From grappling to dagger and sword, HEMA stands for “Historical European Martial Arts”.
At Vaasa we train unarmed techniques, dagger, longsword, as well as armingsword and buckler. Possibilities in the future include rapier, and sidesword.
HEMA builds upon surviving historical manuscripts that describe principles and techniques of combat. We use the texts (and pictures) from Fiore dei Liberi, George Silver, Filippo Vadi, Johann Georg Pascha, Peter von Danzig, Sigmund von Ringeck, and Codex Wallerstein to name a few. More names and definitions for possible ventures: Bolognese spada da filo, Ridolfo Capoferro, Dominico Angelo, Salvator Fabris.
It is good to remember that western swordsmanship today has ventured far from it’s historical ancestry and no modern teacher can be said to know the old techniques for sure. As such, HEMA is always in motion as new interpretations emerge and are tested out. Severla hundred years ago someone has used these techniques in earnest combat, and it is up to us to find out how they work. Part of HEMA is the study of historical manuscripts for new (old) ideas. There they are, and therein lies the truth.
Due to restrictions on time and to promote even a slight change of grasping the idea we devote pre-agreed times for training of each system. During Mondays we focus on sources from the German schools, and Wednesdays are devoted to studies of the Italian manuscripts.
Due to restrictions on time and to promote even a slight change of grasping the idea we devote pre-agreed times for training of each system. During Mondays we focus on sources from the German schools, and Wednesdays are devoted to studies of the Italian manuscripts.
For class you’ll only need indoors sports clothes (long pants) and shoes. All other gear can be borrowed from VaMi. Later on buying your own steel sword is recommended.
We have an age limit of 14 years for participation in HEMA training, although courses for younger participants (7-13 years) are held if we find enough interested participants, so contact us if you are interested.
LINKS:
A good place to start:
HEMA at Wikipedia
The best place for historical sources:
Wiktenauer
Good place for online HEMA discussions:
Reddit r/WMA
A lot of information, including most of the manuscripts in common knowledge:
HROARR
Biggest HEMA-school in Finland:
Swordschool
One of the clearest and most well put-together demonstrations on a HEMA style.
Marozzo
Kudos for the above to Ilkka Hartikainen and Espoo Association for Historical Fencing.
EHMS
EQUIPMENT:
An up-to-date-ish list of all your needs regarding HEMA-stuff
http://www.hroarr.com/equipment/hema-equipment/
Their nylon swords are fast becoming the de facto training / sparring tool in HEMA. Admittedly NOT steel, but fun indeed. Used at VaMi.
Blackfencer
Peter Regenyei is a smith that creates high-quality weapons for low prices with mainly HEMA (which he practices himself) in mind. There are also options available for variation of the basic models. The federschwerts are a joy to handle and really durable.
Peter Regenyei
