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 100 participants on top of last year’s attendance. And now, Esfinges has reached a membership of 1000.
One thousand women. With swords. How cool is that?
I consider myself to be very lucky having been there from its inception. Ken Dietiker put me in touch with Mariana Lopez and I was inspired, having met a few women at events, to try and get us all connected somehow, see what common experiences we share, and learn from one another. In three years we have added a US and European store, got over 3000 followers on our public page, and brought out arguably the coolest (if not the most painful to produce) rashguard the world has ever seen. This weekend we will all gather round our screens – those not lucky enough to be there – to watch the finals at Swordfish, now in its tenth year. Among the contests will be women’s longsword, with five, FIVE pools. The first women’s longsword tournament had four participants. This is progress and it’s exciting to think where it will lead.
We’ve been Back to the Source and now it is time to go Back to the Future.
HEMA is achieving publicity, thanks to the hard work of many of its members. It’s in the mainstream press and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Game of Thrones. Whether we like it or not, tournaments are a driving factor, and all this publicity means that its popularity will increase.
There is a wealth of information for the would-be beginner HEMAist, but even before they reach that stage there is a large barrier of common misbeliefs about swords and swordplay. As our ranks increase, we as a community have a responsibility to help those that seek our advice, educate them about the sources, the history, the community and how to be a part of it.
Our website, when it is reborn, aims to meet the needs of the beginner, in the same way that the Wiktenauer points researchers towards sources, and the HEMA Alliance page has its club-finder. We want to create a bank of FAQs to help ease newbies decision-making. We want to continue to grow our group, and ensure that women never feel that HEMA is not the right choice for them, simply because they are female. We want to continue to show that swords and historical European martial arts belong to everybody.