- Preamble
- Accreditation and Mentoring
- I. Membership
- II. Ranking and Certification
- III. Governance
- IV. Research and Martial Advisory Councils
- Appendix A : Code of Conduct
- Appendix B : Definitions
- Appendix C : Member Academies
- Appendix D : Rank Equivalency
- Appendix E : Pedagogical advancement and skills acquisition (QoE model)
The International Armizare Society is neither a “school” nor a “federation” in the strictest sense, but is rather more analogous to a trade guild: an association of craftsmen looking to refine and maintain a high standard in the practice of their craft. This sort of relationship exists on an individual teacher-student level, with the specific goal of developing a qualified “next generation” of instructors to carry armizare forward. As such, the society provides a curriculum, instructional material, and mentoring and accreditation.
Thus, the International Armizare Society (heretofore referred to as IAS) is an historical and chivalric European martial arts confraternal association concerned with the restoration, preservation and transmission of canonical Armizare as recorded and left to posterity by the Founder, Fiore dei Liberi, and the work of successors determined to be within his tradition as a complete, traditional, but living and functional martial art. In furtherance of these goals, the association shall:
- provide a common set of curricular and performance objectives such that inter-school rank recognition by signatories is facilitated.
- form a testing body and formal testing regimen for instructor certification to ensure transmission and proper preservation of the dei Liberi Tradition, as the Society understands it.
- develop an Advisory Council of recognized experts to assist the Society and oversee the testing of its first master-level candidates.
- maintain an active content-rich website of academic, interpretive and instructional material to assist in educating the public about medieval/early Renaissance Italian martial arts in general and armizare in specific.
- dialogue with other martial artists in order to increase awareness of armizare in the large martial arts community.
The Society’s overarching goal is therefore the revival of a tradition and the establishment of lineages for the continued transmission of the Art, as stated in its mission and objectives and to this end, the organisation has also put forth formal testing requirements and will institute mechanisms for forming on-going testing and governing bodies.
In furtherance of these goals, the association shall provide a common set of curricular and performance objectives such that inter-school rank recognition by signatories is facilitated. As a result, the IAS will also form a testing body and formal testing regimen for instructor certification in an effort to ensure transmission and proper preservation of the dei Liberi Tradition, as the IAS sees it.
The IAS concerns itself principally with the disciplines set forth by Fiore dei Liberi, and can be summarized by the treatise’s title: Flos Duellatorum in armis, sine armis, equester et pedester, “Flower of Battle in armour, without armour, mounted and on foot.” It is a holistic presentation of knightly combat in all its forms: grappling, dagger, sword in one hand, sword in two hands, spear, poleaxe and mounted combat.
As the preservation, study and refinement of historical martial arts, and specifically l’Arte dell’Armizare is an ongoing endeavour, any document should be considered a “living document”, and may be reviewed and revised at any time with the consent of the governing body.
Accreditation
Accredited teachers are those who have gone through the Society’s certification process and currently hold the ranks of Provost or Magister (see “membership”). Schools run by these instructors are considered member bodies, but it is contingent upon the instructor’s rank and affiliation with the IAS. In other words, if you have joined a school led by an IAS instructor, then you are already a part of the organization! Ask your instructor for the login procedure, so you can access the site’s resources.
Mentoring
Mentoring is a key component of the Society’s mission. There are many interested students of armizare who find themselves without a local teacher, a small study group with little formal curriculum, or excellent personal skills but little pedagogical training. Our Knowledge Base page has a growing repository of training materials, including class handouts, detailed curriculum, video lessons and seminar footage to help.
If, in reviewing these materials, you feel that you would benefit from direct affiliation with the IAS, then there are two ways to do so. First, this website lists all IAS certified instructors; find one whose biography, school or proximity appeals to you and contact them directly! A number of our member schools have charter or filial schools that began in just such a fashion, and this method is likely the best choice if you are new to armizare or are working alone.
A second option, more ideal for existing schools and study groups, is to sign up for one of the support tiers we offer, according to your needs.
In the process of mentoring, we will want to know more about you, such as the size of your group, how old it is, where you train, your prior martial experience, and so forth. A mentor will be assigned to you, largely based on geographical proximity, to help you through the process and answer any questions you may have regarding our criteria or the process of becoming a member. It will be required to host one of the members of the governing council in order for there to be oversight into the QoE and QoI of the petitioning school/students.
