hi, looking to get some workout done and this lhobby looks cool.
i like big swords but all the montante/greatswords i see online are steel and i dont want to look like a lunatic when i go to the local park. any recomendations? also euro stuff preferably.

I know spadroons have a mixed reputation, but I really got a synrthic spadroon from So Cal Swords and love using it. However, if I wanted to upgrade to a metal spadroon, does anyone have an idea where to go to? I have come across Castille Armory, but nothing else. I was wondering if anyone had any additional ideas?

I've been using the spes light duelling gloves (https://www.thehemashop.com/hema-gloves-light) over my spes AP light for synthetic basket hilt over the last year and its worked well. But now i have a steel basket hilt on the way i'm concerned about my lack of hard wrist protection, especially if i do mixed sparring against steel longsword occasionally. For longsword i use Sparring glove long cuffs but they of course dont fit in my basket.

What is a good hard wrist and forearm protector to keep my wrist and forearm safe? Preferably sold from UK/europe.

Can someone recommend me a HEMA club? I'm looking for a place where the instructor is well-versed in the Zweihander, but I am also interested in Longsword. Preferably the club has a large competitive scene, bonus points if the area itself is nice. I'm a digital nomad so I'm not constrained to any particular location, any club globally I can get a visa works.

• Thank You

I don’t live near any clubs that do any kind of hema, the nearest club is about 2.5 hours away, so theoretically is it actually possible to really learn from just manuals alone?

Is there videos on basics in swinging a Sabre.

A while ago I saw someone in this community comment that HEMA was still very niche, which is true. What surprised me was the estimate they gave of around 6000 practitioners and 187 clubs in Germany alone, which to me wasn't that few people.

I asked this same question to my club's director, who is a member of our country's governing body of historical fencing, and our club is the largest with 3 locations across the country, so I figured if anyone would know it would be him. He estimates that there are no more than 200 "consistent" practitioners and 15 established, active clubs that train regularly.

I know this will vary widely from country to country, and I imagine most people would be in the US and/or Europe, but I'm just curious about how widespread this is through the world.

Which treatise/master shows us the most complicated fighting style? I don't mean it's hard to understand because they're a bad writer or the cultural context is so foreign, I mean it's clear what they're trying to convey, but they're teaching the most unnecessarily overly complex system possible.

Currently looking at an Adeptus Mechanismus patch and QT HEMA patch, though the latter has proven somewhat elusive to locate

I skimmed through some old United States Marine Corp manuals around World War 1 and noticed a lot of the kicks appear to be moves from Savate and the same with a video I saw about the training for the OSS on Youtube (which was the predecessor to the CIA and the premier espionage agency during WWII from America). Just for a quick comparison I skimmed some Army and USMC FMs (what they call manuals for soldiers in the US military) and I don't see any Savate specific movies beyond using the toecap and heels for generic kicks in modern army stuff (though I have spotted some really Savate specific moves in the recent marine stuff like the coup de bas).

So I ask before the Cold War was Savate the biggest influence to the American military for hand to hand combat? Well at least for kicks and other leg strikes? If I want to give a specific detail for context almost all the techniques I seen across fight manuals from the American Civil War all the way to the first VE day focus primarily on boxing mixed with wrestling and common sense leg techniques like stepping one someone's foot during grappling. So even in the old stuff I come across, Savate still isn't used much. What I do notice is that when more advanced legstrikes that shown beyond kneeing someone in his private areas and Spartan kicks, is stuff like chasse lateral, coup de bas, fouette, and other Savate basics are taught but modified for the general soldier who aren't flexible and fore more practical realities (example the USMC manual shows foutte focused on the calf).

So I'm wondering can anyone give their input on this? Was Savate a major influence on the American military?

Afterall its quite famous that Sherlock Homes' style Bartitsu was famously taken from Savate and contemporary British military systems such as Defendu heavily used a number of specific Savate moves. Especially the version taught to commandos, spies, and other elite agents. So I'd assume its the same for the American military?

As a bonus question why did the American military practically completely abandoned any Savate influence in systems after the Korean War beyond the common sense "use the heels and steel toes of the boots to break bones" maybe perhaps except for the USMC? I can't find anything in army combatives outside of striking with heels and toecap in army combatives that looks Savate specific but I have seen the coup de bas in demonstrations on Youtube for higher levels of MCMAP and at least one instance of a reverse crescent kick (forgot the French word for the Savate specific equivalent). And even strategies that seem more associated with Savate such as throwing straight punches than sweeping someone with with a similar looking but different move to coup de bas but done from behind. So why did the Corps decide to leave some of the most pragmatic Savate moves in MCMAP unlike America's army who disposed all influence completely other than using specific parts of military boots to increase the destructiveness of the more MT and Japanese influenced kicks in modern combatives?

What makes me even more perplexed is that spies, secret agents, and other field agents in the American government who aren't military-based actually do learn Savate moves.Granted its indirectly from other systems like Krav Maga, Sambo, and Defendu and other Western military martial arts putting their influence into the stuff the CIA and other civilian agencies but the simple fact you can find modified variations of the fouette within them really makes me wonder why the US military except the Marine Corps completely abandoned any Savate fundamental 100% despite army experts like Matt Larsen supposedly going out to study different styles to develop the Modern Army Combatives? Why did the Marine Corp not follow this trend at least enough that I can still see stuff from WWII and even World War 1 era manuals in modern MCMAP that looked Savate specific?

A while back, I came across a company that sold synthetic scythe blades for Paulus Hector Mair scythe, along with a bunch of other synthetic polearm heads. I believe the company was based in Thailand, but I can't for the life of me remember their name, and google has been of no help.
Does anyone know who I'm talking about? Or did I fever dream this whole thing?

