#newhemaclub

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Online Presence, Local Advertising

The last few months have brought little content from me. I simply haven’t had much to say about starting a club. I have simply been training my students and myself. In my personal life I have been busy. I’m going to school to decide what career I will do.

So let’s cut to the meat of the post. Your online presence is important. We can use social media to quickly coordinate classes, share pictures and video, and discuss this hobby. What’s more important is your offline presence. You need posters, cards, and to reach out to local communities. This may involve demonstrations and workshop classes. This may also involve lectures at local schools. One thing the NSA has had success with, is practicing in the public parks.

That said, a good online presence can make up where you fall short in local outreach. HEMA is getting larger. People are more likely to find your club through a website, Facebook group, the HEMA Alliance club finder, and local forums.

You will need Twitter as a quick way to make announcements for your club. It’s useful for that. And many people who are physically active use Twitter. You will need a Facebook group and page. Everyone uses it. If you don’t exist on Facebook, you don’t exist at all. Instagram and Tumblr are great for image sharing and micro blogging respectively.

Much of the HEMA community exists on YouTube. However many clubs use it for sharing interpretations, sparring, tournaments, and lectures. If you’re not ready for that content, hold off on video. However you can use it to upload private videos to share with more experienced instructors. Which can be a benefit to you.

You will also need your own website. I am personally allergic to technology, despite being twenty nine. Swords are pretty low tech, and the most new thing on my motorcycle is the steel braided brake lines. But I went out and designed one for the club. And using wordpress, it wasn’t that hard.

As a parting shot, remember that the web is great for reaching out across the globe. But boots on the ground are ultimately the way to get the most people in your club.

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Class Structure Advice

Most HEMA classes should, as a general idea, have a bit from the source material, fitness, and some more skill building.

I'm creating new lessons with a ratio of 1:2, as a general rule.

Individual lessons will change that mix around. And smaller or newer clubs will tend to spend more time with the source material. This is normal.

I tend to start with fitness. Then it's on to basics, such as footwork, wrestling, and guards or cuts. Then tactics, then drilling plays.

But, once more, these are rules of thumb.

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Fitness routines, body safety

While your club gets the nose to the grindstone, you need to consider incorporating a fitness routine. Something you can recommend to your students. Both in their free time and in class.

We practice footwork, we run, and we do a small amount of strength training through solo drills with our swords. Some of our students take up additional swords to inform their longsword skills.

We have one student practicing with the Montante, and as a result his longsword is more fast and fluid than before. We also have myself and another instructor who practice with a sidesword. Thirdly another student recently took up practice with the basket hilted broadsword. These two developments are a little new to claim results.

That said, fitness is important to build a safe body for fencing. You don’t need an expensive fitness center with the latest equipment. You don’t need a hot yoga class to supplement your HEMA.

What you need, at the end of the day, is body weight exercises, cardio, weights to lift, and to do a few natural form exercises. Such as kettle bells or indian clubs. I will not give advice on specific routines. I am not a qualified fitness instructor.

I will tell you that there is a lot of bad advice out there. I recommend doing research and checking multiple sources. Make sure to not completely rely on students taking initiative for their own fitness routines. Build a basic warm up and open with it every lesson. Do footwork during every warm up. That’s betterthan nothing.

Emphasize to your students that they need to make their body safe for fencing before they begin sparring. Fitness reduces the chances of strains, tears, and pulled muscles. It also increases health for your every day life. It also reduces the chances of workplace injury. There is no reason to not be fit while practicing HEMA.

