Due to Internet gremlins, a lot of time has gone by without an update. The Institute has been plenty busy though and here are some of the highlights.
Coach Paul Tosetti
Fight Day
Fight Day has continued to grow and become a favorite event at the Institute, so much so that a few changes have been made. First we now have an EMT on site for the event. Thankfully, he’s stayed bored. Second the event is now held every other month and the time has been extended to 3 hours.
Coach Tim Anderson
Coach Tim Anderson came back from Virginia and taught a weekend seminar on Knife and Tomahawk. His seminars continue to be very popular and we look forward to having him return.
Professor Nicolas Saignac
Professor Nicolas Saignac taught a game changing Savate seminar that left everyone exhausted from the movement drills. Like with Coach Tim, we look forward to having Professor Saignac return.
Coach Paul
Coach Paul held numerous seminars this year including:
• Flexibility & Stretching
• Kicking from the Basics to the Extreme
• Four Night of Pole Arms series
• Attacking Intelligently in Unarmed Combat
Coach Fred Kaye
Coach Fred Kaye taught two seminars this year devoted to the use of Indian Clubs for the Martial Artist. We hope to create a series of these events to get people to even more advanced uses of the clubs.
Coach Tom Badillo
Coach Tom Badillo taught numerous seminars this year from Rapier and Dagger to lightsaber training. Tom is an integral part of the Institute.
Coach Jeff Lin
Coach Jeff Lin taught an Intro to Grappling series for those interested in trying out the sport.
HEMA Tournament
The Institute held its second and third HEMA tournaments. Our 3rd HEMA tournament saw the addition of a new division, the Partisan which was far more popular than we anticipated.
Wheel of Doom Tournament
The Wheel of Doom!
This year saw the unfortunate passing of Ken Pfrenger, a HEMA and Martial Arts Instructor. In an effort to help his family, we held our first ever Wheel of Doom Tournament which utilizes a random weapon selection. This was a very silly and popular event which will rear its head again.
Women’s Longsword Tournament & Rookie Longsword Tournament
We held our very first Women’s Longsword Tournament in conjunction with a tournament for Rookies to help introduce HEMA tournaments to new competitors.
Fitness Challenges
The fitness class held three different Six Week Challenges. The results were impressive with students increasing their fitness by 30% or more. Look for the next fitness challenge starting soon.
Competition
Many of our students and coaches competed this year in a variety events of from HEMA to Grappling and even Half Marathons. Congratulations to all who participated!
