swords4all

[swords4all]

Letter Petrarch to Cardinal Francesco Colonna, sent on 23rd November 1343.

“Of all of God’s miracles ‘which alone are miracles’ nothing He put on earth is more marvellous than man. Of everything I saw today, which I refer to you in this report, the matter that stands out the most regards a marvellous woman from Pozzuoli, strong of body and spirit. Her greatest virtue is without a doubt that she has maintained her virginity despite living in close contact with men of arms; in fact it is said that the soldiers avoid assaulting her, even only in jest, held back more by fear of her than by the respect one must have for a woman. In fact Maria dresses as a warrior and not as a girl; she has a strength comparable to that of a veteran; she does not occupy herself with cloths, with needles, with mirrors, but with arrows, with bows and with lances: her face has no signs of amorous kisses or of the lascivious bites of lovers, but of wounds obtained in battle; she bravely scorns death. With her close companions she has been in war for years, a war that has already claimed many victims on both sides. She has fought often, alone or in the company of a few others, but until now she has always come out the victor of every conflict. She launches herself furiously into the mix of battle, sets-off eagerly, attacks the enemy with courage, prepares ambushes with guile. She endures with incredible patience hunger, thirst, cold, heat, tiredness and lack of sleep. Day and night, indefatigably she dons arms and she rests her limbs on a bed or on a shield as if it were a bed. These continuous exertions have altered her appearance in a short space of time. I had met her years ago when she was still a girl but today, when she stepped forward and greeted me, dressed for war and at the command of a small group of soldiers I was taken aback. Then beneath that helmet I recognised her femininity.”

[swords4all]

Women instructors, open to all!

On 5 May join us for the Spring Sword Workshops: Open to all (own gear is essential though) 6 classes, two hours of freeplay- all for £20!

https://manager.dojoexpert.com/student/register.aspx?g=bdf1bc7f-7f6e-452f-8985-0b4b34ec19b9&j

[swords4all]

HEMA women’s event in the UK 🇬🇧

Day one at By the Sword 2018. We had workshops on Fiore longsword grapples, Saviolo Sidesword and Italian rapier for beginners. Day two is tournaments!

[swords4all]

By the Sword 2018

A weekend women’s Historical European martial arts event to relax with workshops, freeplay, tournaments and fun times. We welcome transmen and non binary folk too.

The event will be suitable for all levels of experience, and classes will range from stretching and movement to grappling and striking, and all the way up to thrusting weapons.

Tickets are £50 for the full weekend and £30 for the Saturday (workshops) or Sunday (panel and friendly tournaments). Ticket prices include refreshments, snacks and lunch both days. There will be a social event on the Saturday night which all are welcome to. We look forward to seeing you!

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaxRYcKU7rH85oT9MHzBb712asuI8YFoGy-8_R7p-XaLQTtA/viewform

[swords4all]

Hey, I know this blog doesn’t give the impression, but I’m a NB person starting on Fiorist longsword dueling. For now, I don’t have a club (bad, I know, but there just aren’t any here), and I don’t have a decent waster (just can’t afford it), and honestly, this blog is a huge inspiration. The current face of HEMA is some burly masculine white dude, this blog really helps make me feel at home in the sport.

Anonymous

[swords4all]

[ID: a veteran fencer in whites with her mask flipped up, aiming her sabre at the camera.]

Connie Adam is 88 and still destroying in Vet-70 sabre!

[swords4all]

Day 333 of the 365 project by Chris Underwood.

The project being to take a portrait a day for a year.

I was lucky enough to be involved. Naturally I got the swords out to play, and used the opportunity to talk about HEMA, and shout about ladies with swords:

https://www.facebook.com/faceiro/posts/1146979975432733

[swords4all]

David Harewood in Robin Hood

[swords4all]

A Nobleman. Albert Eckhout.  Netherlands, 17th century.

[swords4all]

[swords4all]

Pretty cool!

Saviolo is just boxing with swords, so here’s a basic double outside pick up of their strike (following their point back towards yourself while displacing it and zoning your head away from danger, passing their sword off to your dagger to open the outer line, and thrusting to them after). Credit to Mike O'Brien for a great clip showing some very basic actions.

[swords4all]

Have someone in your corner

If you plan on competing in the future you need to get a buddy in your corner.

If you have a friend whose pools are at different times to yours and can corner for you, do it, it’s also a great opportunity to make a friend at the event and ask them. Return the favour. There are lots of knowledgable HEMA peeps at events, and they are all keen to help people out.

What do you need a corner person for?

Your attention narrows right down to a sword point in a tournament bout, you can only speak in monosyllables. Someone to handle the distractions and keep you focused is a huge boost

Practical stuff: Handing you snacks, water, holding your sword and mask so you can don your kit more easily. Have them bring all your kit plus spares, tips etc in case you need them.

Information: they can tell you how many points ahead you are, or what you need to score to get a lead. This is more important than the score, and frames the information into an understandable and manageable size.

Coaching: some corner people are actual coaches, they will call out advice to their fighter as the need arises. Some fencers can’t stand this so tell your corner person what your preference is. If your buddy isn’t that familiar with what you require, think about what your weaknesses are, and what you need to remedy them. Single word instructions are best. So things like “foot” if your front foot always turns away from the opponent, or “hilt” if your guard starts to drop. Etc

Just being there: knowing there is someone just concerned with your efforts is deeply reassuring. There may be no screaming crowds chanting your name with every cut and thrust you land, but a friend looking out for you and just being a pair of eyes is the next best thing. You can dissect the bouts together afterwards, and then you can do the same for them.

[swords4all]

Good times sparring at wsg this morning and filming for Astolat 2017 rulesets. Congrats to Smashas and James for their successes at Red Dragon Tourney longsword open today as well.

[swords4all]

“"It is a great mistake to suppose that women cannot learn fencing as quickly as men…the fact is the women are much the quicker pupils. They are more flexible of body; their limbs are more supple and elastic—that’s one advantage. Their mental brightness enables them to pick up the strategy of the art quicker—that’s a second advantage. And, thirdly, they have more nerve—it’s a fact; I don’t know why, but it’s a fact.”

This is a quote from Thomas Hoyer Monstery, a 19th century swordsman with a ridiculous combat record, who trained arguably one of the greatest swordfighters of her age, Ella Hattan.

He knew his shit.

EDIT: Ella Hattan was not the greatest "female swordfighter” of her age, she was just one of the best, period. In fact she ran out of opponents because men were afraid they would lose to a woman and refused to fight because they couldn’t handle it.“ Jon Mills

[swords4all]

HEMA in Malaysia 🇲🇾

Of course I like to be the odd one out. ;D