5… Five. A really nice round number. 5th GA, practically 5 years and IFHEMA does not only exist, but even managed to grow in numbers, through regretfully losing a member on the way. After Sweden joining last year and Russia increasing our ranks this year, we are 14 members strong. On the way we also managed to create an IFHEMA dedicated tournament, the IIC, that had its second event this year in Lisbon, and we are looking forward to not having such in every second or third year, but yearly: for 2019 Toulouse in France, for 2020 Győr in Hungary will be host of both the yearly General Assembly and the IFHEMA International Cup. Seeing the success of this year’s event in Lisbon with 130+ athletes I am very optimistic and looking forward visiting the venues.

 

Until then we continue our work. While Falko Fritz from Germany (former Vice President) and Matyas Miskolczi from Hungary (former Treasurer) are leaving the board after being part of this journey straight from the very beginning, we welcome new members in the person of Karin Verelst from Belgium (Vice President) and Filipe Martins from Portugal (Vice Secretary) to the present group of Wiebke Etzold from Germany (Secretary), Dieter Bachmann from Switzerland (Treasurer) and Gábor Németh form Hungary (President). Falko and Mátyás have left huge shoes to fill being solid and devoted members of the Executive Committee. They are stepping down with the firm promise, and I won’t doubt it for a minute, that they won’t disappear into the mist but stay around to offer support for the cause of IFHEMA in one way or another. I am grateful for all their hard work and contribution and really appreciate any help they can offer in the years to come. Thank you!!!

It is worth looking back at these 5 years, because they are not without achievements. But we also need to look forward and take those matters into account, that come as a kind of warning sign from the past years.

It is worth looking back at these 5 years, because it is not without any achievements, but we need to be even more forward looking taking those mattersinto account, that come as a kind of warning sign from the past years. In short: ensure, that IFHEMA is visibly, clearly working towards goals that are meaningful for its members and the HEMA community in general. However, we are looking at a chicken and egg problem: the members are hopeful (at least I assume), that IFHEMA will grow and fulfil its purpose. Yet, IFHEMA will not be growing simply because we wish it would.

 

I see three challenges for the coming years: 1) identify, how we can extend our reach and involve more groups into IFHEMA, one way or the other. Whether it comes through membership or meaningful, strategic alliances, it is somewhat secondary. 2) convince the member federations to dedicate more resources to IFHEMA: work in the commissions, bring our social media alive by sharing news and making noise, express expectations to which they are also willing to dedicate resources and allow our patronage, now only in name at least, for any event that is meant for HEMA public beyond borders. 3) engage the HEMA community: primarily those of our members, but not in an exclusive manner. I expect and partially experience, that there is scepticism towards IFHEMA: either people don’t understand, what IFHEMA was founded for and they don’t even care, or it is not actively promoted among or members.

 

What can IFHEMA do for you? For now, it is rather the case and please rather consider: For now, and in this situation, please consider: “What can I do for IFHEMA?” It is our kid and it’s still small. We need to nurture and help it grow so in the future it can really be the institution, that represents HEMA in all manner according to the values and goals that the HEMA community itself holds dear. Sure, it is cool to say, but sorry to bring it to you: none and nothing is born ready, not even you.

 

You are not yet there you say? In experience, in organizing, in whatever. Does not matter. We will never really be “there”, because there are always new goals to pursue. But we will definitely never get there if we don’t act on it.

 

You don’t have time? That I understand: we all have our family and our work to consider first, then our free time activities, our own club and own federation. I hope there is still some time there that you can offer to this cause. Or look for those, that are willing and can do and bring them on board.

 

You have doubts, concerns, dreams. Perfect! Please, share them, and do so in a constructive way. I have great ideas, but I would rather act on what is important for you. My task is not to bring my own dreams come true, unless they match that of the community.

 

I thank you, if you have been on board and you decided to stay. I thank you if you are only joining and want to be part of it. I applaud you, if you offer us your ideas, time, devotion and trust. I thank you, if you took the time to read this trough and you find your message within.

 

With this, I would like to wish all of you and your beloved ones Happy Christmas! May the New Year find you in joy and good health.

 

Stay Well!