As a final step in the process of becoming a full member, before challenging for provost or higher rank in the Society, a vote must be held by the governing council to admit any petitioner to the IAS, according to the voting rules and procedures in force.
Becoming a member
The IAS is neither a “school” nor a “federation” in the strictest sense, but is rather more analogous to a trade guild: an association of craftsmen looking to refine and maintain a high standard in the practice of their craft. This sort of relationship exists on an individual teacher-student, with the specific goal of developing a qualified “next generation” of instructors to carry armizare forward. Therefore, membership in the Society consists of two forms: accreditation and mentoring.
There are several levels of membership, both individual and group. To join, please visit the Joining page.
Individual memberships
Supporter
I.a Supporters gain access to the library of member articles, textual training materials and the IAS member Facebook group in recognition for their continued support
Independent Scholar
I.b Independent scholars are individual members who wish to train Armizare using the IAS core curriculum, with access to instructors and discounts for other members’ platforms (e.g. Swordplay Online).
Companion
I.c Companions are individuals who would like more comprehensive support and access to the full library of IAS material, including monthly lectures or lessons.
Group Memberships
Company
I.d Named in the spirit of the mercenary companies of medieval Italy, and ideal for existing schools and study groups, the Company tier affords you all the same resources as the individual Affiliate package – full access to a self-study program, and the opportunity to test for rank and accreditation within the IAS.
Mentored
I.e This tier exists as a corollary to the individual Companion package, but for groups. It provides access to the entire IAS curriculum and online learning platform, as well as monthly lectures or lessons.
Member schools
I.f Member schools are schools with at least one ranked and accredited instructor of at least Provost level.
Endorsed Schools
I.g The IAS maintains healthy relationships with other schools, academies and organisations. Endorsed schools are those we recognise to have quality training and use best practises in the training of their particular art or style.
Fraternal Organisations
I.h Fraternal organisations enjoy a particularly close relationship with the IAS’ goals and methodologies, but are not members of the IAS per se. These organisations are, by definition, endorsed.
Overview
II.a The International Armizare Society, with its associate schools, shall employ a historical rank structure based upon that used by the fencing guilds of the 15th and 16th centuries. Ranking shall consists of four grades, in ascending order:
- Scolaro (Scholar),
- Laureato (Free Scholar),
- Rettore (Provost)
- Magistro d’Armizare (Magister).
The first two of these ranks shall be considered student ranks, while the latter two constitute senior instructor ranks. Although the Society shall establish recognizable standards and minimum requirements for all four grades, the authority for testing and granting of rank for the lower ranks of Scolaro and Laureato to its member academies. Conversely, member bodies agree to external examination and certification by the association for the rank of Provost or Master at Arms, once all requirements internal to the member academy have been met.
II.b For proper rank recognition by the IAS to take place, the following factors shall be evaluated.
- Content
- practical
- theoretical
- Quality of execution
- Quality of interpretation
- Academics
- Instructional
As personal pedagogy forms an important part of the requirements for proper transmission of the art to take place, and as such is included and evaluated for these ranks.
II.c Certification granted by the Society pertains to the discipline of canonical armizare, as understood by the Society, and conveys no rank or privilege in any other discipline or martial art.
II.d The IAS shall not grant “paper” or “honorary” ranks, beyond the internal ranks granted by its member schools, nor shall any candidate be granted the rank of Rettore or Magister without having met the certification requirements.
II.e External to the organization the Society’s Governing Council is given the authority to create reciprocal recognition with other governing bodies, as it deems necessary or appropriate. Such recognition shall not constitute rank or membership within the Society. The Society neither warrants nor refutes the ranks granted by any organisations outside its member bodies or recognized affiliates.
Ranking Criteria
III.a The Charter of the International Armizare Society calls for a semi-democratic structure in which the Society is overseen by a Governing Council working in concert with both Research and Martial Advisors. We call the system “semi-democratic” in the sense that, as martial arts are inherently hierarchical and elitist, only magister-level candidates are generally eligible to serve on the Governing Council.
