Historical European Martial Arts

Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) is a growing field of research into historical weapons and systems of combat.  Here at the University of Gloucestershire we are supporting that research by keeping old styles of combat alive. For those of you familar with HEMA, we study historical manuals of Fiore dei Liberi with a little bit of Wikenauer thrown in to mix things up. For those of you new to the sport, we focus on Italian longsword from the renaissance but sometimes look at German styles from the same time. If you fancy giving longsword, dagger and hand to hand combat a go pop along to one of our free sessions, no equipment of prior knowledge required.

Whether you are a HEMA enthusiast, a history lover or just curious - you are welcome to attend one of our sessions, which usually run from 6:30 8:30 on a Wednesday, Park campus, room TC007 (this may be a subject to change).

When attending society sessions:

 

Etiquette when training:

 

Should a call to "STOP" or "SWORDS DOWN" be issued by anyone within the room then everyone is to stop what they are doing and lower their weapons, points facing down towards the floor. This will be elaborated upon in the first training session

Please wear appropriate attire for exercise. Jeans or suit trousers won't cut it (Cut it.. Get it?.. I'll let myself out). Please wear either shorts or joggers, or anything you'd feel comfortable to stretch and exercise in. A tshirt is fine, something you can breathe in would be beneficial for you as the sessions will be physically demanding.

 

Bring a water bottle. Water will be available on site but bringing your own will accommodate your hydration needs.

 

Bring a towel. You won't regret it. You'll be sweating. And who knows when Vogons may attack?!?! Be prepared.

Please wear clean trainers or other shoes you can run in safely. On behalf of the society it needs to be shared that we have a responsibility to keep the rooms tidy throughout our use. Inappropriate footwear will also increase risk of injury to yourself and others should you trip in an unfortunate scenario and so we ask for you to take this into account and be considerate. If you come with sandals on for example then you will be refused to participate for health and safety reasoning.

 

If you have any long term health conditions or are vulnerable either physically or mentally for any line of reasoning or cause please don't hesitate to reach out It is best that the organisers know what obstacles you as individuals face so we are better prepared to facilitate what we can.

If you have suffered an injury which may impact your ability to safely participate in training we ask that you don't participate. This is for your own safety and health more than anything and we ask for you to take care of yourselves first and foremost.
We are an inclusive group, no racism or bigotry will be tolerated in any sense. If you have any concerns regarding this don't hesitate to approach either Jack Johnson or Robin Stonechild. Both have histories working with vulnerable and/or psychologically impacted individuals in various environments and are well suited to be approached in this regard. If you feel speaking to a person of the opposite sex would be in your better

interest don't hesitate to approach the university help desk and they will communicate to us only what we need to know to accommodate you.

Let's all strive to have fun and make the environment inclusive and engaging for all.