What is HEMA?

Young Knight, learn to love God and respect women, that your honor may grow… Practice the knightly arts that dignify you. Wrestle well, grab the lance, spear, sword and knife, handle them manfully so that they are useless in your opponents hands…

-Johannes Liechtenauer, Recital on the Chivalric Art of Fencing, 14th century

HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) is the modern movement to interpret and revive European fighting arts dating primarily from the 13th-19th centuries. By it’s nature, HEMA is a broad field of study yet is defined by it’s interpretation existing period fencing treatises. The earliest known surviving European fencing treatise dates from around the late 13th century, known as m.s. I.33 or the Walpurgis manuscript, it details a complex system of sword and buckler combat. European martial arts surely date before this time, unfortunately no known earlier manuscripts survive, thus attempts to emulate earlier fighting systems remain purely speculative and are outside the realm of modern HEMA. Over the proceeding centuries, many fencing masters left detailed treatises describing their fighting systems especially throughout Germany and Italy during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The sources dating from these periods form the core of modern HEMA practice. These martial arts were largely lost and forgotten for centuries, yet thanks to the surviving manuals, reconstruction of these arts was possible. After decades of extensive research, training and interpretative work, modern HEMA has come a long way in understanding and rediscovering the centuries old fighting arts of our ancestors. Laid out in these fencing treatises are very sophisticated and complex systems of combat, detailing an array of weapons systems in varying contexts, from unarmored fencing with various weapons, in the context of a judicial duel/self defense/competition as well as fighting in armor on foot and horseback.  The scope of HEMA is quite large, and many clubs choose to focus on a particular master’s work, tradition or specific time period.

NSHF’s training focuses on the Medieval and Renaissance era treatises detailing fencing with the longsword, rapier, dussack/messer, dagger, and sword and buckler. Specifically the works in the “Kunst des Fechten” tradition of 14th century master Johannes Liechtenauer form the core of our training. The Liechtenauer tradition flourished throughout Germany well into the 17th century. Our secondary focus is the 17th century works in the tradition of the Italian rapier, specifically that of Salvatore Fabris.