The modern training sword, or feder, as most people who practice longsword call their training weapons, serves as one of the keys to training in historical European martial arts. Without a good training weapon it’s very difficult to learn technique correctly, and the subtleties of correct execution will get lost. Unfortunately the market for training […]
From 2010 to 2012 I had the opportunity to study a branch of Gao Style Baguazhang under Robert Jay Arnold of the Tian Wu Dao, he currently teaches in Taiwan. You can find his Youtube channel here. Baguazhang, or Bagua, as it is more commonly called, became a leading style among the various Chinese martial […]
Yesterday I got my new Regenyei training swords in. Somehow the word feder has become modern parlance for these weapons, but that was not quite what they called their training weapons back in the day. So I won’t refer to them as feders. If you want more info on that please check out The Whatchamacallit […]
Every rule set I have observed or created incentivizes at least one suicidal behavior on the part of the attacker or the defender. I sometimes wonder if the issue runs deeper, to the very nature of armed conflict. A certain capacity to accept risk comes with the choice to fight, one might call it bravery. […]
Historical European Martial Arts (H.E.M.A. or HEMA) claims a very small percentage of the world, per capita, but in some ways the community has grown very large. The diversity of that community, in weapon systems, source material, styles, approach, practice, method, and to the community as a whole, gives us both the advantages and weaknesses […]
Hi, my name is Ben Smith, I research and interpret historical European martial arts. I specialize in the longsword style of Sigmund Ringeck. I’ve been doing it for twenty years, and I hope to do it for forty or fifty more. I teach, compete, and write. I’m pleased to announce that my first book on […]