We offer sincere congratulations to Associazione italiana Maestri d’Arme (AIMA) and Società di promozione dell’Arte dell’Armi (SPADA) for their success at promoting historical fencing (scherma storica) in the modern Italian society.
We were happy to read the news of SPADA becomming officially attached to the Italian Fencing Federation and of the AIMA successful bidding for the Italian Fencing Federation to recognize AIMA teachers and titles.
Furtmore, more congratulations are in order, because of the news that scherma storica will feature as the guest combat sport at the 2019 European Games as presented by the Italian delegation. We eagerly await further news in that regard.
We wish the organizers and all participants further success and much joy in their work.

The Executive Committee of IFHEMA

IFHEMA upholds key values of transparency, good governance, responsibility and striving to contribute to better societies. These are a part of our mission statement and rules, which all members and offices have publicly committed to and on which they base their activities. We strongly encourage all HEMA practitioners to subscribe to them.
We firmly reject any form of discrimination based on gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, background, culture and ethnic origin. We reject every socially unacceptable, irresponsible and unethical activity, and condemn actions against human dignity.
HEMA originates from European history and traditions, but as a martial art, sport and modern concept, following the philosophy in spirit of which it was and is revived, HEMA is open for all and inalienable from anyone.

With friendly regards,
IFHEMA Executive Committee

Gabor Nemeth, President

Hungarian Longsword Fencing Federation (MHS) held its national championship in federschwert and padded longsword in Budapest.

22 fencers from four clubs registered to fight for the title in the discipline of the steel federschwert, while the padded longsword pools welcomed 21 fencers. After a day of hard and tense competition, managed by the expert MHS crew, the results list as below:

Federschwert:
1. András Módos (Kard Rendje)
2. Péter Regenyei (Ars Ensis)
3. Richárd Pávay (AULE)
4. Péter Faragó (Ars Ensis)

Padded longsword:
1. Máté Nagy (Ars Ensis)
2. Csaba Erdei (Ars Ensis)
3. Réka Gulyás (Ars Ensis)
4. Márton Kovács (Ars Ensis)

Congratulations to the winners and all participants of the championship!

The next tournament of the Hungarian Federation should be the Bicornio in August. More info to follow.

Dear HEMA communities,

with our first short message we would like to present the newly elected Executive Committee for the period of the next two years. We are confident, the challenges ahead of us and how we will tackle them will offer a fair chance to evaluate our actual contribution in the coming years.

We would like to take the opportunity to welcome Portugal among the members of this young Federation. All signs indicate that we can be optimistic about the future steady growth of our ranks as countless federations – and not only in Europe – show interest applying for membership. Of course all these federations need to be aware, that we have strong, definite values, which we expect all members to respect and firmly uphold as their own.

For the remainder of the year, we ask all of you to pause a bit and consider how far we have already gotten since our foundation in 2014. Yes, there is still much to be accomplished, but we always have to find time to celebrate and appreciate what we have so far achieved.

With this we would like to wish all of you and your beloved ones good health and peaceful, blessed Holidays.

With friendly regards,
IFHEMA Executive Committee

Gabor Nemeth, President

Falko Fritz, Vice-President

Eugenio Garcia-Salmones, Secretary

Matyas Miskolczi, Treasurer

Dieter Bachman, Vice Treasurer

Delegates of IFHEMA member federations shall convene in Hamburg on 3 December 2016 for the third session of the General Assembly.

Their mission is to represent their respective federations, so that they can build the future of their organization together.
The host of the event is the German IFHEMA member, DDHF, while the on-spot organization is managed by the well known local HEMA club, the Hammaborg.

The Executive Committee is in charge of the preparation of the Agenda, the key document for the General Assembly. As always, all preparations are undertaken in cooperation with the member federations and committees.

By Roman Vučajnk

A success story of how an idea hatched on a bus grew into the first international competition of International Federation for HEMA

Competitions are not the only aspect of HEMA activities, yet nowadays they attract hundreds to modern arenas, where martial athletes fight to honour the European martial legacy in a respectful and regulated environment.
There are many systems to choose from, they vary in disciplines based on particular weapons, rule sets, judging infrastructure and in the local atmosphere created by the hosting clubs. Individuals can now fight in various club and event tournaments, leagues and national competitions.