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Manuscript Selection, Training Methods

A very important part of starting your school will obviously be selecting a weapon and the accompanying manuscripts to study from. This will distinguish your club from those surrounding it, and lay down the ground work for any future study you do. Another very important part, of course, is training methods. The type of training, the intensity of it, and so on. This will contribute to the culture of your club. And importantly will bring out the desired base level of athleticism in your students. You will have to consider your goals when choosing a weapon and manual. Do you want to find out how a certain weapon was used? What time period or place are you interested in? Are you interested in interpreting the manual 100% accurately? All of these questions will determine your goal with HEMA. Some people want to interpret a certain text, or group of them. To zero in on a small time and place, showing how the weapons were used from that context. Some people don’t care as much about the historicity of their study, and wish to understand the weapon in completion. Still others want to become the very best, that no one ever was. You, as the founder of the club, must consider every possible reason for a student studying HEMA, and bring them the options they desire. Make available the documents you use to your students. Give them the lessons about history, show them the complete study of the weapon, and give them the skills to excel in the sparring environment. Give them a strong community and the physical training they desire. I cannot give you a true recommendation, as the variety of texts available to you is staggering. However I will recommend that you find one that’s comprehensive. You’re looking for a text that covers your weapons in-depth. Accompanying secondary sources on YouTube, in books, and on articles, also helps a lot. Looking for other clubs that study your primary source will be important. Establish a good rapport with those clubs. The Niagara School of Arms decided to study Fiore dei Liberi as our beginning manual. This is because Fiore’s text covers many comprehensive plays. The only thing it doesn’t truly cover, is distance and timing. But those concepts are available to us in other manuscripts. And they’re fairly universal fighting concepts. We also have clubs close to us that study Fiore, but are far enough that also studying Fiore wouldn’t be redundant or bring members away from each other. This works out in both of our advantage, as having a larger pool of Fiore students will benefit both schools. But dare I say that the NSA benefits more, from AEMMA’s previous research, and it’s more experienced members. Training methods will be important, as they’ll also shape the goals of your club. Who you will want to attract and keep, the level of fitness in your club,  and so much more. You should be practicing footwork at every lesson. Open with it. Footwork is the alpha and omega of fencing. The NSA also uses a basic “fencing tag” game that emphasizes footwork and the feeling of pressure and binds. It also works on distance, and can be done with no safety gear. You use the palm to strike the front shoulder or upper chest. No fingertips. The arm and hand can be used to move your opponent’s hand aside. Tag and get a point. Be tagged in return and it doesn’t count. We also use a modified “push hands” drill, where we stand with our feet shoulder width apart, and try to push each other off balance while retaining our own. It works well to show people pressure in binds and grapples, and gives them a sense of their balance. We also use good old fashioned running. Beyond this, I am not qualified to give instruction on. I admit I don’t know very much about fitness instruction. I’ve adopted these at the recommendation of local martial arts instructors, and through discussion with other HEMA instructors. I cannot give you a complete lesson physical fitness. But this stuff is rather basic, and can serve as a good basis for introducing people to fitness in HEMA.

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Possible Posts, Probable Plans

I have two ideas for new blog posts in the near future. One is to talk about HEMA’s impact on how I view media. This would cover historic documentaries, shows and films, fictional stuff, and other things. Another is to possibly talk about how I’m not the best fencer in my own school. The expectation of perfection on the instructor, and how an instructor is capable of making mistakes. And how to correct those mistakes while not losing the confidence of your students. My school has been going great. We have an influx of new students. New swords are coming to my door within the week. Purple Heart Armoury was excellent in shipping them out quick. I reached out to the SCA and got some interested students. I had fun at their fight night. Three of their members had fun at our night. We all see this as more opportunities to get together and hit each other with swords. This arrangement so far can only work out positively.

I wish to reach out to other local martial arts communities. I know you can’t really steal students from other arts. Martial artists tend to want to focus their training. Trying to convert students is probably also not a good way to go. But I wish to make ourselves known in the local MA community. And to build good rapport with them. They also have easy access to mats. Those are good for practicing Abrazare. Gotta start getting thrown more. Getting thrown onto hardwood seventy two times sucks. I also wish to do more lectures, and maybe one specifically aimed at the community at large. That may have to wait until after I get some steel and gear.

The plans for a Monday evening class are going forward nicely. They’re going to happen sometime in April, and that’s pretty swell. I’m glad we can get this going and I’m going to look forward to running a two month long trial of second classes.

