{"id":139,"date":"2016-02-22T21:10:13","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T02:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/?p=139"},"modified":"2020-02-13T12:08:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T17:08:04","slug":"larp-or-marrca-by-josephine-dinovo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/2016\/02\/22\/larp-or-marrca-by-josephine-dinovo\/","title":{"rendered":"LaRP Or MARRCA? by Josephine DiNovo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Have you ever seen people on the grassy hill in front of Hayes wielding swords or quarterstaffs? Do you stop to snicker at the \u201cLARPers\u201d whenever you spy them? Have you ever really thought about what this group does?<\/p>\n

This group\u2014often mistaken for role-players unafraid of the public\u2014is MARRCA. MARRCA stands for Medieval and Renaissance Recreational Combat Association. This group does not reenact imagined battles, but instead learns the tactics of Western Martial Arts.<\/p>\n

Christine Mendiola, a senior and retiring president of MARRCA, said, \u201cI feel like LARPing is about the roleplaying experience, while western martial arts… is like studying actual historical tactics and skills. So it\u2019s based in history versus based on imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendiola\u2019s personal interest focuses on learning from the 14th and 15th century German texts the club owns and mastering those techniques. From there, she hopes to continue to study older texts\u00a0to learn about other techniques. Based on their interests and drive, members can continue to research and learn more about Western Martial Arts. This research can involve looking into medieval texts and working with sometimes ambiguous descriptions to recreate fighting styles. Western Martial Arts can then become a blend of active practice and intense study.<\/p>\n

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MARRCA\u2019s approach is not the only method of learning about Western Martial Arts\u2014nor do members learn all of the techniques available in the wide range of history that the Medieval and Renaissance portion of MARRCA\u2019s title covers. The types of Western Martial Arts are varied like the different types of Eastern Martial arts. \u201cI want to keep the club going because it provided me that first step.\u201d After joining MARRCA during her freshman year, Mendiola joined another training school\u2014Polaris Fellowship of Weapons Studies \u2014over her summer vacation. MARRCA is now a way for her to practice what she learned there as well as give other students the opportunity to explore their own Western Martial Arts interests. What I\u2019ve found is most important about MARRCA is that it provides a community for people to explore this interest without the judgement that goes with carrying around a giant sword,\u201d Mendiola said.<\/p>\n

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For anyone interested in learning about Western Martial Arts, MARRCA meets from 4:00pm until 5:00pm on Tuesdays and Fridays. During the winter, their practices move from their outdoor location in front of Hayes to the Milligan Hub in Stuyvesant Hall. Mendiola said, \u201cIt\u2019s college, try something. Experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever seen people on the grassy hill in front of Hayes wielding swords or quarterstaffs? Do you stop to snicker at the \u201cLARPers\u201d whenever you spy them? Have you ever really thought about what this group does? This group\u2014often mistaken for role-players unafraid of the public\u2014is MARRCA. MARRCA stands for Medieval and Renaissance… <\/p>\n

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