Only years ago, competition were largely friendly encounters of enthusiasts exploring the sport side of historical martial arts. Today, the largest competitions take place in large gyms and sport halls, with trained crews of judges, referees, floor managers and administrators taking care of every detail.
Carefully planned rule sets keep getting re-evaluated and optimized for a maximum sport experience, equipment standards are focused on protection and efforts are made to have finals streamed live on the internet.

Teams and individuals alike pay attention to their training practices and fighting skills. While a number of fighters aim to win titles, there are many who join the competitions only for fun of the game. Regardless of their motifs, every competitor receives a big share of respect within appreciative HEMA communities. Rightly so, as with the effort and time invested into training, dedication and courage mustered, the HEMA athletes also nurture a vision that reaches over political and cultural borders, and display core values that larger HEMA community is based on.

 

The idea

A sense of belonging to this big family of Hemaists and a desire to contribute to the development of the community motivated a group of Hungarian Historical European martial artists returning from the Dijon HEMAC event to plan hosting the first competition within IFHEMA.
Very soon, a straightforward proposal was presented, first to the Executive Committee of IFHEMA and later to all delegates at the session of the General Assembly, the highest body of IFHEMA.

The plan was put forward in clear terms: the initiators – the Hungarian National HEMA Federation – would provide for the venue, the logistics and the staff, deal with the finances and support, and motivate the IFHEMA community to contribute towards developing a solid rule set and judging panels.

The IFHEMA fencers should just register and take part in the Cup.

Due to conflicting schedules, the unfolding of the plan was a bit more complicated, as the Hungarian Federation had to make certain assurances to the city council of Hajdúsámson, a small town to host the event. The city council had to grant the use of a sports hall, the sponsors of the event had to be brought in – all this before the General Assembly of IFHEMA even had a chance of granting a formal support to the event!
Szabolcs Waldmann, the leader of the Hungarian HEMA community, remembers: ‘Our problem was that we neither had the money, nor the assurance how many people would come, nor did we know what the decision of the General Assembly would be – if we can host the first IFHEMA Cup at all.’
There were lots of nails suffering a bite in Geneva on 6 December 2014 after the Hungarian delegate delivered the project proposal, but the final answer was positive and the team could plunge into the deep waters of organizing the event with IFHEMA backing them up.

 

The team

The organizing team of the IFHEMA International Cup included many able and motivated individuals of whom several deserve a special mention:

Tibor Pávay, Chairman of the Hungarian National HEMA Federation, was very active in securing patrons and supporters of the event, among them were mayors of surrounding municipalities. Furthermore, he brought necessary funds to the event and ran the PR activities.

Csabán Marika ‘Maci’ proved to be a very successful fundraiser. In addition to substantial pecuniary foundation of the event, she provided valuable help with designing and obtaining prizes (among those an original smallsword and several hundred years old pages from the Nurnberg Chronicles!).

Attila Weisz, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Hungarian Federation, was in charge of the fighting ring. He managed a team of 17 judges and kept an open eye on the competition running smoothly and without risks.

Várhelyi Zoltán was the event manager. He and his 35 assistants kept the floor ready around the clock.

Katalin Kajdiné Virág was on top of the provisions and supervised the cleaning of the venue. The food was catered for all the participants three times a day for the whole duration of the event.

Lászlo Fogl ‘Lazsi’ was steering the IT support. His software made sure the score was kept, pools set up and results displayed for the audience to see.

Zsófia Jasik made sure each participant was issued with an original Welcome Package, thus upholding the tradition of hospitality among HEMA communities.

Orsolya Waldmann designed the logo and all necessary digital art, in addition to managing the event website.

Gábor Németh ‘Hekka’ was the delegate who presented the project at the IFHEMA General Assembly. Furthermore, he took care of the participants from abroad and organized transport from the capital.

Szabolcs Waldmann, the man who put himself at the end of the list, has been the driving engine of the IFHEMA International Cup from the beginning. The Hungarian HEMA community is grateful for his constant efforts to improve it and to have served as a liaise between the organizing team and IFHEMA.