The Society will be led by a Governing Council, comprised of five Magistri d’Armizare, consisting of the three founding members, plus two additional members, elected from the membership. Elected members serve a term of 3 years. The Council sets policy, review requests for Affiliation and conducts examinations.
Until such time as there are five Magistri d’Armizare available to form a full Governing Council, the Founding Members shall be entrusted to act as a Governing Council Pro Tempore.
III.b For issues pertaining to governance and policy, a vote of the governing council must be held. Such vote will be held in the following cases: policy change, criteria change for ranking, QoI or QoE changes, or any other issue in which there may be a difference of opinion and which may have an effect on the quality or internal functioning of the organisation.
The procedure for voting is thus:
- A proposal is made.
- The proposal is seconded. This triggers a period of debate.
- The period of debate will be no longer than 2 weeks, after which a vote must be held. This vote can be deferred or shortened, should a majority wish it by holding an impromptu vote (procedural).
- A simple majority of votes grants the proposal.
- The results are effective immediately, unless otherwise stipulated in the proposal.
- Any impromptu vote must be agreed upon by all voting members.
Governing Council
III.c The IAS Governing Council is meant to be comprised of five Magistri d’Armizare, consisting of the three founding members, plus two additional members, elected from the membership. Elected members serve a term of three years. The Council sets policy, review requests for Affiliation and conducts examinations.
Note that in order to move the organization forward, until such time as there are five Magistri d’Armizare available to form a full Governing Council, the IAS Charter calls for the Founding Members to act as a Governing Council Pro Tempore, as stated previously.
Members are elected to the governing council according to the general voting guidelines in force.
Founding Members
The founding members, serving as the governing council pro tempore, are:
Gregory Mele – Chicago Swordplay Guild
The Charter of the International Armizare Society calls for a semi-democratic structure in which the Society is overseen by a Governing Council working in concert with both Research and Martial Advisors. The system is a representational democracy, in the sense that, as martial arts are inherently hierarchical to preserve technical quality, only magister-level candidates are generally eligible to serve on the Governing Council.
GOVERNING COUNCIL
The IAS Governing Council is comprised of five Magistri d’Armizare, consisting of the three founding members, plus two additional members, elected from the membership. Elected members serve a term of two years. The Council sets policy, review requests for Affiliation and conducts examinations.
Note that in, order to move the organization forward, until such time as there are five Magistri d’Armizare available to form a full Governing Council, the IAS Charter calls for the Founding Members to act as a Governing Council Pro Tempore.
RESEARCH AND ADVISORY COUNCILS
When reconstructing a martial art, there is always the danger of “you do not know, what you do not know” — the subtleties of written instruction that rely upon an understanding of the social and intellectual culture that produced a text, as well as the many oral lessons that accompany learning a physical discipline that are simply lost due to a lack of direct transmission. Therefore, to maintain the highest standards of both martial and academic efficacy in the reestablishment of Armizare as a living, martial tradition, the Society has established a Research and Martial Advisory Council. The Council serves to counsel the IAS on various matters of import with regards to research, martial efficacy, pedagogy and any number of topics with specialized knowledge is required. Whereas the Research Council is a permanent, academic advisory body, the chief purpose of the Martial Advisory Council is to call upon the expertise of high level teachers of traditional martial arts to serve as a sounding board and pro tempore committee in the testing and establishment of the first generation of Magistri d’Armizare, until such a time as a full board of five examiners are available.
IV.a The resurrection of an historical martial art is a complex process requiring a detailed study of both the relevant technical sources, cross-referencing with contemporary sources from parallel traditions, pressure testing interpretations for conformance to sound body mechanics, fundamental martial principles and effectiveness, combined with an understanding of the historical, cultural and social context in which the art was created and practiced as well as the material culture associated with practicing the art. To this end, the IAS Governors are charged with developing Research and Advisory Councils comprised of:
- Known and respected researcher-practitioners of contemporary Historical European Martial Arts.
- Known and respected high-level instructors of surviving European martial arts, such as fencing, stick-fighting and wrestling, particularly those from Italy.
- Known and respected high-level instructors from living traditions of non-European martial arts that developed in a similar cultural milieu and have a similar “composite” nature, combining long and short bladed weapons, polearms and grappling.
