Every system has a doctrine, an algorithm or set of instructions that describe the best advice for the vast majority of situations that will occur while you practise that system. When different systems have different doctrines, this (quite …
Copyright and the HEMA Community – Part 5: What is “fair use” and how far does it extend?
Copyright is a complicated thing. Members of the HEMA community participate in an activity that is inextricably linked with material that may well be copyrighted in some fashion, and therefore it is helpful to understand what copyright is and how it …
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Some thoughts about screaming, kiai, and making noise in HEMA
Is it alright or frowned upon for people to make noise, to scream, or to make a kiai of some sort while practising HEMA? What about in competitions when adrenaline is running high? This is a question that I have seen asked at least a couple of …
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Review of “The Art of Fencing: The Forgotten Discourse of Camillo Palladini”
I was recently given a copy of the new publication The Art of Fencing: The Forgotten Discourse of Camillo Palladini to read and review. Although rapier is not my main area of expertise, I have read (and edited and published!) several rapier …
Review of “The Art of Fencing: The Forgotten Discourse of Camillo Palladini”Read More
Copyright and the HEMA Community – Part 4: Photos of fencers at events
Copyright is a complicated thing. Members of the HEMA community participate in an activity that is inextricably linked with material that may well be copyrighted in some fashion, and therefore it is helpful to understand what copyright is and how it …
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How to start training 16th century Germanic common fencing
I teach several workshops each year on the subject of 16th century Germanic common fencing, because I find it an incredibly interesting subject, and people who attend my lessons seem to find it interesting too. It can be a fun point for comparison …
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Copyright and the HEMA Community – Part 3: Books that are out of print
Copyright is a complicated thing. Members of the HEMA community participate in an activity that is inextricably linked with material that may well be copyrighted in some fashion, and therefore it is helpful to understand what copyright is and how it …
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Developing a personal style within your HEMA practice
Is it a good or bad thing to develop a personal style within the practice of HEMA, which is essentially the recreation of fighting systems from the past? If we commit to an authentic reconstruction (or at least, to the attempt to make our …
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Copyright and the HEMA Community – Part 2: Scans of original sources
Copyright is a complicated thing. Members of the HEMA community participate in an activity that is inextricably linked with material that may well be copyrighted in some fashion, and therefore it is helpful to understand what copyright is and how it …
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My goals for 2020
I have been thinking about what I want from my HEMA practice and teaching, and I have set myself some new goals for 2020. This year just past has been a reasonably good year for me personally, but I still found myself dissatisfied with some …
Copyright and the HEMA Community – Part 1: What is copyright and how does it work?
Copyright is a complicated thing. Members of the HEMA community participate in an activity that is inextricably linked with material that may well be copyrighted in some fashion, and therefore it is helpful to understand what copyright is and how it …
Copyright and the HEMA Community – Part 1: What is copyright and how does it work?Read More
A brief biography of J.D. Aylward
Back in April 2019, there was a post in one of the HEMA-related Facebook discussion groups, asking if anyone knew any biographical details about J.D. Aylward, author of such works as The House of Angelo and The English Master of Arms.[1] As he was …
Some thoughts about scholarship in HEMA
We often talk about the importance of scholarship in HEMA, about the academic side of historical swordfighting. We acknowledge that there are many facets of HEMA and that they all play an important part in reconstructing our martial heritage: getting …
CPR and the position of Long Point
While attending a first aid course recently, we did the usual sorts of things, including CPR practice (the breaths and chest compressions). It struck me that the structure required for CPR is pretty much that of Long Point: arms straight, with the …
How to revive a struggling martial arts club
I recently saw an interesting thread on Reddit, asking about how to revive a dying HEMA club. Having been part of a number of different sports clubs over the years, I know that this is quite a common (and unfortunate) situation. With my experience of …
Review of the Bellatore 15th century style longsword
Bellatore is a Spanish swordsmith, and they make some rather lovely swords. They wanted to begin production of a relatively typical 15th century style longsword that would be good for HEMA practitioners who study either Fiore or early …
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A framework for describing and comparing systems of martial arts
Since it is quite a fun activity to compare and contrast different HEMA systems, I would like to propose one possible framework for doing so. A good framework should take into account more than just the techniques and positions of the …
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Muddles or models?
Muddles and models are words that sound quite similar to each other, but what they represent are really quite different things. In my experience, whatever the field of endeavour, we tend to muddle through until we learn a good model. To …
How to begin studying HEMA?
A question that occurs regularly on social media is how to begin studying HEMA, or how to start studying HEMA if there are no clubs nearby. It seems that rarely a week goes by without someone posting a question like this on Facebook or …
What makes a good HEMA instructor?
I am sometimes asked about what I think makes a good HEMA instructor. Sometimes students ask me, because they are thinking about becoming an instructor, and wonder what skills and characteristics I think are important. Sometimes I am asked by people …