Well this has been a very interesting month! We held our Symposium, in the face of bitter cold, but it was great nonetheless. Josh tested successfully for Scolaro Maggiore. We had a great time with the Dallas-area American Combat League, which also trains with the SSG DFW. Their list and presence really helped us out; the only major damper--besides the cold--was the theft of a good amount of equipment from Bryan J.; but that was matched in part by a donation drive by Ed designed to soften the loss.
The new study groups in Anchorage, Portland and Mobile are all running with regular training / practice sessions. Mobile has 4-5 regulars already; Portland 3-4; and in Anchorage, the first two Ellefante graduates have completed their course! In Jacksonville, Josh has been building a small cadre towards a study group, which may be close. And in New Braunfels, Texas, another small group may be starting. We have one new member from there already; their interest is on building towards feats of arms. Nick of Portland, also an aspiring armourer, has gathered five poly swords and they're on their way through the basics, itching to spar.
Sam is participating in the Kansas City group Deed of the Swan Knight, while folks from Savannah, Atlanta and I believe Charleston are hitting Study in Steel (the HEMA event).
The website seems to be popular; we've had more than a hundred new visitors from Google which has resulted in several new members. I've responded to a couple of requests for video clarification of some technical points, which have been put up on the Ellefante member page--plus we've added the new "Coaching Notes" section (with three mini-articles), and another members section page for modern and historical resources for coaching.
Several scolari have commissioned or received armour bits or rebated training swords; hopefully we'll see reviews of these up later.
We're rekindling study pathways for our senior students, and it feels like momentum has been increased sharply in the last few months. Kudos to all!
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