HMB USA team is one of the strongest and most experienced fighters of the world. They usually show tough fights and significant progress from year to year. There is a hure work being done to develop the HMB movement in the country. Laurence Lagnese, HMBIA Authenticity Officer, HMB USA National marshal and National representative of this country is one of the people who works on the improvement of the sport.
“Over the past year Jeff Galli and I restructured the HMB USA organization from effectively a single entity controlling all aspects of HMB USA to it now being distributed amongst a Board of Directors and various officers assigned to tasks. After that project we have since been establishing more events throughout the year and helping clubs get organized. One of the biggest challenges is getting all these clubs compliant with HMBIA rules and standards. But we are progressing towards that”, Laurence told us in the interview.
According to him, there are around 300 registered for the movement who are involved in one way or another. They are fighters, marshals, and supports. Also there are more than 30 clubs registered in HMB USA, this is up drastically from 2019. Last year they had only 8. More than half of these clubs are able to field full teams without recruiting mercenaries.
HMB USA is also trying to increase the number of certified international marshals. For now they have 6 HMB USA certified marshals and 2 HMBIA certified marshals. Also there are 2 HMBIA Authenticity Officers, and we have 4 HMB USA Authenticity officers.
As the number of fighters has increased, the level of competition for getting into the HMB team of the country to participate in Battle of the Nations has also grown.
”The drastic increase of competitors into the HMB USA we have had a distinct ability to take note of individuals competing as athletes vs individuals competing as we call in America the “Beer League”. Which both are key to how we need to grow and develop the sport and community. This coming year will likely be the hardest it has been for fighters to make the HMB USA team”, said Laurence.
The HMB athletes from the USA are eager to fight and to win, so there are a lot of big training seminars that have a full weekend of training classes for people to attend. According to Mr. Lagnese, around the country similar events are being held to develop marshal and fighter skills. As an example Palmetto Knights have been holding Monthly seminars for fighters and marshals. The Knights Hall has also adapted to the Covid situation with HMB Soft battles in the park to make it more safe for the participants.
However, of course, despite the difficult situation with Covid 19, HMB athletes continue to strive to get into the national team of their country and represent the United States at the World Championship.
“Yes we are attempting to have qualifier events for BOTN (if Covid allows) additionally several of the old time clubs Palmetto Knights, Ursus and Ordo Draconis are all actively training and preparing for the next BOTN”, noted Laurence.
As we all know, entering the lists of US fighters promises us to get real pleasure from tough, technical fights, and after the fight everyone has the opportunity to communicate with smiling, charming Americans, full of joy and friendliness.
HMBIA News wants to thank Laurence Lagnese for the interview and thank him and all those people who work every day for the HMB sports development in the USA for their great work, the value of which cannot be underestimated.