- Established academics and researchers in the fields of medieval and early Renaissance Italian history, chivalric culture and late medieval military history;
- Respected authorities in the field of late medieval arms and armour.
IV.b The Research and Martial Advisory Councils serve to counsel the IAS with regards to any number of topics with specialized knowledge is required. Further, the Councils shall serve as a panel to oversee the testing of the Society’s first Magister candidates, vetting their research, martial efficacy, and pedagogical skill, until such time as a full board of five Magistri d’Arme can be constituted to assume responsibility for examinations.
Both councils sit in an advisory capacity only, and play no role in setting policy nor in the general governance of the IAS, although their input is always welcome and appreciated.
When reconstructing a martial art, there is always the danger of “you do not know, what you do not know” — the subtleties of written instruction that rely upon an understanding of the social and intellectual culture that produced a text, as well as the many oral lessons that accompany learning a physical discipline that are simply lost due to a lack of direct transmission. Therefore, to maintain the highest standards of both martial and academic efficacy in the reestablishment of Armizare as a living, martial tradition, the Society has established a Research and Martial Advisory Council. The Council serves to counsel the IAS on various matters of import with regards to research, martial efficacy, pedagogy and any number of topics with specialized knowledge is required. Whereas the Research Council is a permanent, academic advisory body, the chief purpose of the Martial Advisory Council is to call upon the expertise of high level teachers of traditional martial arts to serve as a sounding board and pro tempore committee in the testing and establishment of the first generation of Magistri d’Armizare, until such a time as a full board of five examiners are available.
Research Council
Members of the Research Council have been chosen for their expertise in a variety of topics, including not only armizare itself, but also chivalric culture, medieval Italian language and history, arms and armour and medieval military history. The Council serves to maintain quality standards in original research produced by IAS members as well as theses submitted by magister candidates as part of the academic component of their testing requirements.
Council Members
- Robert N. Charrette
- Daniel Jaquet, Ph.D
- Tom Leoni
- Marco Quarto, Ph.D
Martial Advisory Council
The chief purpose of the Advisory Council is to call upon the expertise of high level teachers of traditional martial arts to assist in the testing and establishment of the first generation of Magistri d’Armizare. Martial Advisors have been chosen because for one or more of the following reasons:
- Pedagogical Rigor
- Cultural Proximity
- Parallel Knowledge
Pedagogical Rigor means that the Advisor is not only a trained expert combatant in a living martial tradition, but specifically is a trained teacher in a tradition with a refined pedagogy. As Armizare is part of the European martial heritage, Advisors chosen for Pedagogical Rigor are generally drawn from related, descendant Western traditions, such as classical fencing and wrestling.
In making a comparative study of Italian martial arts over the last six centuries, one finds that there is a common “vocabulary” of movement, body-mechanics, philosophy and tactics that infuses these traditions, despite a separation of centuries, evolution of weapons, or even class of society. Therefore, Cultural Proximity refers to Advisors chosen for their expertise in living martial traditions of the Italian peninsula, such as traditional saber, stick and knife fighting.
Finally, part of what makes Armizare distinctive is its use of grappling and diverse, archaic weapons in and out of full armour. Although no such traditions survive in Europe, there are some comparable arts that have been maintained in Asia. Advisors chosen for Parallel Knowledge are chosen specifically for their familiarity with armed grappling, polearms or armoured combat in the context of a living martial tradition.
Council members
- Roberto Laura
- Robert “Puck” Curtis
- Orazio Barbagallo
- Roberto Gotti
- Marco Quarta
INTRODUCTION
This Code of Conduct is intended to provide standards of professional conduct that can be applied by International Armizare Society instructors and its member organisations that choose to adopt them. This Code also provides a common set of values upon which the IAS instructor builds their professional work and has as its primary goal the welfare and protection of the individuals and groups with whom the instructors work. It is the individual responsibility of each instructor to aspire to the highest possible standards of conduct. IAS instructors respect and protect human and civil rights, and do not knowingly participate in or condone unfair discriminatory practices.
CODE OF CONDUCT
A: Competence
- IAS instructors strive to maintain high standards of excellence in their teaching.
- IAS instructors recognize the boundaries of their particular competencies and the limitations of their expertise. They provide instruction in only those areas for which they are qualified by training and experience.
