MACS - Medieval Armed Combat School

15/02/2025

2025.... This will be the 25th year we've existed ...

Owing to my increased work schedule, classes are now on Saturday mornings, currently 8 till 10am. Beginners still welcome.

04/02/2024

February: The sword swinging year starts now. I'm not due to go away till May, so the plan is:

Tuesday: Longsword 6-7, Sabre/backsword 7-8

Thursday: 16th single sword with or without accompanying weapons, 6-8.

I'm aware I'm the biggest impediment to regular classes, but my better health and a few lifestyle choices will hopefully make classes more reliable

And thanks for sticking with your flaky instructor

23/07/2023

August 1- German Longsword training starts

Come join us to learn how the 16th century art of the sword in two hands. No experience needed, just a willingness to learn in a relaxed environment.

August 3- the Thursday class will continue to focus on daggerwork and improving our single sword skills.
Tuesday Longsword Class: 6pm- 8pm
Thursday Class: 6pm- 8pm

23/03/2023

Dear All,

After several years of disruptions, I'm proud to announce that MACS is restarting regular classes. After 2 years of Covid disruptions, we then faced the problem of loadshedding... So now we have a solar/battery system installed, a new venue, and a plan! If you've ever fancied swinging a sword or learning to defend against a dagger, now's your chance!

All the details are in the attached brochure:(https://www.dropbox.com/s/jaigjcffnntws04/Medieval%20Armed%20Combat%20Society-%20Rebirth%20Doc.pdf?dl=0).

06/04/2022

An unhappy update:

I was hoping to start sword classes again just after Easter. However, the work on the new deck has been slow for the last two weeks, and stopped this week, because the contractor's workers are on strike...

Unfortunately, the garden is covered with large piles of sand as well, so I can't start there either. We are attempting to make alternative arrangements, but I am at an impasse.

I shall keep you informed.

12/12/2021

Dear all,

First up, I must apologise for being so quiet recently. It's been a rough second half of 2020 work wise and mentally, and I've been very distracted.

However, I can now announce that I did get promoted to associate professor, and I will be staying in Pretoria, at least for a few more years. And I intend to get MACS up and running again.

However, there needs to be some changes before we start up again. First and foremost, I intend to change MACS from a society to my personal school. After 21 years, I just have to admit that everything seems to still revolve around me, and that MACS doesn't exist without me (despite my efforts). So by taking over from the secretary (me), chairperson (me), treasurer (me) and PR person (me), I will complete the coup that happened accidentally a few years back.

In practice, this means some changes to the way things are run, so it suits my lifestyle better. These are:

A) We wil not use a hall going forward, at least not until we have a sustainable number of people. Paying hall fees under Covid and when we are not using it is a source of stress for me.
B) We will use Chateau Roberts for the timing being. This does put us at the mercy of the weather somewhat, but Anja and I are making some changes to mitigate that. This also allows me to run multiple classes a week without worrying about affordability. We will also stock a fridge with beer so we can do beer after class.
C) I will move to charging per class, instead of per month. There are going to be periods when I am away for work or holiday, so charging people when I'm not there makes no sense. Exact details are still to be decided, but I need the flexibility to match my work schedule.
D) We will be bringing in changes to sparring, to try return to the old MACS feel. In particular, I intend to bring in padded swords from Go-Now, to allow us to spar with longswords. It will take some money upfront from me, and slightly raise our equipment costs, but will hopefully allow us regular safe sparring, including against outside groups.

That's the core factors. We'll probably only restart in mid-January, depending on the 4th wave, but MACS is not dead yet, and will return.

James

26/07/2021

Dear All,
The arrival of Level 3 means we can once again contemplate opening the club for regular members and beginners. I'm currently away, so first classes will be in August. If you are interested in a beginners class, please drop me a line so I can add you to the list.

22/06/2021

Dear all,

I was hoping to announce that MACS would be resuming full activities from July. Instead, I must announce a stop to all activities for the next while, as the 3rd Covid wave crashes over us. We have been training (irregularly) with regular members since August, but I had hoped to start beginner's classes again. If you are interested in a beginners class or joining MACS on a regular basis, please fill in the survey below. I promise we won't spam you, but we will let you know when regular service resumes.

27/11/2020

18/08/2020

A very cold Tuesday night, outdoors in the wind. But the new lights worked, and it was nice to have a group of 6 working again!

17/08/2020

We are emerging from lockdown, slowly but surely. The focus for the moment will be on current and returning members, but hopefully we'll soon open for new people as well. Outdoors and socially distanced, but still swinging and thrusting!

Tuesday is Meyer Day!

Joachim Meyer had way too much time on his hands, and taught Longsword, dussack, rapier, dagger, wrestling, staff, halberd and pike in his book. We can't go as far, but we'll look at longsword and his single sword work, focusing on the rapier but including many cutting techniques from the dussack.

6 till 7.30pm, Chateau Roberts, tomorrow.

Wednesday is dedicated to the Enlightenment Art of Fencing!

The smallsword was the essential sidearm of the noble and upper classes from 1700 till nearly 1900. Those amongst the hoi polloi who went to war added their skills to the sabre as well, though sabre was taught to common troopers and sailors as well. So we'll be looking at smallsword from Schmidt's 18th Century tome, and Sabre from the badly mislabelled Hungarian Highland Broadsword book.

6 till 7.30pm, Chateau Roberts, Wednesday.

There's also a Sunday session, with a focus still to be determined.