So, what is HEMA?

HEMA, or Historical European Martial Arts encompasses the study and application of martial practices of or relating to European cultures (think medieval knights or renaissance musketeers). 

What makes it stand out from other martial arts? When you think of martial arts you probably imagine white robes and black belts, but those fall under an umbrella of eastern style martial arts that have an unbroken lineage (That just means they have a line of students becoming masters and teaching that dates back to the genesis of the martial art.) Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your perspective, HEMA is a broken lineage, so a large part of what we do is living history or practical archelogy as we try to recreate the martial arts of the middle ages from the fragments of materials that have survived to this day. (Learn more about those sources here https://wiktenauer.com/). That means we have a lot of room for interpretation and HEMA is just as collaborative as it is competitive, as we try to discover forgotten pieces of our martial histories.


TLDR - We read manuals written by sword masters of the past to fight like knights today.