"Just the facts, ma'am,"
Attributed to Detective Sergeant "Joe" Friday
Are Longswords Larger in Texas?
DENTON RECORD-CHRONICLE (Texas) 30 October 2016: The members of Denton’s ARMA group are working hard to prepare themselves physically and intellectually for their bi-annual meeting on the medieval martial arts. The article describes their aims and intentions. It also features a member that has come to the art in the same way that a large number of us have from seeing HEMA being practiced locally. The reminder that the buckler is a potential offensive weapon in its own right is a nice touch.
If you go out in the woods today, You're sure of a big surprise …
ROSTOV GAZETA (Russia) 13 October 2016: В Таганроге на выходных пройдут бои средневековых воинов на мечах
If you go out in the woods you'd better go in armour!
Twenty members of the Russian fight club "Tana-Sich" and their HEMA friends conducted training and doubtless some very successful recruitment, in their local city park. And what’s intriguing here is their use of background period music to draw in spectators, as if the sound of steel on steel wasn’t enough to get the locals’ attention!
Direct from Conway …
NORTH-WEST ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE (Arkansas) 11 October 2016 :Conway club sharpens skills in historical fencing practice.
The eight scholars of the Central Arkansas Historical Fencing salle are doing their part to ensure that the European tradition of martial arts are treated as seriously and reverently as are those of our better-known, historical Oriental peers.
So how do they ensure that they ‘get as many eyes on them’ and HEMA as possible?
Well, they also routinely train in a public park, showcasing swordplay that is “direct” and “action-packed”.
Torino Trials
SPORT TORINO (Italy) 04 October 2016: TaurHEMAchia 2016, un breve viaggio tra le specialità della scherma storica.
A HEMA tournament that we don’t hear too much about in Canada is the annual TaurHEMAchia put on by La Sala delle Armi, with the full support of the city of Torino and the national ‘classical’ fencing sport association. (Both sides cooperate and support each other – let’s just get a good sword into someone’s’ hand and one of us groups will benefit!)
This year 140 of our peers travelled to an ancestral home of HEMA to compete in four swordplay disciplines and to attend various seminars offered by some truly impressive swordplay authorities. There is no indication if there was any post-bout wine involved during the traditional evening recounting of battles won and lost!
German, pardon — ‘Austrian’ — Swordplay!
TIPS (Linz, Austria) 22 September 16 Schwertkampf-Techniken aus dem Mittelalter erwachen zu neuem Leben
The Sektion Historisches Fechten bei der Union St. Pölten and its 37 active fighters concentrate on the Liechtenauer tradition but seem to have interests in most any other HEMA discipline. Most of the items concentrate on their attempts to correct local ‘popular media’ misconceptions about what European swordfight is – while trying to push forward the authenticity of the art.
HEMA practitioner Roland Frühwirt emphasizes that the historical art of swordplay has been constantly ‘re-interpreted’ by the community since the 1990s; and that he, after reading his Liechtenauer Fechtbücher some 25 times, still learns something new every time he does.
‘In Your face’ Swordplay
MAIL ECHO (Germany) 25 September 16 Historisch fechten: Ins Gesicht statt in die Brust.
Thomas Hönle who appears to be an independent teacher of medieval HEMA in his area, and the article spends a lot of time on historical terminology and the related fighting positions used during his lessons. Hönle also emphasizes that, unlike Hollywood’s representations of swordplay, ‘real’ swordfights were brought to a bloody conclusions within two or three passes, and that the face – vice the chest – was the preferred target.
Also interesting is a local swordplayers opinion that a major difference between historical European swordplay from that of Japan is that ours lacks the ceremonial ritual and ‘philosophical base’ of our tachi-armed peers.
SAMSON MAGAZINE (Nürnberg, Germany) 23(?) September 2016: Fast schon ein Ritter - Schwertkampf: Promibesuch aus Schweden.
This long item is a welcome addition to the usual press fare of what swordplay group where is doing what to whom … and using what historical inspiration.
We forget that we’re not in this study alone and that throughout Europe and North America we have some truly knowledgeable, personable and classy peers that spend a lot of time visiting other HEMA groups to learn the ‘local’ interpretation of the art and perchance, offer groups another version of how to approach their own training and understanding of something that they have been practicing for the past decade. And outside of class time we truly ‘host’ each other.
Here we have the story of a true Swedish HEMA ‘master’ within the European community being received (and respectfully exploited) by a fight school in Germany for some one-on-one swordplay time. I can only hope that sometime I’ll be able to participate in something similar. (Wait! I can — it’s called VISS!)
Reading about a ‘move’ is great. Watching a move demonstrated and practicing it yourself under qualified supervision is better! Getting (respectfully) smacked up-side the head by the same move by a true professional in a freeplay bout —priceless.
Snippets
From the Lost and Found files:
•Iceland (Pssst …it wasn’t the goat to blame for this one)
•Japan
•Germany
•Poland
•Poland II
Forging Swords:
•Modern Ulfbreht
•Modern ‘Maximus’
•Theraputic Fencing? Фехтование в терапевтических целях
For you taxpaying citizen … a special deal
•What did You do in the War Daddy? (Sorry, only ‘Daddy’ this time around)