 There isn't any reason all of these arts can't exist and flourish at
the same time.  Carolingia is a large and very diverse group.  But you
do have to define your own success - what's an acceptable level of
activity?  It means different things to different groups.  The fine
arts go through this as well, and we've seen guilds go inactive for a
time until someone who has the drive comes in and decides more can be
done.  These kinds of people will always be needed to ensure the
group's continuation, and thankfully, so far Carolingia has managed to
turn them up.  But that requires support, too.
<p>
While we have personally focused on archery, we support events without
it.  Specialty events themed around a martial art are great, and we
agree that the Champions tourneys should be focused if at all
possible.  But events where most or all of the martial arts are
offered are also a lot of fun: Yeliz has been to several events where
there were only a few people doing each art, but inexperienced people
rotated through and had a chance to try them out.  This sort of
activity could even be a stand-alone thing or held as part of a single
"guild fair" to attract new participants.  Imagine a demo evening or
afternoon where people could come and try a martial art without
obligation, just to see what it's like.  They could be held all at
once, or on subsequent weekends.  In fact, this would be possible at
our home, which actually could accomodate very small (2-3 ppl at a
time) simultaneous bouts of archery, TW, fencing and fighting in
safety, or larger groups on separate days.  Unfortunately, equestrian
really requires accomodations we can't provide, but it shouldn't be
forgotten.
<p>
We have also been thinking of an event with both A&S and martial arts
in a decathalon-type format.  Then, Marian mentioned finding a period
reference to an Olympics-type event, which was exciting.  Imagine
having a person emerge from this competition as someone who has
excelled at numerous types of martial and creative competition -
that's a Carolingian!
