H.E.M.A
Q. What does H.E.M.A Stand for?
A. Historical European Martial Arts.
Q. What is H.E.M.A?
A. The interpretation, study and practice of Historical European Martial Arts using surviving treatises and manuals in conjunction with the study of biomechanics and combat theory in order to replicate historical and cultural martial arts in the most realistic and functional manner possible.
Q. Is re-enactment H.E.M.A?
A. No, H.E.M.A has more in common with Jujitsu, Karate or Krav Maga than it has with re-enactment as it is the study and practice of one or more martial arts.
While some H.E.M.A practioners are also re-enactors not all re-enactors are H.E.M.A practitioners or martial artists of any discipline for that matter.
Re-enactment is the practice of re-enacting battles in historical uniform or armour, in most cases re-enactors will not engage in realistic combat or apply functional techniques due to safety concerns.
Also not all groups associated with re-enactment actually re-enact battles but this also does not mean that they practice any form of historical martial arts.
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Q. Is Historical Medieval Battle H.E.M.A?
A. No, Ironically Historical Medieval battle also known as Buhurt or Battle of the nations is not H.E.M.A as its rule set and practices are not based on historical martial arts and a large number of techniques for both unarmoured and armoured arts left to us in medieval manuals would be banned under their rule set.
Again much like re-enactment some practitioners of H.E.M.A are also involved in H.M.B but these are very different hobbies with different aims.
Q. Is H.E.M.A all sword play?
A. No H.E.M.A includes a large range of systems from multiple centuries and countries, even the medieval Knightly arts include unarmed fighting but H.E.M.A also includes folk wrestling, self defence systems such as D.D.L.R Savate, Pugilism (bare knuckle boxing) along with self defence and martial arts which use spear, bayonet, knife, walking stick, umbrella, quarter-staff etc.
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Q. Is H.E.M.A okay for children?
A. Yes - with the caveat that we presently do not offer children's classes, though we hope to be able to in the future.
Traditionally many H.E.M.A arts would have started being taught at the age of 12 or even before - modern children would need to be aware of the seriousness of these arts however as we are not teaching re-enactment and even the sport fighting arts like Pugilism and folk wrestling have very unforgiving techniques when applied with force.
Q.Could H.E.M.A be used in M.M.A?
A. Some H.E.M.A arts such as Abrazare, Kampf-Ringen, Pugilism and Savate will have transferable skills which can be applied to M.M.A, some techniques will not be legal or will not be applicable i.e Savate uses shoes as a weapon during kicks where M.M.A is shoe-less.
Q. Why do some H.E.M.A groups not wear historical armour?
A. Because H.E.M.A is the study of historical martial arts and has nothing to do with historical dress or historical armour.
Our school allows learners to wear either historical armour or modern armour but prefer to avoid a mix of both at once wherever possible.
We value the experience of fighting in historical armour and believe it deepens the appreciation and experience of Historical Martial Arts, so we will never disallow it in tournament, in fact both our instructors prefer historical armour to modern armour.
Q. Could H.E.M.A be used in self defence?
A. Yes, There are multiple unarmed H.E.M.A arts which can be immensely effective in self defence situations, however historically even martial sports could be deadly so you must be weary of the techniques you train and apply especially when fighting on hard surfaces.
Q. What's the most effective H.E.M.A art?
A. The one you study and practice the most in the most realistic conditions.
A learners growth in skill and capability are a shared responsibility between trainer or instructor and learner/practitioner, to become skilled and effective in any martial art requires dedication, discipline and practice.
Q. Is H.E.M.A just for Europeans?
A. No, that would be the same as saying Karate is only for okinawans, Brazilian Jujitsu is only for Brazilians etc.
There are H.E.M.A schools all over the world with students, instructors and practitioners from all cultures, ethnicities etc.
Some instructors will be drawn to arts and systems from their own culture or heritage others may be drawn to specific periods, weapons or arts for completely different reasons.
W.M.A
Q.What is W.M.A?
A. W.M.A stands for Western Martial Arts
Q. What is the difference between H.E.M.A and W.M.A?
A. W.M.A covers living traditions such as Jogo Do Pau, Classical fencing, Sportive Savate, Catch as Catch Wrestling, Greco-Wrestling etc.
Q.Could W.M.A be used in M.M.A?
A. Some W.M.A arts such as catch as catch wrestling, greco-roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, boxing etc are very effective bases for M.M.A but not all techniques will be legal or functional due to difference in rule set etc.
Other systems simply wouldn't transfer to the m.m.a well such as D.D.L.R form of savate as it is designed around the use of shoes so the kicks would not be functional in bare feet.
Q. Could W.M.A be used in self defence?
A. Yes, multiple W.M.A arts are self defence systems, others are combative or martial arts, even the sportive arts such as wrestling and boxing can be immensely effective in self defence situations.
Q. What's the most effective W.M.A art?
A. The one you study and practice the most in the most realistic conditions.
A learners growth in skill and capability are a shared responsibility between trainer or instructor and learner/practitioner, to become skilled and effective in any martial art requires dedication, discipline and practice.
A.S.E.M.A
Q.Do you train Children?
A. Presently no, we have in the past and if we can raise enough interest we will look at running separate children's classes, in the mean time anyone under 16 years old would need to be reasonably mature in order to attend our present classes and ideally bring along a training partner approximately the same age and size.
Q. Since you focus on arts traditionally taught to men will you teach women?
A. Yes we will, we do not discriminate against our students as our school is solely focused on and dedicated to martial arts and nothing else.
Also historically some martial arts were taught to women, specifically Savate in France was well known for womens' classes which would include self defence both unarmed and with umbrella which at the time was a common item carried by females.
Q.Do you run Womens Self defence classes?
A. No, we teach D.D.L.R Savate which a brilliant system for self defence but we do not presently have any classes designed specifically for women only, if we had enough interested parties to make this financially viable we would consider it.
Q. How often do you see injuries?
A. Rarely, however due to the nature of the arts we teach injuries are always a concern which is why before we allow an attendee to assault/spar they must provide their own safety equipment and must be able to protect themselves in dynamic drilling.
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Q. Do you do belts or grading?
A. Presently no, attendees are coached through several levels of technique before moving to dynamic drills and eventually to the assault.
We hope to reintroduce a more formal grading structure for this along with the development of students towards interpretation and instruction but wish to avoid any kind of hierarchy or pecking order.
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