 

The happening

IFHEMA International Cup 2015 hosted three disciplines: Longsword, Single Rapier and the Franco-Belgian Invitational Tournament, supported by the competition for the best team.
The list of the disciplines at IFHEMA International Cup has not been chiselled in stone and may change in the years to come.

Apart from an original blade and pages of a 500 years old book, protective equipment was offered as prizes, as well as a Regenyei black federsword.

Given this was the first time that IFHEMA International Cup took place, not all IFHEMA members sent their teams due to various reasons, mostly because of financial constrictions. Nevertheless, AustriaPolandSloveniaSlovakia and Switzerland national teams were joined with the Hungarian team in registering for competition.

HEMA communities from GreeceItaly and Mexico are not yet represented in IFHEMA, but had sent their delegations, who were warmly welcomed and made feel like home.

The General Assembly of IFHEMA was adamant in having the event open to combatants from IFHEMA and non-IFHEMA communities, if it was to support the Hungarian initiative. Thus, the key IFHEMA values of transparency, good governance, responsibility and striving to contribute to better societies were upheld in a better way.

 

A slippery slope

One of the most protruding rubs was the initial proposition of the name of the event – IFHEMA World Cup. IFHEMA as an organization is at an early stage, therefore many felt that the event cannot yet merit the designation of a ‘world cup’.
Therefore, the General Assembly of IFHEMA insisted of having the name altered. A new name was chosen, which remained unchallenged and gave the event its unique character – IFHEMA International Cup.

Unfortunately, the name change was not well communicated far and wide, which resulted in many global HEMA communities expressing their disagreement with the ‘world cup’ designation for many months later.

The lack of proper communication between the organizers and IFHEMA or the general public was evident in other instances, too.
However, lessons were learned and the first IFHEMA International Cup recognized and identified room for improvement.

 

Results

A software, coded especially for the occasion, kept the score well and provided the following result list.

 

Longsword

1 Maciej Zajac (Poland)

2 Rafal Kalus (Poland)

3 Jakub Wrzalik (Poland)

4 László Schunder (Hungary)

 

Single Rapier

1 Péter Faragó (Hungary)

2 Marek Helman (Poland)

3 Andrzej Starodumow (Poland)

4 Mátyás Miskolczi (Hungary)

 

Franco-Belgian tournament

1 Etienne von Gunten (Switzerland)

2 Francesco Perciballi (Italy)

3 Andreas Pavlidis (Greece)

4 Sebastian Alejandro Estivill Bustillos (Mexico)

 

The Polish team won the team competition.

 

The lessons learned

After the event, lists of future improvements started taking shape. The organizers, the participants and the world-wide communities contributed their opinions, suggestions and criticism.

Improved communication between various parties prior and after the event, improved co-operation with IFHEMA members in the planning phase, suitable rule-sets and venues, and clear guidelines regarding participating teams are at the top of the list.

One thing is certain – IFHEMA International Cup will remain open and willing to develop further.

 

The General Assembly of IFHEMA will convene for its session in December 2015, where the 2016 instance of IFHEMA International Cup will be considered. At this moment we cannot say where and when exactly it will be held, but offers for hosting the event have already reached the desks of IFHEMA officials.

IFHEMA members will have to acknowledge the legacy of the Hungarian initiative and promote the outcome for the benefit of IFHEMA.

IFHEMA International Cup 2015 is the proof of what can be achieved by hope, courage and co-operation.

 

Future steps

The first IFHEMA International Cup happened – a fact to consider with all due respect and pride. A bald idea conceived on a bus running high on post-HEMA event enthusiasm made its way through idealistic but rational planning and was embraced by IFHEMA communities.

A new level of IFHEMA activities was achieved and new possibilities emerged. Hopefully, the organization will be able to acknowledge its potential and will continue to promote and support further initiatives by its members.

Furthemore, IFHEMA members and organizers should not forget to turn to many experts outside the organization. There are many communities with vast experience sharing the same passion and striving for the same goals, excelling in performance. Regardless of affiliation, HEMA communities wish the same thing: to develop HEMA further and have lots of fun doing it.

 

 

by Roman Vučajnk

The Austrian Championship and Alpencup 2015 took place in Bad Vöslau , an adorable town near the nation’s capital Vienna, on 19 and 20 September 2015.

