Matilda of Canossa
Written by Claudia Krause | You want drama? How about having the world’s most powerful men meeting at your place, one of them face down, begging for forgiveness? How about being accused of sleeping with the pope or having murdered your husband? How about charging into the enemy’s camp on your horse, your father’s…
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Roll for initiative – Anna Pighin and HEMA in Italy
Anna Pighin, of Udine, Italy, has been studying Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) since 2009. She focuses on the Bolognese School, in all its wonderful facets, although the side sword will always have a special place in her heart. She has been the founder and chief instructor of her local club “Sala d’Arme Achille Marozzo…
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How to make the Boob Shield TM
By Neil Byrne – Dublin HEMA Club Foreword: This gem of an article was shared with us in 2013 and has been in our group’s files ever since. We have decided to make it more publicly accessible on our blog site, because it solves a very important problem concerning many women in HEMA: Ill fitting,…
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IGX 2016 – A Quick Impression
By Leslie Rose I I left the Danvers Indoor Sports Arena on Sunday late afternoon after three days of intense immersion in my HEMA world. I threw a wistful glance back towards the door. I was really ready to enjoy sunlight again and not have those weird little rubber balls and green Astroturf…
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Making Your Own Armored Skirt
By Lois Spangler | Intro If you’re like me, then most HEMA apparel is not made to fit you off the rack. You can custom order garments, which can be risky if you’re on a different continent from the people making your armor and you find you need some adjustments, and is also quite expensive. Your…
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Tea and Swords: The Birth of Irish HEMA
Written by Suzy Cantrell | HEMA in Ireland is quite young, especially when compared with other countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden. There have been individuals attending various events over the years but it wasn’t really until 2011 when a group of us went over to FightCamp that we decided we really wanted to…
Read more.Bigfoot in Seattle – Beth Hammer talks about Swordsquatch 2016
Tell us a bit about the PNW Gathering for those who are outside the US or may not know about the event. The PNW HEMA Gathering started in 2010 as a small get together in someone’s garage, followed by beer. Since then it has slowly grown as a yearly gathering for the clubs in the…
Read more.Golden Finnish – interview with Sara Vertanen
Written by Claudia Krause | Sara Vertanen, 21 year old longsword champion from Finland, has been more than successful in the last 12 months. In 2015 she won the women’s longsword competition at Swordfish, our unofficial World Championship. This year she became Nordic Historical Fencing League Champion of the women’s longsword division, with a very clear…
Read more.NHFL men’s and women’s divisions in 2016
Originally published 1 November 2015 By Fran Terminiello | The Nordic Historical Fencing League will have mens and women’s longsword divisions in 2016, says Kristine Konsmo, senior NHFL committee member and familiar face in the International HEMA tournament scene. Kristine has been a part of competitive HEMA for some years now, famous for winning the open…
Read more.Strength in numbers
Originally published 31 Oct 2015 By Fran Terminiello | It’s been an interesting ten days: Marty McFly finally jumped on the hoverboard after 30 years. Back to the Source has amassed over 400K views in five days – showcasing the breadth and depth offered to those that enter the HEMAverse. Swordfish, the HEMA world championships in all but name, has swelled by another…
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