Europe possessed a thriving tradition of martial arts from the Medieval times to the Early Modern period. Swords and Swordplay will introduce you to these ancient arts, as they have been reconstructed by the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts. Learn about ancient combat manuals, the masters of defense who wrote them, the challenges of recreating a dead martial art, and how to perform the strikingly effective techniques they practiced.

Faculty/Instructor

Benjamin  Smith,

Hometown: Twin Falls, ID
University Career: I received my B.A. in History from BYU in 2006, and my M.A. in Public History from WSU in 2008 my thesis was "Public Participation and the Northwest Power Act of 1980."
WSU Dept.: History, College of Liberal Arts
Research Areas: The history of Energy Policy in the Pacific Northwest, and Early Modern European Culture, particularly Martial Arts.
Interests: I am a member of the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA) an martial arts and academic group that works to reconstruct the martial arts of early modern Europe in a historically accurate and martially effective way from period texts, equipment, and teaching techniques.
Favorite Summer Memories: Boy's State Idaho and Summer terms at BYU with ARMA-Provo
Goals: To write the definitive works on the legislative history and politics that surrounded the passage of the Northwest Power Act, and the history of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
About: I am a graduate of WSU and BYU. I love history and engaging it in ways that are meaningful to people both inside and outside of the academic world. To this end I direct my research toward subjects which will improve our understanding of the impact of our every day activities, as well as those important events that have fundamenatlly reshaped our history. I seek to bring the insights of historical research to people in ways that are interesting, relevant, and helpful for understanding not only our past but ourselves. I beleive that the study of the past has many specific lessons to offer our families, government, organizations, educational experiences, and our enjoyment of life.

I became a member of the ARMA since 2000. The martial art I will introduce to my students has been developed by members of this organization over the last eighteen years. I enjoy engaging the challenging standards ARMA sets academically and athletically to reconstruct the arts of self-defense in realistic ways that pay due deference to the works of ancient masters of defence. Most people don't realize the extent to which arts of personal combat were known and practiced throughout the world, or that many of them are now extinct. These arts came into being in times when fighting was not simple, or clean, when law and lawyers had little control over violence, and when fighting men began training to defend themselves and their people when they were seven or eight years old and engaging people with similar experience. These ancient arts are extremely effective and compare favorably to any modern martial art in their applicability. Member of the U.S. Army Combatives program have studied ARMA's work to improve the self-defense techniques taught to U.S. soldiers in recent years. The ARMA and its work is one of the prime examples of how studying history in physical ways can make a real difference in not only in academic and scholarly understanding of our past, but in our own safety and that of the nations we live in.