Today, Shane Bouchard and his colleague Cass Hannah participated in an exacting test of their knowledge of Italian mediaeval combative systems in their quest to achieve the rank of Scholar within the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts (AEMMA). According to the event summary, Shane and Cass would be called upon to "display their theoretical and practical knowledge of Fiore dei Liberi and the Bolognese masters, Giovanni Dall'Agocchie, Achille Marozzo and the Anonimo Bolognese in particular."

Each aspiring scholar was assessed in a lengthy process to test their knowledge of the Italian masters and their various combat techniques, both offensive and defensive. I understood little of the talk and the methods; indeed, they could have been speaking Italian the entire time and I would have comprehended as much. However, it was obvious that both Shane and Cass had spent many hours gaining the knowledge and the skills needed to demonstrate their grasp of the content and how to apply it.

I enjoyed the hours spent watching a group of people who are passionate about their sport and art of medieval martial arts. Hats off to Beau Brock of AEMMA Ottawa and the other scholars from AEMMA Toronto and AEMMA Guelph who traveled to Ottawa to judge today's participants. Loads of appreciation for the women who made a delicious lunch. And praise and congratulations to Shane and Cass on achieving the rank of Scholar.