- IAS instructors maintain knowledge of relevant technical information related to the instruction they render, and they recognize the need for ongoing education and training.
- IAS instructors strive to maintain continual commitment to CANI: “Constantly And Never-ending Improvement [citing Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s personal philosophy as taught by Tony Robbins].
B: Integrity
- IAS instructors seek to promote integrity in the instruction of l’Arte dell’Armizare.
- IAS instructors are honest, fair, and respectful of others. In describing or reporting their qualifications, services, or fees, they do not make statements that are false, misleading, or deceptive.
- IAS Instructors strive to operate by the fundamental guidelines of common etiquette and chivalric philosophy and avoid behavior unbecoming or potentially damaging to the IAS, and its members.
C: Professional Responsibility
- IAS instructors uphold ethical standards of conduct, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior, and adapt their teaching methods to the needs of different learners.
- IAS instructors consult with, refer to, or cooperate with other IAS or CFAA instructors to the extent needed to serve the best interest of the learner.
- IAS instructors promote the IAS ranking system and ensure sound pedagogical principles in the instruction of l’Arte dell’Armizare.
- IAS instructors ensure that rank assessment and promotions awarded by its members are conducted in accordance with the approved standards of the IAS.
D: Tolerance policy
- IAS instructors’ moral standards and conduct are personal matters to the same degree as is true for any other person, except when instructors’ conduct may compromise their teaching responsibilities or reduce the public’s trust in the instructor or the IAS.
Armizare L’arte d’Armizare (The Art of Arms) is the medieval Italian term for knightly martial arts that were employed by the aristocratic warrior class of Europe. Armizare (are-mit-TZAR-ay) is divided into combat on foot and on horseback, in and out of armour. It includes wrestling and techniques when armed with a dagger, sword, pollaxe or spear.
Applied Armizare is “Armizare in Context”, or an understanding of how to apply the principles, tactics and mechanics of the art holistically and within situations upon which dei Liberi either did not discuss, only touched upon tangentially.
Canonical Armizare Specific instructions, tactical lessons and techniques left to posterity by Fiore dei Liberi, Filippo Vadi, and several fragmentary sources of anonymous authorship. IAS central mission is to see that its understanding is refined and transmitted to the next generation.
Chivalric Martial arts are formulated within a cultural milieu and are meant to be tempered by a system of ethics and behavior. Central to Europe at the birth of the Renaissance were those chivalric ideals as recorded in the historical record by philosophers, thinkers, jurists and allegorical authors such as Ramon Lull, Geoffrey de Charny, Dom Duarte of Portugal, Giovanni da Legnano, Wolfram von Eshenbach, Chretien de Troyes and Rene d’Anjou. As with any ethical system, chivalry was idealized more in thought than in deep (practice?), but as modern people we seek to honor the past, as well as the words of our art’s founder, himself, through a belief that the study of martial arts should be only be undertaken with, and used to develop, people of good moral and ethical character.
Dei Liberi Tradition Refers specifically to the martial art established by the late 14th century master-at-arms, Fiore dei Liberi de Civida d’Austria (c.1350 – 1420), who recorded his teachings on Armizare in a series of illustrated manuscripts, all named (in either Italian or Latin) the Flower of Battle. The larger dei Liberi tradition also includes the work of Filippo Vadi of Pisa, as well as several fragmentary German manuscripts of unclear authorship found as a part of larger compendia of martial teachings.
Historical European Martial Arts The expression “historical European martial arts” (HEMA) is a subset of Western Martial Arts (WMA) that denotes the martial or fighting arts of Europe, with a special concentration on the middle ages, the Renaissance, and the early modern periods that became dormant and have been reconstructed in the current era. Reconstruction of the arts, in this case Armizare, is based on a combination of theory and practice. The first is based on a strict reading and understanding of the original instructions left to posterity by Fiore dei Liberi and members of his tradition, understood through the historical and cultural context in which their both their fighting art, and its written record, were created. The second consists in faithfully translating this understanding into body-mechanics, weapon in hand, first through drills, then progressively into free-fencing.
Neo-Armizare Is “an understanding of how to apply the principles, tactics and mechanics of the art holistically and within situations upon which dei Liberi could not have conceived.
