Our School
A.S.E.M.A (The Auckland School of European Martial Arts) was first created by in 2004 as part of the N.Z.S.E.M.A group in 2007 our main instructor moved from Auckland to Wellington and started W.S.E.M.A (Wellington School of European Martial Arts).
For a while A.S.E.M.A floundered and nearly died with several members attempting to run a number of classes with varying levels of success and even greater variation in historical accuracy and functionality.
Our present trainers have been studying, practicing and training in W.M.A and H.E.M.A systems on and off ever since in an attempt to keep A.S.E.M.A alive and have the school live up to the original design and expectation:
A school dedicated to the constant practice and refinement of interpretations of H.E.M.A and W.M.A systems in an attempt to replicate the original arts in the most functional and accurate way possible.
As we are now reaching a point where we are comfortable with how realistic our interpretations are becoming and wanting to reestablish the school with a larger curriculum we have decided to finally launch our own website instead of relying on a facebook page for advertising.
Our school has more or less kept the original culture and structure as the original designed, which is to say instructors facilitate training because they are the practitioners who have put the time and effort into researching and interpreting the arts they are passionate about.
We do not in any way encourage the kind of hierarchy divide seen in some martial arts and while we hope to develop a functional progression system we do not want a grading structure which may cause this.
Our aim is to empower learners and practitioners to study the arts which they feel passionate about and over time develop them towards facilitating training themselves or competing in local or national competition.
In the near future we hope to start publishing instructional videos for learners and practitioners on the different arts within our curriculum to showcase our interpretations and allow for students to practice in their own time remotely.
We also hope to reintroduce rotational 10-12 week courses alongside our present continuous classes and cultural calendar.
We hope this will allow us to not only increase the number of W.M.A and H.E.M.A systems studied in our school but also to offer opportunities for other practitioners to facilitate training and gain experience and exposure in instruction.
Our Instructors
Peter - Head Instructor - Manukau
I've been Studying, practicing and interpreting H.E.M.A systems for thirteen years and instructing them for eight, I think the mastery of a single H.E.M.A art or system is a lifelong venture, sadly I'm intrigued by a lot more than one.
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I work as a Trainer and facilitator in a corporate learning and development team, so instruction is both a passion and and a profession for me.
Instructing and coaching people interested in H.E.M.A and W.M.A was what got me interested in training but in turn I now use the skills and knowledge I've developed as a workplace trainer to supplement my delivery and training approach to the martial arts.
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Of all the arts there are many which I find fascinating but I love them each for different reasons, the raw functionality of the Liechtenauer tradition, the elegance of French smallsword, the brutality of the defense danse la rue system and the quirkiness of umbrella fencing to name a few.
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I hope that the interpretations and instructions our school provides will go some way to recovering these and many other H.E.M.A arts which have been allowed to die through lack of interest or inclination over the centuries.
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As we continue to refine our interpretations of the arts I aim to use our previous interpretations as stepping stones to allow others to learn from our mistakes and fast track their development within H.E.M.A and W.M.A
For more information about classes in Manukau or our school in general get in contact with me.
Dillon - Longsword Instructor - Glenfield
I gained and interest in historical martial arts when I started learning bare knuckle boxing as a teenager through one of A.S.E.M.A's previous instructors.
intrigued by the strength and safety assured by good form and timing my interest grew and I started to study other H.e.m.a arts specifically German longsword and Medieval wrestling.
I am forever fascinated in the application of the techniques and principles described in historical texts and hope one day to see a student truly master the application of these techniques breathing life into the art we spend our lives trying to recreate.
My training background partially comes from experience in the workplace where I have coached and mentored people through apprenticeships and through the application and growth of these skills in training and coaching people in H.e.m.a.
I believe that with proper use of master Liechtenauer’s system you gain the ability to ensure your own safety by forcing your opponent into defense and then compromising their defensive capabilities.
Where two fencers follow this system he who follows most closely the rules of the system shall conquer.
These things make teaching H.e.m.a and especially longsword truly fulfilling and one of my greatest passions.
For more information about classes in Glenfield .get in contact will me.