The Championship complements the list of many similar HEMA competitions on the provincial and national level, nevertheless, its addition opened a new chapter in the cooperation of regional HEMA communities.

While the ÖFHF österreichische Meisterschaft and the Alpencup are two separate competitions – the former providing the ranking list of competitors from the ÖFHF, the Austrian HEMA federation, and the latter including a larger pool of athletes – both were held on the same weekend at the same place.

The scheme was simple: all registered fighters were to fight through the same matrix, following the same rule sets and weapon categories.
Both competitions contributed to the same result list with the winner of the tournament becoming the winner of the Alpencup and the first ÖFHF fighter on the final list getting the title of the Meisterschaft.

This year, 23 participants from three countries fought in three categories: longsword, rapier and sabre.

Their bouts were managed by six judges and everybody was well taken care of by the members of Historisches Fechten Baden, the local member of ÖFHF.

The winner of both the Alpencup and the Austrian Championship 2015 is Ingulf Kohlweiss, member of INDES-Salzburg, an accomplished fighter, as well as a much respected HEMA instructor.

The complete result list sits here

 

Launching the Alpencup idea

The idea to start a HEMA competition in form of a league sprang in quite a dramatic setting – in an underground fallout shelter in Geneva, surrounded by the Alps.
In early December 2015, after the First Session of the General Assembly of IFHEMA had been adjourned, delegates and other participants were invited to a portion of raclette and white wine – a usual intro to an evening-long relaxed socializing.

Sitting a bit farther away from the cheerful commotion, a group was diligent at work discussing the concept of the HEMA league and its competition system. The initiator of the process was Harald Winter, larger-than-life president of ÖFHF and Vice-Treasurer of IFHEMA, as well as the main drive behind Dreynevent.

Harry was very kind to agree to join me in a Skype chat about the Alpencup.
It was in the time prior to the General Assembly session, while IFHEMA has been considering declaring its official support to the IFHEMA International Cup (IIC), when Harry got a sudden impulse – why not create something similar, but a bit smaller, something for Central European HEMA communities?

He wanted to establish a competition based on a co-operation between national federations, an event interesting for spectators to watch, for media to cover and for sponsors to support.

One of the main strings was creating an opportunity for developing a live testing ground for rule sets and allowing for HEMA judges to build up their performance.

To enjoy the privilege of having a fully operational set of judges and at the same time avoid situations where any of them would have to judge a bout fought by a fighter from their federation?
A marvellous idea, but can it be done?
It would take some time and some testing, but is far from impossible.

 

I could imagine Harry’s finger tapping the desk while leaning toward the microphone. ‘The sport really needs it, it deserves it!’

 

The Central European environment seemed as a very practical choice to him, as already existing national federations in the region are active in relative proximity to each other, which makes joint operations less troublesome and travel costs lower. Creating and developing a joint competition system would motivate the federations to further cooperation and networking.

When asked why should the competition be named after the Alps, Harry replied that the Alps are one of natural connections between Central European communities and so it makes sense to have them as a mutual symbol.

I found no reason to disagree with him.

The first reaction after he had revealed his thoughts was expected. Nodding heads, articulated appreciation and an invitation to continue the process through email. Harry was glad that he got a positive feedback from the federations he aimed at.

From December up until May 2015 when the registrations opened there were times when he felt the intensity of the process relaxing a bit, therefore he kept poking at the group and never stopped feeding it his ideas on the rule set and other things.

 

Making Alpencup happen for the first time

‘The first step in approaching the public is timing your online appearance right. Your audience wants to know about the event early, so they can get more affordable tickets and a chance to plan their travel as cosy as possible.’
(I hope every organizer of a HEMA event will keep that in mind)

The choice of the location was not difficult to Harry. Bad Vöslau is a lovely relaxed town just down the motorway from Vienna. There is no crowd, but plenty of parking spots, restaurants and accommodation venues.

The biggest asset of the place is the local HEMA group, Historisches Fechten Baden, a friendly community of motivated Hemaists led by a master organizer Andreas Klingelmayer, who made everybody feel welcome.