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Establishing a Club and Finances

Unfortunately I do not have very many tips about saving money. I’m actually really poor with finances. Luckily HEMA gives me a goal to use my money for, which helps me save. That said, I want to talk about how starting my own club has affected my goals in HEMA.

I pay for the hall at Niagara School of Arms, and the insurance. I try to share the cost as much as possible with my fellow students. However I do not hold them to any obligations of paying extra after they have paid club dues. Sometimes there are not enough dues to share the entire cost, and that is totally fine with me. I know in my mind that if I did not need to pay for the hall out of my own pocket, I could pay my own due into a club account and let the insurance and rental money come from that. That stability would then let me purchase my personal HEMA equipment at a far faster rate than before. I’m currently struggling with the knowledge that I could have a much better collection of swords, safety equipment, and other things I desire to advance my training. But the other option is to not have a club, and that gets me (and everyone else) nowhere. I am currently at the stage of purchasing club equipment. This does not bother me because a purchase for the club can be made back, which can then be reinvested into the club. I resell the swords I purchase from Purpleheart, which lessens the financial issue. That has been a good strategy. We take club orders together and save some money that way. Currently the Canadian dollar is weak compared to the USA and the Euro. So any purchase will take a hit with the exchange rate. Followed by any import taxes, and shipping fees. I cannot guess what these would be like for your country. But I highly recommend you look at the options available to save money. And bundle up gear to buy. In the meantime, if you start a HEMA club, consider the financial impacts of being first. Financing a club is not a casual fun evening. It is a social responsibility. It is an obligation that you should not back out of, unless it is out of your means. If it is, consider asking help from your community. Save money, start a club-specific bank account. Get the club established as an official business. If you have the account, put payments through the account. That will soften the impact on your personal finances. Currently I am thinking of ways to get this club to be less of an impact on my own finances. This may mean looking into business assistance from my government. It may mean community fundraisers with demonstrations. I do not want my members to be the only people paying for the club, and when we get enough members, I want their dues to come back to them in a shower of club gear and training equipment. But those are goals. There are many things I admire about HEMA. The never ending personal and club goals definitely is one of those things.

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Next Article Ideas

For the people who read this blog, I want to ask if you have any questions about what it’s like to be new at fencing, while teaching it. I come across a few challenges that are fairly unique. Getting me to vocalize about them may help others gain insight. And it may help me organize my thoughts more. An article I want to talk about is the struggle of financing a club. It’s definitely not for everyone. I find it more difficult to afford fencing gear because I keep paying rent for our hall, and insurance. I do charge my members for the classes they attend. But so far it has not been enough. However I do not mind the financial challenge. Give me a few days or so, and I should be able to write that up.

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First Times, Rare Privileges

Something remarkable happened in my journey of HEMA last Thursday. For the first time, I have spoken publicly. I was talking about the lessons I teach at the Niagara School of Arms. I had the privilege of speaking at Brock University. It was the first time I did a real presentation since elementary school. I kinda skipped out on doing that in high school. I was a terrible student and a lazy teenager. While I was there, I had the attention of about thirty or so people. I talked about what HEMA is, the process of reconstructing fighting techniques, and the difficulties I come across. I talked about myself. I talked about Fiore, and the system of Amizare he constructed. I had many questions asked to me, and I answered them well, I think. The room was full of attentive people, and I highly enjoyed it. I performed a small demonstration with the other main instructor, and he did very well. We had people come up and try out some of the safe and simple techniques present in the system. It was definitely easy to get people to learn pommels and peasant strikes.

Months ago, this was originally planned. Then myself and the professor I planned this evening with got extremely busy. Finally we set a date, and we did it. And I am very glad that it happened. I would definitely do something like this again, and gladly. I had so many butterflies going into the discussion. I was nervous, and I could not focus on practicing on Wednesday evening. I did forget some of my specific talking points. But I did have my general ideas on my phone, which really saved my bacon. I’m glad for that. I think I did a good job for HEMA that day, and I would totally look forward to doing more in the future.