This topic comes up all the time in HEMA. How much safety should you sacrifice in the name of mobility. I have read a number of articles and I have to agree with the general consensus even though it is the least interesting: You need to decide for yourself. For a long time, I have used a linen based fencing jacket with minimal arm protection. Recently, my fencing has increased in intensity as my abilities have improved and I have been coming home with more and more bruises. I have made the leap to a more protective jacket, the SPES … Continue reading Mobility versus safety

I am helping my club to organize a tournament in early September based around rapier. We will likley also have Longsword to help increase interest. I have secured a venue and we have worked out the insurance, but I am concerned about all the little details that I can’t plan for as I don’t know them. I will post more as I learn from this experiance. Continue reading Setting up a Tournament

As I study different types of sword styles, I am noticing more and more commonality between weapons. This makes sense, there are only so many different ways people can use a sharp, edged weapon with an handle on one end in an effective manner. That being said, I didn’t expect to be be able to apply rapier techniques to longsword and vise-versa as much as I am doing lately. Winding, tip control, and strong versus weak all apply pretty much universally. At first, I was concerned that broadening focus from one weapon to many would dilute my fencing ability by … Continue reading Blending Together

I have joined the Cateran Society https://cateransociety.wordpress.com/ and am looking forward to more structured learning on the basket hilted broadsword and other Scottish arms. Although I am new, I am very impressed with the system of instructional videos and documents that they put together along with a mentor program, all free of charge. It is clear they are passionate about sharing this knowledge. Continue reading Joined the Cateran Society – Scottish Martial Arts