Medieval Sword School (HEMA)

German Medieval Martial Arts

Bartitsu Workshop

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A man returns from South East Asia having studied a number of martial arts. He returns to London to set up a self defence club for well heeled gentlemen.

He feels that the gentlemen need self defence lessons as they are being attacked and robbed at knife and gunpoint.

The newspapers talk about endless gang violence and rising crime levels, police seemingly powerless to prevent this rise in crime.

He wants to create a system of self defence to allow his students to both surprise and defeat multiple opponents with anything he has to hand.

His club opens to a roaring success and publicity in magazines and newspapers.

A art for the age. A collection of techniques taken from a wide range of martial studies. A mixed martial art….

Combining stickfighting and boxing from Europe, JuJutsu from Japan , and kickboxing from France.

A popular art that levels the playing field in London and other major cities across the world.

But this isn’t a martial art from 2019.

Or even 1999…

This is 1899…. welcome to the world of Victorian Mixed Martial Arts…

Edgar Barton-Wright came back from Japan having studied jujutsu and opened a self defence school in London. He collected bits from various arts of the day and morphed them into a loose syllabus he called Bartitsu (which he named after himself).

This art is being reborn in clubs across the world and we are bringing it to East Kent on the 14th April 2019 – with an introduction to Bartitsu led by Tommy Moore from the Bartitsu Lab. We will be focussing on Vigny Cane fighting, Pugilism and Savate.

So if you want to truly learn some old school self defence, now is the time. We are taking bookings now. £20 for the day, all equipment will be provided. 10am – 4 pm.

St Georges School Broadstairs, kent

Moustache and tweed optional…..

Interested?

Book now…

https://www.paypal.me/jasonhulott/20

Then keep up with the Facebook Event page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/224189905164758/

#bartitsu #hema #victorianmma #mma

Indian Clubs and Historical Swordsmanship

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In HEMA, Indian clubs are becoming one of the go-to tools for flexibility and conditioning. It appeals to the historical swordsman as it has a history of working specifically for the warriors of Persia and India. The British brought back clubbells from India, and the military introduced them into training halls across military bases during the Victorian period.

One of the downsides is the cost of a pair of clubbells as these tend to be handmade and only a few places stock them. In a huge coincidence, I saw the Indian Clubs DVD being offered by Corsair Wares in Scotland, which I have now bought and watched. The DVD is very well produced. The backdrops are amazing and sometimes distract from what is going on.

The DVD provides a good basic level of clubbell exercise, nothing too complex, and has been developed with a HEMA Practitioner in mind.

I have also been talking to Neil Meekings, who put me onto Pahlavandles ™.

This is a hugely useful tool where sword practitioners can use Pahlavandles ™ to build up their own set of clubbells without the cost.

The Pahlavandle ™ fits carbonated drink bottles made of plastic. All PET soft drink bottle top threads are required use the international PCO28 norm.

At 20 cm length and 65 grams, the Pahlavandle ™ is easy to carry around. With an average diameter of 28mm, it is suitable for children, women and men.

The material used for the Pahlavandle ™ is food grade safe plastic. However, the Pahlavandles ™ are not designed for juggling or impact.

Adjustable weight

The unique design and features of the Pahlavandle ™ allow you to find the right starting weight, and progress to a heavier club as skills and strength improve. Experiment with different fillers to increase weight up to 3kg.

Audible Feedback

By filling the Pahlavandle ™ halfway, you can create a shifting weight.

This shifting weight provides audible feedback to help timing and coordination. A fluid swing makes no sound, letting you clearly know when you are swinging optimally.

Going large

They also have an extender to turn the handle into a mace configuration.

On top of this , the guys have been really busy and created an XL version which replicates the larger club or meel.  These are great as they collapse down and you can put your other handles inside.  Great for instructors looking to run classes – each XL can hold 5 pairs of smaller handles.  Great for circuit training too – two XLs and 10 pairs of Pahlavandle is enough for a class workout  We will be doing much more of this in 2019.

Ordering

We have become ambassadors for Pahlavandles and have agreed a great deal for bringing these handles to the HEMA Community in the UK.  If you are interested in a pair of these tools, visit: https://www.heroicsport.com/

 

 

Canterbury Medieval Combat

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We are expanding into Canterbury.  With two medieval universities in Canterbury and lots of requests to run something more local, we have taken the plunge and we will be starting fortnightly (2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month) practice to start at St Dunstan’s Hall Canterbury (7.30pm to 9pm).

We will be starting with Longsword.  We practice early German Leichtenauer tradition – so based on the 3227a Dobringer manuscript.

Keep in touch with the Facebook page especially for this group:

https://www.facebook.com/canterburymedcom/

Sessions will be £5 each and we ask for an annual fee payable in January of £20 to cover insurance (This covers you for both Canterbury and Broadstairs training).

If you are looking to treat yourselves this Christmas for practice equipment you can’t go far wrong with the Knightshop HEMA starter set of Mask, Gloves and Longsword.

https://www.theknightshop.com/hema-starter-kit-1

 

Clan Fabius – Defenders of Rome

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A history of the Republic’s most notorious family.

In the early days of the Roman Republic there was a clan whose men sacrificed themselves for the good of the republic. The book starts around 485BC and paints the Fabii as standing next to Romulus when the city was founded.

So you don’t really get earlier than that. The Fabii Maximi were part of military and political elite until the end of the republic, which ended with civil wars, political assassinations and political street brawls.

This family seems to be the first is a long line of famous Italian families that shape roman history. The Fabii almost has this mythical status and the author has done well to piece together sources to give us this history in a really easy to follow book.

Early and late Roman history is growing on me and this book goes a long way to fill in some gaps in the bigger history. My Roman history covers a bit of Roman Britain, but this book has created a thirst for more. The book covers the role of Fabii during the period of Hannibal’s invasion. While the author doesn’t come out and say the Fabii were the reason Hannibal was defeated at Cannae. The chapter on the Fabian way covers their response to the invasion and how they arrested the Roman army pitch battle defeats.

The book provides a huge number of resources in the appendix on Republic sources of information. This goes on to share online translation of republic historical sources.  Again I am amazed at howe  much of this stuff survives.  You see the ruins of Rome but I don’t think about all the documents that are still knocking around.

If anyone is interested in this period then this book is a useful addition to your bookshelf. It is a very interesting and slightly different look at Hannibal’s invasion and other wars such as the Spanish and Gallic wars.

You can buy this book direct from Pen and Sword Books

Please note I was not paid to write this review but was sent a review copy of the book. All comments are my own, and the publishers have not amended the review in any way.

About Us

KDF Broadstairs (Thanet Fecht Schule) is a German Longsword HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) Group based in Broadstairs, Thanet.

Canterbury Medieval Combat is a HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) Group based in Canterbury, Kent.

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