HEMA is OK

  Welcome to Historical Fencing A couple of months ago I had my first chance to fence a bunch of people I didn’t know since moving to New York State at Fecht Yeah. It went well, and in the time since I’ve been thinking about some of the perspective shifts I’ve had since I started fencing in 2016. A large part of my training history has involved book and source study with the goal of helping others, and only in the last few years have I gotten the chance to focus purely on developing my own fencing.  I’m not currently coaching, but it feels like the easiest way to express some of my perspective changes over the last six years is to write as though I were explaining fencing to a brand-new fencer, or someone getting ready for their first training session - sort of like a “pre-class orientation.” It might sound something like this: ------- Welcome to historical fencing.  Whenever we start something new, the amount of information to take in is overwhelming. This is true for f...

A comment on https://www.reddit.com/r/wma reminded me I have been meaning to write up a little capsule review of the ProGauntlet, so this is as good an occasion as any. REVIEW BACKGROUND I paid full retail price for my pair of PG’s as part of the initial batch of gloves that were offered for sale through Purpleheart Armory whenever they first went up for sale. Both Purpleheart and Crossguard, the makers of the PG, were unaware of the possibility that I might write a review. THE GOOD The ProGauntlet offers outstanding protection for a five-finger glove. It is the best there is among non-metal five-finger gloves, and I've tried almost all of them. The design is great and very clever. I can feel the hits, but no discomfort at all, let alone pain. I completely trust my hands in them for full-speed longsword, messer, and a bunch of other things, which I have used them for extensively. Protection is comparable to a mitten glove. Some people had some issues with the finish on the first b...

Tl;dr: The artists at Landsknecht Emporium deliver again and very kindly indulged my request for a design that I cared about. Detailed pictures and a short video at the end of the post. Why Get a Messer   I’ve been without a good messer for fencing since I started fencing back in 2016. Messer fencing was pretty fundamental to German fencing culture for the period I focus on, and the first club I started at - bafflingly, in my opinion - doesn’t teach messer to beginners, so it flew under my radar for the first few years of my fencing “career.” Earlier this year I decided to rectify that, and got in touch with Tamas at Landsknecht Emporium to talk about a custom piece I could use for fencing. I wanted a thick-edged blunt version of their “Gottfried” model with some customizations - longer pommel, slightly wider cross, slightly larger nagel, a “fuller” on the grip slabs, and a few other things. We figured out money and got the order in.  I wanted one because in 15th century G...