A few swordsmen sat down at a table for dinner and beer…

Pork KnucklesThe title could very well be the opening of a joke or some other cautionary tale, but it’s not. Training with the people in the society has made me more appreciative of discipline, determination and hard work. We are not born warriors and berserkers of legendary strength and skill; what we can do now is the result of hours of sweat, pain and mind-numbing drill. But despite the testosterone-laden imagery of muscle-bound jocks grunting and swinging away at each other with swords, the group is a surprisingly intelligent one. The after-training dinner is more often than not laden with witty repartee and illuminating discourse. Which brings me back to the original point….

We went out to Paulaner Bräuhaus for pork knuckles and beer on saturday (figuring it’s almost Oktoberfest and we’re doing a seminar on German Historical Swordsmanship that day to boot!), and the usual dinner conversation flowed… from the merits of German vs Italian swordsmanship, to the philosophical musings of Fredrich Nietzsche, to the history of the Byzantine Empire, to the merits of civic theory in government, the usefulness of Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings in today’s environment and the influence of language on culture.

An illuminating night, by any standards, but such is the usual flow of conversation around the dinner table on a PHEMAS training night, or in fact, any night out with this bunch. I am glad to have found them…. and gladder to find they welcomed me as a part of a very special family, geekiness, and random insanity not withstanding.