Alexander Kiermayer – Langes Messer – Drill to fight
Lecküchner’s fencing manual offers a seemingly inexhaustible catalog of techniques for fencing with the long knife. These techniques are often practiced in isolation. This is certainly important for understanding the technique. Nevertheless, there are often difficulties in applying these techniques confidently within the flow of a free fight. Cyclical exercises are a method for bridging this gap between individual techniques and free fencing.
In this workshop, we will develop various drills and cyclical exercises into which we can integrate individual techniques with the long knife (primarily from Lecküchner’s Fencing Book).
Gear
Fencing mask, gloves, forearm guards, knife simulator;
also great: neck guard, fencing jacket
About the instructor
Alex Kiermayer is a founding member and instructor at OCHS – Historical Martial Arts. He leads the OCHS training group in Pfarrkirchen and is an instructor in the historical fencing instructor training program at the Bavarian Fencing Association.
He has been training and teaching various martial arts from different cultural traditions since the age of 16. His serious engagement with HEMA began around 1999. The focus of his research lies in the historical martial arts of the German-speaking world, as well as the English martial art Bartitsu. Currently, he is particularly engaged in the study of mounted martial arts from various centuries.
Together with his friend Hans Heim, he has produced several instructional videos on the long sword and the long knife. He is the author of two books on Joachim Meyer and has taught various aspects of HEMA at seminars in many European countries.
Vera Martocchia – Sidesword
Seminar on Bolognese Masters with the unaccompanied sword.
Gear
TBD
About the instructor
Vera Martocchia discovered her love for HEMA, swords, and martial arts over a decade ago and has been passionate about teaching for more than 16 years. She is a professional sword‑fighting and fitness instructor specialising in Sidesword, Dagger, Sickle, Longsword and various other weapon disciplines.
Vera also holds advanced teaching qualifications in BodyCombat™, BodyBalance™, Pilates, and Kids fitness, bringing a unique and dynamic blend of her expertise into the classroom.
Mark Wilkie – Decoding the fight
A drill designed to develop the your sense of timing, distance, and tactical awareness through progressive phases. Each phase introduces new variables to help both the student and coach adapt to increasingly complex fencing scenarios.
Gear
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About the instructor
I’m Mark Wilkie, an instructor at the IHA in Dundee and a dedicated practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts with 16 years of experience. My main focus is German longsword, which I study and teach in the RDL style, emphasizing both technical precision and practical application. Alongside teaching, I am an active competitor, regularly taking part in tournaments to test my fencing under pressure and to continually refine my understanding of the art.
Cornelius Berthold – What if my opponent does not bind?
This is a recurring question prompted by the focus on blade binds found in MS I.33. Binds ensue when both fighters move their weapons into the central space between them. Luckily, securing that central space also works without a bind. In this seminar, we will investigate how the latter can be done, using counter positions shown in the book, such as the schutzin positions against cuts from above. We can thus become somewhat independent of our opponent’s behaviour and perhaps even start thinking about what to do against the “catapult fighters” frequently seen at tournaments in the HEMA community.
For beginners and advanced students.
Gear
Required equipment: sword and buckler; if you want to make contact during the exercises, we recommend also a 1600 N fencing mask, gorget, thin gloves and perhaps even chest protection.
About the instructor
Cornelius started Olympic fencing in Chemnitz in 2004 and found HEMA while dabbling in reenactment fighting. With some experience in German longsword, dagger, wrestling and 19th-century sabre, he has for several years focussed on sword and buckler fighting (MS I.33) and Italian rapier (Salvator Fabris and students).
In 2019 he founded his own school in Hamburg, DIMICATOR Schola. Besides teaching regular classes, he has partnered with Roland Warzecha to developed the DIMICATOR online sword and buckler course on Teachable. Cornelius is adamant that good fencing is both true to the sources and works for competition.
Silas Pröhl – A Scoundrel’s Guide to Saber Fencing
Practical instruction in concepts and training methods for tactical preparation for free sparring and tournament matches with the military saber.
Format:
- Application exercises, drills, and guided free sparring
Prerequisites:
- Basic understanding of the saber in the HEMA context
Gear
Protective gear (gear suitable for free fencing, from head to toe)
Sabers (a few sabers will be available for rent—but not enough for everyone)
About the instructor
Career counselor – Student advisor – Pirate
Active HEMA fencer with ASV Mannheim – Schwertfisch; since 2019, with a strong focus on competition (sabre and long sword).
Amelie Eilken – Half-Staff with Joachim Meyer
In this workshop, we’ll dive into the half-staff (halbe Stange) as described by Joachim Meyer in his treatise from 1570. According to Meyer, the half-staff forms the foundation for all long weapons, making it a great entry point into this part of his fencing system.
We’ll start with some core basics and look at the guards and some basic drills before getting into partner work from the bind (im Band). From there, we’ll explore timing and distance, one-handed strikes, and a disarm technique straight out of Meyer’s system.
Gear
About the instructor
Amelie Eilken began practicing historical fencing in 2014 with Hammaborg. Her primary fencing interest lies in the Renaissance longsword tradition of Joachim Meyer from the late 16th century. She is a founding member of the Meyer Class and has led the Meyer Class Women training group at Hammaborg since 2019. She was German Longsword Champion in 2020 and a member of the German national longsword team from 2020 to 2023.
More will follow….
