Original post: 13 Apr 2014
Four presidents, two continents, one HEMA.
Interviews by Fran Terminiello
Karin Verelst – First President of the Belgian HEMA Federation
How did you first become involved in HEMA?
I’ve always dreamt of being a warrior, even as a young girl. During my time at university, I’ve been wandering through several Asian martial arts (karate, aikido), but I never stayed for longer than a year or so. I thought I had found my place when I started shaolin kung fu in the year 2007, but then I was elected Scaliger Fellow at Leiden University during academic year 2007-2008, which brought again an interruption to my fighting career. When I came back home I wanted to resume my martial activity, and somehow I fell during a search on the internet on a site on European medieval swordfighting. I was instantly mesmerised, looked for a group that practised this strange new art in a way that appealed to me (i.e., a combination of source based techniques and demanding physical training, and with ringen as a full part of the curriculum), and not two weeks later I participated in my first Sunday afternoon SwArta-training dedicated to HEMA, a pattern that I have followed for six years ever since. In the mean time, I also took up boxing and tai jutsu.
How did you become the president, what is the process and how long will you hold office?
I am one of the seven founders of the Belgian Federation. We decided to start our federation after Dijon 2013, where the first formal steps toward an international HEMA-federation were taken. We felt that we should, as Belgian HEMA-community, be a full part of this exciting process. As for my presidency: the constituting meeting of the founding members of a non-profit organisation according to Belgian law acts legally as the first general assembly, during which I was elected as president. So I am the founding president. I shall remain in office for three years.
Belgium has an old tradition of the fencing guilds. When you set up the federation, was there an aim to emulate the original charter in some way?
Well, we chose a nice latin name — Societas Belgarum Scientiae Nobilis — to start with. But the Belgian Federation is a modern organisation that takes in its statutes the legal requirements for formal recognition on the national and the international level into account. So in this respect we are moderns. However, our founding general assembly took place at the Kruispoort, a historical site which is home to one of the oldest Belgian fencing guilds still in active existence, the Sint Michielsgilde at Brughes. Moreover, our seal represents weapons favoured by our martial ancestors. We are at the moment investigating how we can balance our future rôle as cultural heritage community and upcoming sports federation, and it is really encouraging to see that the responsible ministry at state level is very supportive in this respect. It is, moreover, absolutely true that deepening both knowledge and practices along the lines of our rich martial heritage is one of the top priorities of our federation. Study of the Belgian sources with respect to the guild structure and the rule sets used at various occasions is but one important aspect of this aim. Nothing has been decided yet, but there are serious plans to organise a traditional “Spelen naar het Koningschap” tournament according to the old guild rules, in an appropriate setting. You’ll definitely hear more about it when the time is ripe!
What is it about HEMA in Belgium that makes it unique?
As you already mentioned, the country has an extremely rich and venerable martial tradition. The surprisingly small number of preserved fight books in the proper sense of the word contrasts with the presence of an enormous living historical memory with respect to it because of the many shooting and fencing guilds that survive. The oldest uninterruptedly active fencing guild in the world is the Belgian “Gentse Koninklijke en Ridderlijke Sint-Michielsgilde” — Royal and Chivalric Guild of Saint Michael, in Ghent. They practice only modern sport fencing these days, and at a very high level. Then there is the Sint Michiels Gilde in Brughes which took up the practice of the original medieval arts again several years ago. But even for recently founded HEMA groups the presence of such a vast array of historical reference points presents a unique and extremely fertile context.
What has been the most surprising aspect of your role as President?
The ease with which everything goes up to now! The HEMA-community in Belgium is not very big, but it is, like everything else in this country, complex. It comprises schools that go back centuries as well as very recent creations; there are groups at either side of the linguistic border (although at the moment more in Flanders than in the French speaking part of the country); some groups meticulously work according to the sources, while others focus more on a combination of HEMA and living history. Nevertheless, when the initiative of the two longest active HEMA-groups (SwArta and Hallebardiers) came to start a Belgian federation, everybody at once wholeheartedly embraced the project. Also, even though, like in most countries, women are still underrepresented in Belgian HEMA, they are really well received and get opportunities to play a key rôle if they wish. My election as founding president may serve as a humbling example. I will therefore do everything in my power to broaden the way for other women, in my country and abroad, who seek to join this fabulous and empowering HEMA-community!
Bob Brooks – President of the British Federation of Historical Swordplay
How did you first become involved in HEMA?
I began as a sport fencer around 1988 and did quite well in competitions. In 1994 I was studying at Napier University in Edinburgh for my professional journalism qualifications and joined the university fencing club.
