page2
116
Fighting with the Longsword: Modern-day HEMA Practices
longsword fencing. “Art” and “sport” are used interchangeably and without ascribing a
fixed definition to either of the terms.
Historically, the sources distinguish between Blossfechten (i.e. fighting without protection),
Harnischfechten (fighting in armour) and Rossfechten (mounted fighting). This paper will
deal only with Blossfechten, the most common practice today.
II.2.
Drivers
The distinguishing feature of HEMA is that there is no extant authoritative tradition of
fencing practice; practitioners seek to distil the techniques from historical manuscripts
and printed works produced roughly in the time from around 1400 to the 17
th
C (for
longsword). Interpretations of technique vary by source used and the personality of the
modern interpreter. This makes for a wide bandwidth of “schools”; however, it is
common ground for most schools that the validity of an interpretation is tested in
tournament conditions.
Training for any martial art, today as historically, focuses on three key aspects: physical
fitness, technical fitness and mental fitness. Considering that the goal of reconstruction
generally is to reproduce a movement style or technical skills, our goal is to achieve an
as
large
as
possible
data
set
of
fencers
attempting
to
apply
techniques
in
non-
cooperative environments.
In our conception, enlarging the data set, and hence (hopefully) making conclusions
based on the data set academically more persuasive, requires a large and diverse body of
fencers, both male and female, and coming from a variety of back-grounds, be that
academic,
other
martial
arts,
other
sports,
historical
reconstruction/experimental
archaeology, and others. To attract such a body, HEMA must be accessible to modern
audiences, the equipment needs to be affordable and functional (and attractive), and
training practices need to be socially acceptable.
The larger the reservoir of fencers, the more good fencers there will be, and the more
diverse the ideas, the availability of infrastructure, and the incentive for trainers to focus
on the art. And, ultimately, public recognition and support.
This dynamic is one of the main drivers of HEMA, creating a self-reenforcing cycle
improving both the size and quality of the data.
II.3.
Equipment
Considerable research has gone into recreating longswords and fencing Federn
1
that
emulate historical objects found in museums. Other than the weapon, HEMA uses
1
A Feder is a training blade for longsword fencing, with blunt edges and a blunted tip, but other-
wise in the dimensions (blade ca. 100 cm, overall length ca. 135 cm), weight (ca. 1,400 g) and
balance of a longsword; historical Federn are extant from the 16
th
and 17
th
C, and Fechtbücher such
as that of Joachim Meyer show practitioners using Federn in Meyer’s salle; Forgeng, Art of Combat,
passim.