Set Play A pre-determined series of movements or techniques with varying degrees of complexity, often taken directly from the illustrated techniques of the manuscripts.
At the time of this writing, the active member academies are as follows:
Given that certain members may already have a ranking system in place, employing naming conventions of their own, upon admittance to the IAS, the rank structure will be examined to determine how the rank structures of member academies stand in relation to one another. Once this is done, they will be added to the table below for reference. To provide a lingua franca among members, IAS rank names are encouraged when referencing ranks among members
IAS rank | CSG Rank | NWA Rank | LMA Rank |
Scolaro | Scholar | Bacceliere | Scholar |
Laureato | Free Scholar | Laureato | Free Scholar |
Rettore | Provost | Provost | Provost |
Magister | Master | Maestro | Master |
Henri Boudreault, PH.D., proposed a model for gauging competence, upon which we have based the skills progression in this document. It, in turn, is modeled on a learning progression proposed by Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus (which is modeled on earlier work). This learning progression has 5 discrete phases experienced by every student in skills acquisition. Grading skills levels, or competence, employs a sliding scale that is reminiscent of, and somewhat mirrors, the learning progression. The levels employed in this document are a hybridised superset of adapted to our particular needs in a martial learning environment, and aligned with our rank requirements. The phases of learning are:
- The exploration phase
- Fundamentals acquisition
- Integration and training
- Transfer of skills
- Enrichment
Each skill and each level of competence goes through this iterative process of learning. Without going into a level of detail inappropriate for this document, the exploration phase allows the student to become comfortable with the notions he must learn, and explore its possibilities and context. The fundamentals acquisition phase is where the student acquires the basic notions and skills towards gaining competence. Integration and training is active learning, with the student participating fully in his advancement. The transfer phase is where the student takes a skill, notion, principle or ability and applies it to another context. Finally, the enrichment phase is where the student actively explores and transfers these notions to other situations not directly related to the context, learning on their own with minimal outside assistance. Skill progressions advance in terms of competence, from novice to expert, using the following nomenclature: Novice, Intermediacy, Competency, Proficiency, Mastery, Expertise. A description of what each skills level entails follows. All Quality of Execution (QoE) will be measured against this scale. It should be noted that QoE is progressive. For instance, a student may be expected to perform a technique with a certain level of skill at the Scolaro level, and perform the same technique to a higher level of skill for a later rank. As such, the student should expect that they may be evaluated repeatedly on the same material, employing different criteria, throughout their advancement. Novice (N): rigid adherence to taught rules or plans, no exercise of “discretionary judgment”
- Rote execution or repetition of a demonstrated technique or skill as demonstrated, often without using proper mechanics and without necessarily demonstrating an understanding of the wider context or variations in technique.
Intermediate (I): has limited “situational perception”, all aspects of technique treated separately with equal importance.
- Applies, with help or prompting, the knowledge and skills necessary to the performance of a technique.
- Proper mechanics are more prevalent, but secondary to the performance of the technique. I.e. the student will quickly abandon proper mechanics if the situation becomes difficult.
- Application of technique requires concentration and conscious thought.
Competent (C): independent evaluation of a situation, autonomy, and transfer of technique across situations.
- Executes techniques in isolation (set plays, simple phrases) against non-compliant partners.
- Executes technique without prompting, in tempo and using adequate body mechanics.
- Capable of planning an approach (strategically)
- Can consciously apply tactical decision making
Proficient (P): ability to apply and adapt technique and mechanics to a variety of situations.
- Executes multiple techniques (“strings techniques) together to form complex phrases
- Employs proper body mechanics, at speed
- Can apply tactical decision making with little conscious thought
- Has some ability to transmit knowledge or technique
Mastery (M): Has a holistic view and can adapt technique to varying situations and weapons (i.e. has practised the corpus of techniques and can use them across weapons and versus disparate weapons)
- Employs proper body mechanics with fluidity and grace (sprezzatura)
- Applies tactical decision making intuitively
- Can transmit knowledge and technique, and more importantly, principles.
Expertise (E): Innovates, building upon his mastery, is not limited by the parameters of the system
- Has significant skill or knowledge beyond mastery in a particular sphere of research (polearms, mounted combat, etc.)