It was there that I met Paul Macdonald and Guy Windsor, who instigated the idea of studying historic methods of fencing. This appealed to me greatly, coming from Northumberland which has a very rich and turbulent history of warfare! The group we set up was the Dawn Duellists Society, which I am proud to say was among the first HEMA groups in the UK and which is still going strong today.
In 2003, I started my own school, the Hotspur School of Defence.
How did you become the president, what is the process and how long will you hold office?
I was elected as President of the British Federation for Historical Swordsplay in September 2013, at the BFHS Autumn Exchange – which my school happened to be hosting! I saw myself very much as a ‘wild-card’ nomination.
Voting is done by the Board of Representatives, in which a nominee from each member group acts on their behalf. I was quite stunned to be told that I had been elected, particularly over the incumbent President Mark Hillyard, who did a superb job of taking the BFHS forward in previous years.
Since the BFHS is a Limited Company, I am now one of three directors on the Board of Executives. This means we have strict legal obligations to run the company in a fit and proper manner.
I’ll be in post until September 2016, when the next election takes place.
How does the BFHS operate, when was it formed and what are its goals?
The British Federation for Historical Swordplay is a national, independent umbrella group for the benefit of all individual UK societies involved in the research, study and practice of historical fencing and the European martial arts.
It was officially formed in 1998, making it the second oldest national federation for historical fencing in the world (after FISAS in Italy, formed 1995), and I am proud to have been among the founders. I acted as Secretary until 2004, when life – including a full-time job in journalism and two babies! – finally caught up with me.
While the BFHS is concerned with the specific disciplines belonging to the European martial arts tradition, it also recognises and respects the other sword related disciplines of sport fencing, theatrical stage combat and Eastern martial arts.
Our primary aim is to provide support and advice to all member groups, including the opportunity for insurance. We also have an outreach service for groups interested in joining the BFHS, or those who are thinking of setting up a school or study group.
Every year we host our keynote event, SWASH, at the Royal Armouries in Leeds – arguably the world’s finest single collection of arms and armour. This includes a range of workshops with some of the world’s best instructors, as well as a chance to handle actual manuals, treatises and weapons held in the collection which are not ordinarily accessible to the public.
We also have the Autumn Exchange, which is hosted by a different member group each year, and again this provides an environment for members to meet, fence and socialise.
The BFHS provides its own Instructor Level Certification, in line with the recognised UK Coaching Certificate, for its member groups, which sets a benchmark for safety and good practice.
I want to make HEMA far more accessible to people. At HSD we have a very high proportion of women students and have just had our first wheelchair user become a full member.
We have a lot of things in the pipeline as we speak, so it should be an interesting few years ahead!
What is it about HEMA in the UK that makes it unique, how do you see things changing in the future?
Growing up in Northumberland, I was surrounded by castles and steeped in history from infancy and I think this is what has driven me – and many others across the UK – to pursue HEMA with real passion.
The HEMA community in the UK is incredibly diverse and in that lies its strength. I also think that its lineage and pedigree is unmatched – we have the likes of Alfred Hutton, Egerton Castle and Sir Richard Burton, who first pioneered research into ‘old swordplay’ back in the late 19th century.
Inheriting that mantle brings great responsibility and I believe that the UK community will embrace it.
Perhaps the biggest change I see in the future of HEMA – not just in the UK, but across the world – is the emergence of a thoroughly modern, sport-orientated approach. This has happened in virtually every martial art and is not necessarily a bad thing, just a different way to ‘play’, so to speak. Who knows – we may ultimately see rapier and dagger or longsword at the Olympic Games!
However, I believe that the hardcore traditionalists will remain as ever, and the serious scholarship side of things will continue to develop in tandem.
Above all, getting more people interested in their martial culture is what it’s all about and I expect the numbers of students to grow considerably in coming years.
What’s the best thing about being the president of the BFHS?
To quote Darth Sidious: “POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!”
No, seriously, it’s the people. Hands down. There are so many incredible folks out there who I cross paths with, both nationally and internationally, that it makes my HEMA life an absolute pleasure.
As an old hand, with 20 years of HEMA study under my belt, I particularly love meeting those who have only recently discovered it. Compared to where I started, pre-internet with grainy photocopies of period sources and few people to talk to or train with, they have access to an astonishing amount of resources and networking. Yet when I see the gleam of enthusiasm in their eyes, it takes me back to the beginning of my own HEMA journey – and that’s a feeling I can’t easily put into words. Magical, perhaps, but even that doesn’t do it justice.
I’m most looking forward to adding to the considerable amount of progress made by those before me. We have great things ahead of us, so watch this space!
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