhere along the way I had cracked it. Give up? Not likely. I flattened both ends of the break (socket and blade sides) and ground a deep bevel onto either side. Carefully propping the bits together on the anvil with metal scraps I welded them together. I really didn’t expect this to work, but to my surprise and delight it did! I tempered the blade, paying particular attention to getting a good heat into the weld, then ground an edge onto the blade on the belt-grinder. I also reground the weld to smooth things out and reshaped the socket slightly. Then I hardened the edge in Olive Oil and tempered it with the torch so that it would not be brittle.

I remounted the head on the handle and drove it down again, then cut a wedge of fairly soft Pine and drove it into the triangular void at the front of the socket. This not only fills the empty space, it makes it harder for the head to rock and loosen up. Lastly I made a wedge from a scrap of spring-steel and drove it in and shaped the wood of the handle to match the socket.

I proceeded to smack the crap out of some disposable wooden things to see if it all held together. It did, but the head loosened up slightly. I drove it down further onto the handle and set the wedge deeper with a drift and smacked a few more things. It worked and everything held up! I had an axe!

Total elapsed time including the hand-rubbed wax finish on the handle was right around three hours.

I’m pretty thrilled that it all worked out. I have a nifty axe that works and looks period-correct, learned a bunch of new stuff etc. I need to set up a wider quench-tank so that I can accommodate wider ax-blades and I’m not really happy gas-welding these things; I’d rather do the period forge-weld but until I can set up a hotter forge I’ll just have to make do.

The plan is to spend some time down at the Arizona Ren Faire with Eric the Blacksmith this winter and learn how to set up and manage a coal forge and weld them properly… ought to be a lot of fun! In the meantime gas it is… and it is a GAS! I can make axes!

As I get better and presumable faster at this I’ll probably offer some of these for sale… they won’t be cheap-cheap but they shouldn’t be ruinously expensive either. I’ll keep you all in the loop.

USFCA to certify HEMA Masters? Oh, Hell No!

The original version of this post was somewhat hysterical and based less on my own research than on others blog posts and Facebook posts. Since then there has been extensive discussion online and off and not a little research on my own part. Even I don’t agree with some parts of the original post now… Yesterday was a lesson to me to fact-check and base my opinions on my own research rather then the opinions, statements and ranting of others.

I do still maintain that there are real and serious problems with the USFCA’s program. Please consider my amended post.

The HEMA community is relatively young as such things go, and there are no universal standards for instructors. Years ago I became an instructor because I was the’ least un-qualified’ person willing to take it on locally, and I suspect a lot of others have done the same. But we have grown over the years, in knowledge and as a community. This has attracted attention from the media and the martial arts community, and there is a growing acceptance of HEMA in that community. But someone else has taken an interest and taken action.

There is a very fine sporting organization called the United States Fencing Coaches Association. They establish standards and certify coaches for modern sport fencing, and they do a damn good job. Now they want to certify coaches (Masters, no less!) for Historic European Martial Arts. They made this move unilaterally without so much as consulting the American or European HEMA communities. *There is some debate over this last statement. The USFCA’s European parent organization has been involved in Historic Fencing for some time. I will leave it to others to discuss whether ‘Historic fencing’ as practiced by them has been properly part of the ‘HEMA community’ in Europe. I’ve heard there have been issues but without personal experience I cannot address that directly

Reading over their standards for certification a number of things become apparent. First and foremost that they have an excellent grasp of how to put together an educational program, as you would expect. Second that seem to have a fuzzy grasp, at best, of historic combative systems. They offer ‘generic’ certifications in a number of weapons, longsword, rapier etc. If one is simply teaching people to fight I suppose that’s OK. Longswords are similar and all techniques use the same basic principles and are governed by the same laws of physics. But this isn’t ‘Historic’ in the sense meant by the HEMA community. It is just teaching some one how to fight, nott eaching an ‘historic’ combat system. Fiore’s methods are broadly similar to Lichtenaur’s but the details and emphasis on those details are significantly different.

The USFCA’a standards also endorse the idea that it is possible to study a single weapon in isolation from the combative system. I do not believe this; as an example Fiore teaches a comprehensive system of combat techniques based in wrestling. ‘All fighting is based in wrestling’ he says, and any serious student of his work understands this. How can you ‘cherry pick’ a single weapon out of this system without demanding competence in the very foundation of Fiore’s method, then proclaim someone a ‘Master?’ You can’t. A master of Fiore’s Longsword must also have master of Abrazare- wrestling- because the entire system is based on that. Fiore’s work is a system of combat techniques that do not stand alone. The USFCA’s standards do not acknowledge this or account for it, which indicates that they do not understand the fundamental aspects of the system. This shows pretty conclusively that they are not qualified to develop a syllabus, let alone conclude that some one is a ‘Master’ of this system. To add insult to injury they lump it right in with Lichtenaur and other systems as if they are the same thing.

I do not understand why the USFCA has decided that they need to establish standards for arts they do not seem to understand and that are only distantly related to their own areas of expertise. But if we as a community are to thrive we need to reject their efforts. We need to stand up to them as a community and tell them, in no uncertain terms, that we do not acknowledge their authority or accept their certification- and why. Merely rejecting their certification and denying their authority to grant such certification however is not enough. Ideally we need to work with them, presupposing that they are willing, to develop more ‘historic’ standards that reflect a genuine understanding of the arts they are granting ‘mastery’ of. This is a herculean task given the variety and complexity of the various arts, but better to undertake that task than to simply accept or fight against their existing, inadequate standards.

The fact that the USFCA is a well-respected organization in their own areas of expertise makes this even more important. The media and other people who are not part of the HEMA community are likely to look to them as the ‘experts,’ which could lead to a very distorted picture of historic arts and the HEMA community.

Originally I advocated harsh resistance to the USFCA’s ‘Master’ certification. I still advocate that as a community we refuse to honor their certification because their standards for ‘Master’ rank do not insure mastery of the techniques that they are certifying. They are not qualified to grant the title of ‘Master’ in the field of HEMA. The most productive course would be cooperation to develop their program to the point where their ‘master’ rank genuinely indicates mastery of the subject.

In the meantime the USFCA title must be taken with a rather large grain of salt, and we would do well to make sure that the media is aware that there is no ‘ultimate authority’ vested in the USFCA or any other organization in the HEMA world, and not to use USFCA certification as their yardstick for expertise when discussing the HEMAs.