Medieval Sword School (HEMA)

German Medieval Martial Arts

Game of Thrones Wedding Ideas

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I was recently asked to provide some ideas for a game of thrones wedding.  Well my idea along with a bunch of others have been published.  It has been an interesting Game of Thrones 4 weeks for the club, first with appearing at Thronefest again, and now this..  If you are thinking about a Games of Thrones wedding, you might want to have a read… 

https://trulyexperiences.com/blog/game-of-thrones-wedding

If you are in Kent, and want to have something sword related for your hen or stag party, get in touch…

Shield Making Day

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In order to have a lower cost way of making our shields, Matt has come up with the idea to make a group day of it.

We just need to find a location where we can do this but here is detail. This will be July / August time….

These are the standard bosses for Viking shields.

https://www.gdfb.co.uk/viking-shield-boss-2mm-steel-battle-ready-diameter-19cm-bulge-125cm-weight-500g-1052-p.asp

I’d say another £10 for leather and £5 per shield blank. Add on Tony’s (Armourer / Shield builder) time and workshop consumables the total figure should be £35 per shield for the guys and girls to save up.

Depending on use, shield edges can be tacked (quick but less authentic and more weight) or sewn on (ball ache of a job but light, cheap and easily repaired).

Reenactors usually do 12mm thick to soak up the blows but 9mm (or even 6/8mm) should be sufficient for HEMA where the shields are used properly.

And, to match the shield diameter to the person, each individual should measure from their elbow to their knuckle and multiply that figure by 2 to get the “correct” diameter for each person, I find that smaller diameters work for me as the shield doesn’t get in the way of the hand weapon as much.

So the plan is we get people interested (that means you), you register and pay so we can order the shield bosses and raw materials.

Then you come a long on the day and finish the day going home with a round shield made just for you.

Who’s in? Not taking payment yet, just trying to get an idea of numbers. It will be Thanet / Canterbury based.

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

 

HEMA does GoT

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KDF Broadstairs attended Thronefest, the Game of Thrones event this past Sunday.  With lots of stars from the shows, a medieval village, traders, re-enactors and lots of attractions (Jousting / Wolves / Birds of Prey) to see as well as props from the Show.  We were invited to run a sword school which we gladly obliged.

The first thing to say is they promoted the event beautifully (massive queue) and it was very well laid it out too, we were practically the first thing people saw when they arrived on site, we had two early bird ticket holders literally launch themselves from the entrance at us – running, to book their workshop with us.  Ha take that John Snow!

The idea was to run 20 – 25 minute workshops on the hour and half hour but it was clear my vision of a organised timetable was going to be short-lived.

During the day we had a steady stream of people come and attend a workshop where we literally got them through a taste of Leichtenauer (5 Meisterhau and 4 Leger).

Everyone took turns and we gave people pretty much one to one tuition.  Not bad for a £5.  It was good to see students following my mad ramblings and teaching as I teach them.  Wow, this stuff sticks… shhh…

Our log showed we have around 30 participants during the day and we must have talked to a few hundred people during the course of the day as well.

Many cards were dished out and we already have enquiries for people attending practice.

If 5% of those cards turn into students we will need a bigger hall!  There is are also a vision now of a second school running in Canterbury. But we will see!

There were other reenactment groups on scene and of course we have Games of Thrones own sword master Syria Forel running sword workshops too.  I will not write down the words I muttered while watching the first 5 minutes of his workshop. I had to walk away otherwise I would have been arrested for assault.  Not good (from a technical point of view), but hopefully people that paid for it feel that they got their monies worth.

 I want to close by thanking our two sponsors that provided tools to help us run bigger workshops and it would have been the same without there support.

The KnightShop who provided some Rawlings Longswords and Kvetun Armoury that sent us two steel Feders (I can see these Feders becoming the goto for beginners looking for a steel.  They handle extremely well).

Sadly we were so busy teaching we forgot to take photos..

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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