A Spark in Milan, 1997
AEMMA’s story begins not in Toronto, but in Milan. In January 1997, founder David M. Cvet was in the city on an IT consulting contract when a colleague introduced him to a man named Ulysses — whose grandfather had been a swordsmaster for the Hungarian cavalry. Ulysses had inherited a photocopy of Fiore dei Liberi’s Flos Duellatorum and was working to resurrect its techniques. The two men worked through the sword plays together, translating the verses and testing them physically. When David returned to Toronto, he found nothing comparable — the closest option was the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), which he briefly joined before deciding he wanted something more historically grounded.
Founded in Toronto, 1998
By mid-1998, David had assembled a small group of like-minded individuals in Toronto committed to live-steel historical swordplay. The name “Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts” and its founding mission statement were formally adopted on August 12, 1998. The domain aemma.org was registered on August 25, 1998, and by November the first AEMMA website was live — complete with an early version of the coat of arms (later granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority) and the beginnings of an online manuscript library sourced directly from European museums and libraries.
Brian McIlmoyle Joins, 1999
A pivotal moment came on January 8, 1999, over lunch at the Hot House Café in Toronto. David laid out his full vision to Brian A. McIlmoyle — a martial artist with over 15 years in the SCA and a military background. After listening for nearly an hour, Brian’s response was simply: “I’m in.” Brian’s experience and energy proved essential to AEMMA’s growth and stability in the years that followed.
By year’s end, the Academy had grown to include members Mike Rasmusson, Kevin Lewis, Kevin Jarbeau, and Robert Gissing, with David’s brother Anton J. Cvet active in Ottawa alongside Dave B. Murphy. AEMMA was also building relationships with historical martial arts schools worldwide, including Stoccata School of Defence (Australia), Linacre School of Defence (UK), Macdonald Academy of Arms (Edinburgh), Martinez Academy of Arms (New York), and the Chicago Swordplay Guild. David attended the first Western Martial Arts Workshop in Chicago in October 1999 — making it the first international WMA workshop — and AEMMA committed to hosting the next one in Toronto.
The Big Year: 2000
AEMMA hosted the 2nd Annual International Western Martial Arts Workshop at the Toronto Exhibition (in the Medieval Times building) on October 13–15, 2000. The event drew 130 attendees from the UK, Scotland, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and the USA, and attracted coverage from the CBC. It featured both unarmoured (rapier) and armoured tournaments — believed to be the first international armoured tournament of its kind, with 17 combatants.
Growing Into an Institution, 2001 Onwards
In mid-2001, AEMMA published The Art of Longsword Combat — Book 1, written by David M. Cvet with contributions from Anton Cvet, Brian McIlmoyle, and Dave Murphy. Made freely available online, it recorded over 14,000 downloads in two years. By this point AEMMA’s training program had already moved on to focus exclusively on Fiore’s works — but the publication demonstrated the reach and influence the Academy had developed in just a few years.
AEMMA continued to grow as a recognized institution in Toronto, with ongoing contributions to the training program from Aldo Valente, Beau Brock, Ariella Elema, Kelly Rekuta, John Woods and others. Members also participated in documentaries and films over the years — a side effect of developing genuinely useful skills.