Is there any talk about a secondary place for testing in 2022 ? If there is, I'm all for it. May/June is impossible to get time off from work.
At this time, there are no alternate plans, but I personally would be open to the possibility. Atlanta is a long drive and has become a bit of a mad house for parking, lodging etc. But the limitations are getting enough Mastersmith judges in one location to be able to pull it off, this is one of the main reasons Blade in Atlanta has always worked.
Dennis,
I asked the ABS President, Steve Dunn, that same question and he said no. They only offered a secondary location in 2020 because of COVID. I wish they would have a secondary location, perhaps at BladeShow West which is in early-October in Long Beach, CA because the Atlanta location is great for those living in the eastern US, but not for those living in the west. I also asked about having even one ABS-approved school somewhere in the western US and he said that they are aware of the need for one. As it is now, the closest one is Kilroy's Workshop, which is in eastern Colorado. I even offered to help find them a suitable industrial location, if they decided to open one in the San Francisco Bay area, home of 8 million+ people!
Establishing an ABS approved school is more complicated than most folks would think. The ABS does not start schools nor does the ABS have any schools of its own. Rather the ABS can approve an existing trade school, or program, to be able to host ABS approved courses, if they apply and meet the requirements. All of our classes are taught at facilities that are separate entities from the ABS with just one or two classes offered being ABS approved courses. The ABS provides these schools with lists of improved instructors which they choose from and employ to teach the class.
Another very big misunderstanding is that the ABS has anything to do with the cost or fees for classes. I have had some folks mention that they see a conflict of interest in the waiving of one year as Apprentice Smith by taking an ABS class as a way to sell classes. Nothing could be further from the truth as the ABS, being a nonprofit, doesn't get a dime from the classes, but merely approves instructors and curriculum.