I'll be visiting the southern netherlands for work soon, and given the proximity to Antwerp I was curious if there were any kind of museums, exhibits, or other similar HEMA/WMA sites that would be interesting to day-trip to, Thibault being an easy point of reference. Any suggestions?

Now that Bloss ships to the United States directly (and HEMA supplies going dark), what are your experiences with Bloss?

Both quality of the sword and experiences interacting with the vendor? I saw a reddit post a couple of years ago about this topic, but no recent reviews on what they sell or the experiences with the vendor.

I'm most interested in longsword, but they have quite a few very beautiful things for sale on their website.

I've been looking at picking up a pair of Michaels, but they're only available in Regular/Large and Extra Large. The Regular/Large is listed for "23cm and smaller". My hands are 21cm around. I currently have a pair of SPES Heavies in size Small, which is listed for the same 23cm, and they're definitely too big (they practically fall off my hands).

How well do Michaels work for hands that are quite a bit smaller than 23cm?

It is widelly known that Dagger was a common weapon to be had by your side in warfare and in some instances, duelling.

Are there any good manuals that show the usage of the Dagger in close range after an initial engagemente with a Longsword or Polearm? I'm assuming the examples are probably mostly harnisfechten but if there are any blossfecthen ones too would be nice.

I'm trying to study more the techniques used to transition from engaging and binding with a Two-handed weapon but then drawing the dagger and using it in grappling or as a close-range attack.

I want to begin learning and work my way up of course but I’m interested in doing full armor fights if that’s possible in northern Germany.

In the shield I bought from a historical store which I assume is an authentic replica since its 10 pounds, the farthest front end of the shield i has a handle thta you grip with your hand. however the other opposite end of the shield, instead there's a strap that is less tight and has a lot more space in distance from the shield. So when I hold the shield basically it feels like rather than putting my whole arm into it,one end sorta feels like it dangles a bit while the other end which is the front most is held straight solid because my hand is directly literally holding that end since its a metal bar on it instead of a strap.

Now I seen other shields on google image exactly the same way across eras. Not just that but even shields that place the holders across your arms so your hand doesn't have to be death gripping the front end every time, there exists design where one opposite end has a loose strap thats a bit longer and has more distance away from the shield while the other end is so short and tight it literally holds your utmost wrist almost touching the shield in a similar manner to shields with one grip bar like mine. SO even though the front strop already gives you the convenience of not needing to hold something as tight as a death grip you can give, it feels similar in the sense the shield feels loopy loose on the other opposite end and the front most shorter tighter strap feels easier to control and is straight forward ahead at all times similar to models using a bar handle.

I ask what the point of the rear end straps closer to the elbow-shoulder area being held with a looser strap in contrast to the side near the hands being held tightly or you needing to hold it with a hand because its a metal handle rather than a strap?

I mean I seen shield models where both straps on either end hold your whole arm pretty close to the shieldso your hand is free to do other thinks like grab an enemy's arm and even models where despite the front end using a bar handle, the oppose end using a strap is pretty closely tight and short to hold your lower arm at the same length away from the shield as the front handle does.

So I ask whats the point of designing the rear end with a longer and looser strap considering there are shield models that hold both ends rightly at an equal distance?

The rules for the tournament (my first, yay!) state:

All feder tips must be covered with plastic blunts/leather/etc. held in place with tape of contrasting color.

What is the best blunt to use, or is there a super easy leather covering tutorial somewhere you guys recommend?

I had a friend mention to me that the idea of the meisterhau can be used in the bind, and, without leaving the bind, hit the opponent similar to how they are used when countering an opponent's attack on the approach.

The examples he gave are zwerch for high binds, schiel for more neutral binds, schietal for high binds, and Krump for neutral binds and precise sword work. He mentioned he doesn't think he can use the Zorn in the bind and it's the only one that cannot.

I get that most of the points in the manual are supposed to be generalized for a variety of scenarios, but I don't think I agree with this interpretation. I think the cuts and meisterhau are very well defined in the manuals. They can be used against a variety of cuts in a variety of situations, but I don't see how they can be used successfully in the bind itself, otherwise there would have been some mention of those.

I get that "if it works, it works", but...

Am I wrong here? Is this just a loose interpretation of the manuals? I feel like instead of using the strikes in the bind, there is a large variety of bind-specific work that can be used that is much simpler.

Original post got removed on HEMA for some reason so have reposted the full thing:

Something which hasn't been advertised (and deserves greater attention) is the translation of sections of two treatises by Hamilton Parker Cook on Wiktenauer.

· The first is the translation of Matrakci Nesuhi's 16th Century Ottoman treatise "Tuhfat al-ghuzat" (Treatise dedication to the Holy Warriors): https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Matrak%C3%A7%C4%B1_Nas%C3%BBh

· The second is a translation of a 15th Century Mamluk treatise Kitab al-makhzn: Jami al-funun (The Treasure: A work that Gathers Together Combative Arts): https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Jami%27_al-funun

The implications of these for people who want to do research on these parts is substantial and unfortunately, though published, Wiktenauer as been silent on these issues.

These work deserve greater coverage and attention, and I wish more people knew about these.

Disclaimer: these translations are specific sections, and the whole treatises are yet to be translated. However for people who are interested in fencing within the Islamicate (North African, Ottoman and Iranian) world these are a must-have.

Additional disclaimer: Nesuhi's section on sword use is for mounted combat.

My HEMA club Uppsala Historiska Fäktskola is hosting what we believe is the world's first competition in Dynamic Montante. It is live streaming now!

(Once the stream is available as a recorded version I will update with that link)

https://www.youtube.com/live/X59uCJRhpxQ