SG1 Ranks

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SG1 uses ranks for its students and teachers.

These are intended to help people focus on self improvement, have something to aim towards, reward hard work, give more 'official' responsibility to the experienced members and help classes run more smoothly.

SG1 uses the following rankings (roughly equating to the ranks of the London Company of Masters of Defence of the 16thC):

1) Novice
2) Scholar
3) Free Scholar
4) Senior Free Scholar
5) Provost
6) Senior Provost

These ranks represent a combination of understanding of the art and ability to use it - the balance being more on knowledge and experience, rather than pure fighting ability. New students begin as Novices by default.

Ranks are awarded by Schola Gladiatoria founder and director Matt Easton, with real consultation with the council of Free Scholars (and above). A degree of testing is usually applied, involving theoretical and fighting parts, from Free Scholar rank upwards. Should a student be aiming to progress their rank then they could seek guidance from any of the more experienced members.

These are approximate indicators of what the ranks may tell you about a member:
- Scholars are those students who are no longer considered beginners and have attained a certain level of knowledge and competency. They should be safe, have learned the basic principles of the arts we practice, be able to consistently perform basic techniques and should be able to explain what they are doing and why.
- Free Scholars are able to assist with teaching due to having trained for much longer and learnt much more. They should have a much deeper understanding of the art and be able to convey that knowledge. Their martial abilities should be solid and proven and they will be tested to attain their rank. People reaching Free Scholar level usually will have been regularly training for at least a couple of years.
- Senior Free Scholars have taken their experience to the next level, regularly assist with teaching, sometimes running their own class, and have regularly performed to a high standard in competitive fighting. Senior Free Scholars will usually have been regularly training for around five years or more.
- Provosts are able to (and often do) regularly run classes, present to large groups of people and exhibit notably deeper and broader levels of knowledge. They should have demonstrated their martial abilities widely over a period of several years, perhaps around a decade.
- Senior Provosts even more so than a Provost.

There are currently no Senior Free Scholars in SG1.

Currently active Free Scholars in SG1 are:
Jack Butcher
Chris Castle
Paul Davis
Gavin Locke
Stephen Parfitt
Junaid Rabbi
Pedro San Miguel
Sophie Thurston
Martin Wilkinson

Free Scholars on a break:
Arash Jamali
Tenniel Souter

Last updated: 24/11/2015

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The currently active list of Scholars in SG1 is (updated as new Scholars are graded):

Alex Abdolwahabi
Charles Anderson
Edmund Brass
Jason L Cook
James Greenleaf
Ty Harris
Joe Higham
Rick Myrtle
Kristoffer Pettersson
Ian Rex-Hawkes
Toby Roeder
Ferdie Schaller
Amir Sheikh-Warak
Wenzhe Shi
Ed Sherman
Toria Standfield
Sam Walker
Valerie Widdowson

Scholars who are 'on leave':
Michael Barry
David Blaker
Howard Burdett
Kirill Dashkovskiy​
Luke Davies
AJ Dean-Revington
Sarah Evans
Anita Isalska
Barry Junker
Anna Kolosenko
Jacob Lee
Marcis Luksts
Matt Marchant
Pete Maydon
Jonathan Middleton
Philip d'Orleans
Gary Pready
Debs Pursey
Jonathan Rawling
Nick Riggs
Miro Tzmitov
Martin Wolf Durman

[admin]

Congratulations to SG1's new Scholars, as of 29/07/2013!

Michael Barry
David Blaker
Howard Burdett
Luke Davies
Anita Isalska
Anna Kolosenko
Jacob Lee
Marcis Luksts
Matt Marchant
Philip d'Orleans
Kristoffer Pettersson
Nick Riggs
Valerie Widdowson

[admin]

Congrats to Jack Butcher, Pedro San Miguel and Wenzhe Shi for passing their Scholar tests last night.

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Below follows an outline of what a Scholar-graded student in Schola Gladiatoria SG1 is expected to be able to do, demonstrate and explain. This is not an exhaustive list, but covers most of the key points.

A) Universal principles:
- Certain weapons are held in certain positions due to their physical characteristics and method of use
- Types of footwork – advancing, retreating, sidestepping, turning, traversing, attacking, slipping.
- Basic understanding of tempo – or fencing times
- How to enter distance to attack safely with a simple attack, with any hand weapon
- Order of framing movement in attacking and defending
- How to cut properly
- How to perform sensible thrusts
- Mechanical rules behind defending, binding and encountering an opponent’s weapon
- How to perform a feint
- How to string together a defence and sensible riposte
- How to string together two or three logical attacks
- How to close, to grapple or disarm

B) System-specific knowledge:

Sabre:
- The main engaging guards of Victorian British military sabre
- The system of foot movement
- The 6 cuts
- The 2 thrusts
- The guards and parries
- How to deal with specific attacks from given guards
- The feints
- Some advisable ways to attack certain guards

Longsword:
- Fiore dei Liberi’s 12 guard positions
- Fiore’s footwork
- Fiore’s 6 cuts and 4 thrusts
- Fiore’s 2 types of crossing or bind and their merits
- A selection of inside and outside line techniques from the two binds
- How to maintain distance, increase distance and close distance after a bind
- The rebat
- How to respond to certain attacks from given guards
- Some advisable ways to attack certain guards

[admin]

Congrats to Charles Anderson, Chris Castle, Jonathan Rawling and Martin Wolf Durman for passing their Scholar tests last night. The lists above have been updated accordingly.

[admin]

Congrats to the two newest Scholars, Ed Sherman and Jonathan Middleton.

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Congrats to the two newest Scholars, Amir Sheikh-Warak and Ferdie Schaller.

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Congrats to Joe Higham who passed his Scholar grading last night.

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Congrats to Jason L Cook for passing his Scholar grading.

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Congrats to Ian Rex-Hawkes on passing his Scholar grading last night.

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Congrats to Kirill Dashkovskiy​ for grading as an SG1 Scholar last night!

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Congrats to Barry Junker on joining the ranks of Scholars.

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Congrats to Jack Butcher, Chris Castle and Pedro San Miguel, who have become Free Scholars!

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Congratulations to the newest Scholars to grade in SG1:

Alex Abdolwahabi
Edmund Brass
Sam Walker

[admin]

Congrats to Toby Roeder on grading to Scholar.

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Congrats to James Greenleaf on joining the ranks of SG1 Scholars.