Silhouette of a longsword on the banks of Loch Lomond. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2012.One of the enduring questions in the HEMA community is why do so few people wear historical clothing during their HEMA practice? Surely it makes sense to train …
Put the pointy end in the other guy
Marc and James performing an exercise during a lesson at Liverpool HEMA. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2018.A statement that appears again and again in discussions about swords is that you should put the pointy end in the other guy, or variations on …
What makes a good HEMA club?
Keith Farrell teaching dussack at a seminar. Photo by Daria Izdebska, 2018.What makes a good HEMA club? As a potential student, what should you be looking for when you visit for the first time? And as a club leader, what might you be able to do …
Swords as consumable items
One of Angus Trim's swords. Image from Sword Buyers Guide.This is a guest article by Angus Trim, who has been making swords for decades. He recently re-posted to Facebook something he had written back in 2016 about treating swords as consumable …
An observation about the value of information
Keith Farrell finding time to edit a book between teaching lessons at an event. Photo by Valeria Viola, 2018.It may sound like I am stating the obvious when I say that the value of information is different to different people, and for different …
Is this (item) tournament legal?
Sparring Gloves and an Albion Meyer. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2015.A question that appears regularly in Facebook discussions is exactly this: is this piece of equipment tournament legal?Before we can answer, we have to parse the question. Is …
How to parse, understand, and interpret a difficult sequence in a HEMA treatise
Jodie and Ben performing an exercise during a lesson at Liverpool HEMA. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2018.One of the common questions that people ask me is how to understand and interpret a difficult sequence from our source material. I receive the …
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Film Review: I Can, I Will, I Did
Film poster, from imdb.comI was flying to teach at Longpoint recently, and while on the plane, I watched a film called I Can, I Will, I Did. It spoke to me on a rather deep level, sufficiently for me to want to write a quick review of it, to …
Thinking of body structure like a plumbing system
Keith Farrell and Daniel Montoro sparring with dussacks. Photo by Daria Izdebska, 2018.I like to think of and visualise body structure like the plumbing system in my house. This is quite an easy image to have, which makes it easier to understand …
Turning hobbies into paid work
Keith Farrell finding time to edit a book between teaching lessons at an event. Photo by Valeria Viola, 2018.I recently read quite an interesting article about the trap of turning hobbies into hustles. As someone who has turned several hobbies …
What is a healthy definition of control for HEMA?
Keith Farrell and Ben Davies training with montantes. Photo by Daria Izdebska, 2018.People often talk about control in the practice of martial arts, in the sense of “controlling your blows” or “controlling your power”. HEMA is no exception, and …
Hit and miss: historical weapon systems, experimental archaeology, and synthesis
A guest article, kindly contributed by Ross Bailey.It’s not often that I get asked to put together something that covers my actual profession (archaeology) and my main activity outside my profession (HEMA), so I may have gotten a little carried …
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Some thoughts about the position of left Vom Tag
Codex Wallerstein, folio 79r. Image from the Wiktenauer.Left Vom Tag: does it exist? How do we do it? Is it a position worth training?This is a discussion that comes up every so often, with fairly predictable responses to say both yes …
How old does something have to be to consider it HEMA?
A question that arises on a fairly regular basis is about what “counts as” historical fencing: how old does something have to be to consider it HEMA?Sometimes people give answers such as “before WW2”, or “at least a hundred years ago”, or even …
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Honesty in martial arts
Keith Farrell demonstrating some concepts during private tuition at an event. Photo by Valeria Viola, 2018.I believe that honesty is incredibly important in the pursuit of martial arts. Of course, honesty is an important characteristic in real …
Modern fencing, classical fencing, and historical fencing
Maksim and Ben fencing with foils in the cloisters at the University of Glasgow. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2013.The terms modern fencing, classical fencing, and historical fencing can all be used to refer to different types of fencing or different …
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More thoughts about tricks and systems (in real life too!)
The discussion about tricks and systems in HEMA seems to be recurring quite regularly at the moment. I recently saw something while reading an article about business productivity that gave me a new avenue of ideas to pursue, so I’d like to share …
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Warming up at Liverpool HEMA
Warming up before training is something we should all do, to prepare for the lesson and to avoid injuries. Although this is usually common knowledge, information about HOW to warm up before martial arts practice is perhaps less common, and there is …
Starting a HEMA club on a tight budget
Many HEMA clubs have a very tight budget when starting out. This can make it quite difficult to get a club off the ground if you don’t have the spare money to invest in equipment, or if you aren’t sure that enough people will join for it to make …
My goals for 2019
Since the new year is upon us, I’d like to set myself some goals for 2019. I could do that quietly and privately, but I want to try and give myself a little public accountability, to make sure I actually get these things done! …