, B.Sc., born in Canada, graduate of the University of Toronto with majors in biochemistry & genetics, and computer science. He began his work career conducting six years of diabetes research at the Banting and Best Institute, and following that, pursued a career as an IT (information technology) professional for 25 years. His IT career spans from the earliest days of systems engineering on mainframes and super-computers to architecting and designing computing environments for international

David's coat of arms

financial institutions to ultimately achieving positions as CTO (chief technology officer) for various technology companies including startups. He retired from the IT profession in February 2004, and now turns his attention to the resurrection and reconstruction of historical European martial arts.

David is the Founder and President of the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts (AEMMA), an organization dedicated to the resurrection, reconstruction and formalization of medieval martial arts training systems. He is also the Academy's Provost working on the development of training curriculums that include armoured and unarmoured training systems. He initially received training in Milan, Italy, in the early 90's employing steel weapons in longsword techniques and has participated in various organizations dedicated to studying the Middle Ages. In addition David has studied and practiced historical European medieval martial arts for 8 years, and has also studied and practiced Asian combat arts in his past. His background and experience having fired his desire to pursue a formal medieval martial arts training program, he founded AEMMA in mid-1998. He is a member of the advisory board of the Swordplay Symposium International (SSI), an interdisciplinary colloquium of historical fencing specialists dedicated to promoting and advancing the study of Western swordsmanship, and participating board member of the Association for Historical Fencing (AHF). David received his appointment of free scholler in October 15, 2000 and the "Acknowledged Instructor" (AI) designation for armoured longsword instruction in October 15, 2000 by the International Masters at Arms Federation (IMAF) headquartered in Milan, Italy. David is also engaged with the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in an advisory/consultant capacity for matters related to the medieval history as it pertains to military history, arms and armour. He has also earned the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) Level 1 theory, a national coaching certification program part of the Coaching Association of Canada.

Working with representatives of other martial arts disciplines, David had contributed to creation of an online journal entitled the "Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences" (EJMAS), dedicated to promoting scholarship in various martial endeavors. He is the executive editor of the "Journal of Western Martial Art," one of the journals that comprise EJMAS. David is a Director of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada (RHSC) and President of the RHSC Toronto Branch, an Associate Member of The American Academy for the Promotion of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences and The American Academy for Medieval and Chivalric Research and is a member of The Medieval Academy of America and De Re Militari (The Society for Medieval Military History).

RHSC Arms

SHS Arms

From a heraldic perspective, through his work in historical Western martial arts, the desire to recapture the excitement and experience of medieval tournaments has exposed David to the world of the art and science of heraldry. The Academy promotes heraldry for their senior students (schollers) so that they may display their achievement while participating in the tournaments as combatants. His desire to establish a regularly scheduled armoured and unarmoured tournaments has invoked study into these historical events resulting in a significant development in the interest in heraldry. As a result of this interest, David had engaged with the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada (RHSC) in 2003, both as the Society's webmaster and Vice President of the Society's Toronto Branch, and completely re-designed their website with significant input from other team members including the board of the Society, later being appointed as a Director and Chief Technology Officer of the Society, and President of the Society's Toronto Branch. This interest further developed by his petitioning for a grant of arms, including arms for his two sons with the Canadian Heraldic Authority or CHA. The arms were later granted and conveyed to David at the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada's annual general meeting in October 2004 by the Chief Herald himself (the arms are show above right). Later, his interest in heraldry extended to Slovenian heraldry, resulting in his founding the Societas Heraldica Slovenica (SHS), a project started in January of 2005, and is currently developing with participation from the University of Ljubljana and the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Other interests and activities include: tech-diving (SCUBA), cycling, traditional archery, gardening.
 
 

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Updated: March 20, 2005