Today we can celebrate the 2 year anniversary of Liverpool HEMA opening its doors!
We had our first session on the 19th of July 2017, and it has been a lot of fun since then. Quite a few of our current members have been with us since the club opened and many more have joined since then. It is a healthy and thriving club with a lot of different people from different backgrounds and walks of life!
We have been continuing our study of 16th century gemeinfechten (common fencing) with the longsword. There is always so much more to explore with this subject, so many more sources to examine and to integrate into our practice and understanding! We have also begun to dabble a little more with some of the Liechtenauer material – partially to flesh out our understanding of techniques and tactics, and partially to provide material to let us compare and contrast with the common fencing ways of doing things.
Our monthly sparring days have been going well. Not only have we had the opportunity to put our techniques and skills into practice, we have also had the opportunity to look at a variety of other HEMA disciplines, including singlestick, sabre, medieval wrestling, medieval dagger, and dussack. Items in the pipeline for the next few months include Indian clubs and also armoured combat, so keep your eyes peeled!
Our second group of assistant coaches are currently going through their coaching training. We are blessed to have a healthy number of assistant instructors in the club, and soon we will be able to recognise a few more. It is one of my goals for the club that there will always be people whom you can ask for help with a drill, or advice about how to improve your practice or deal with problems you are experiencing. By helping our more advanced students develop their skills, experience, and confidence first as coaches and then as instructors, we can create an environment with many people able and willing to help whenever the opportunity arises.
I am looking forward to another year of training with you fine people!
