The members and instructors of Liverpool HEMA sometimes engage in community outreach to help spread information about the history and martial arts that we study.
If you would like to invite our club to do some community outreach at your event or for your organisation, you are welcome to get in touch with us about it. Outreach activities are done entirely out of the goodwill of our members and so we might not be able to help you free of charge, although commercial enquiries to hire our chief instructor to make a presentation are more likely to be successful!
Outreach events attended
2025 May – Liverpool Fire Arts Festival
Wojciech and Daria gave a demonstration of fencing with the Polish sabre at the open stage show to conclude the festival.
2025 March – West Derby Scouts
Keith gave an introduction to HEMA to one of the local Scout troops in Liverpool. The Scouts learned about fencing with the quarterstaff according to the advice and instructions published by the Scouts in 1925 for their original Master at Arms badge.
2024 March – Liverpool John Moores University
Keith was asked to give some practical workshops at Liverpool John Moores University, giving students a hands-on introduction to the rapier fencing in Shakespeare’s plays. The workshops were attended by a variety of students from the English, history, and drama departments.
2023 October – Bootle Children’s Literary Festival
Keith was invited to be part of the annual Bootle Children’s Literary Festival to talk about the topic of swords and historical swordfighting, relating it to literature in books and films. So we discussed a variety of sword types from throughout history, how the swords were used, and also examples of literature (including films and games) where characters might carry and use these swords!
2023 July – Society for Renaissance Studies
Keith was invited to join Rob Runacres at the SRS conference in Liverpool to give a presentation about HEMA. We talked about the development of martial arts in Europe over the centuries, we talked about the material culture of the swords and the fightbooks, and demonstrated a little about how and why the various styles and methods of use changed.
2023 May – Liverpool College Scouts
Keith gave an introduction to HEMA to one of the local Scout troops in Liverpool. For an hour, the Scouts learned a little about historical fencing with the longsword, with plenty of practical and hands-on experience, and about what some of the differences are between historical and modern fencing.
2022 November – Liverpool Women’s Charity
Keith organised a celebratory sparring fundraiser to mark an important life event, in which the club raised donations of £260 for the Liverpool Women’s Charity.
2022 September – Rainhill High School
Lewis organised a stall at the Rainhill High School freshers fair to talk about HEMA and to perform some demonstrations for the pupils.
2022 June – Liverpool Community Champions celebration event
Wojciech gave a presentation and demonstration of fencing with the Polish sabre at an event for showcasing the cultures of minority groups living in Liverpool.
2019 November – Leeds Beckett University
Keith was asked to give a pair of workshops to the Physical Education department at Leeds Beckett University, to introduce the PE undergraduates to 15th century physical training according to Pietro Monte, a renowned fencing master and captain of condottieri.
2019 October – Bebington
The club was invited to give a public demonstration about HEMA and what we do at the club, in front of a local youth group. Alex planned the demonstration, and with the help of a couple of other members, performed and narrated in front of the teenage audience.
2019 throughout – Norton Priory
Throughout the year, Marc was able to use the Norton Priory grounds for some training, taking the opportunity whenever possible to talk to members of the public walking by.
2018 October – Conwy
James organised for some of our members to visit Conwy to perform demonstrations as part of the festivals in the town for the World Shore Angling Championship.
2017 June – Conwy
The month before our club opened, Keith ran the Red Dragon Tourney event in Conwy as part of the town’s Tournament event for the Year of Legends. Part of the event included some hands-on, give-it-a-go sessions for the public, as well as the main feature of running tournaments in front of spectators by the sea! We even managed to recruit some of our early members as a result of having seen us at this event.