The majority of registered participants from Austria, Hungary and Italy* fought in the long sword category.
Nineteen participants had to observe a ‘rather provocative rule set’, the intention being of making certain strategies less appealing to the fighters – rushing in did not pay off, double-hits were met with hostility and disregard for the opponent’s weapon got one pair of contestants disqualified.

It seems that the choice was a step in the right direction, as Harry reports a good and respectful fighting atmosphere with no exaggerations in any way. The fighters were fine, the judges were focused and the spectators appreciative. ‘The mood was awesome!’

*Italian HEMA communities are at this time still not represented in IFHEMA. Nevertheless, the organizers find it important to co-operate with as many motivated regional HEMA communities as possible.

 

Ingulf Kohlweiss won the day in the longsword category, with Richard Pavay from Hungary stepping to the second place and Austrian Andreas Hilscher listed as the third.

The rapier bouts with their seven contestants presented nice and clean fights, seemingly slightly less imposing than longsword. Hungary was not represented in this category, with Ingulf Kohlweiss securing yet another first position, followed by his countryman Constantin Speitel with Aaron Caldarella from Italy winning the third place.

The sabre category proved not to be such a challenge to the judges, as it was fought between Alessandro Cristiani and Marco Pavanello, both from the same club in Italy.
Even if the number of fighters was the lowest for this category, the excitement was there. None of the contestants brought a weapon that would match the rule set. The local team did not just stand by, they provided the blades and made the sabre bout take place.

It is important to put another category in the spotlight: the title of the Best female contender of the Alpencup 2015 went to Anna Till from Austria.

 

Judging panel

For the effort at judging and managing the bouts the organizers and competitors are grateful to:

Marcel Dorfer (Austria)

Patrick Pazour (Austria)

Gabor Nemeth (Hungary)

Adrian van Bronswijk (Germany)

Ferenc Radi (Hungary)

Harald Winter (Austria)

 

The future steps…

Harry was pleased with the results of the first Alpencup event and places great hopes in the future of this enterprise. Nevertheless, his optimism rests on hard-won experience.

 

‘The idea was that each participating country hosts the Alpencup, Austria cannot be the only one.’

 

The Alpencup was not planned as a one-time event, but a lot depends on the federation that picks the flag next and brings the competition forward. A working league system can be established in the next three to five years, depending on the input from the federations.

‘But not with only Austria doing it,’ Harry repeated.

 

… and Farewell to all!

The conclusion of this article actually deserves an independent piece, but Harry does not enjoy spotlights so much.
There is no other way of saying this: one of the pioneers of HEMA, a mover-and-shaker in a great number of evolutionary steps within our communities (including the creation of IFHEMA!) and a great friend Harry Winter decided it was time to retire.

I remember when I met Harry for the first time. It was at the first HEMAC event in Dijon in the early 2000s. He and two other friends from Dreynschlag delivered a memorable ringen workshop.
HEMA, fun and more fun.

Since then Harry has seen it all. ‘HEMA evolved so much, it’s grown so much.’

His achievements are many and Andreas Klingelmayer, who succeeded Harry as the President of ÖFHF, presented them to the Alpencup participants with gratitude.

For most Hemaists outside Austria, it is Dreynevent that they usually think of when Harry is mentioned. No wonder, as the event is another in line of his HEMA kids.

The biggest regional HEMA event and one of the grandest in Europe, Dreynevent remains one of the best managed gatherings which never disappoints neither in programme nor delivery.

In addition, I cannot think of another HEMA event being completely booked in only nineteen minutes (yes, 19!) after the registration had opened (five months prior to the event actually taking place).

Harry has no fear about the future neither his own nor for HEMA. His large shoes will be hard to fill, but he is certain that people who will follow in all the functions he used to manage will make a good job – only if they keep the co-operation between HEMA communities going and do not settle for self-sustained groups.

Before he took the final bow at the Austrian Championship and Alpencup dinner, Harry took a look around and said: ‘Please, be a part of Europe.’

 

(The editor decided to publish the Alpencup article even if at a later date due to the importance of the content)

 

by Roman Vučajnk

Acta Periodica Duellatorum: the first academic yearbook of publications related to HEMA

 

Promoting HEMA through academic efforts and publishing is one of the IFHEMA aims.
The goal is to develop structures and channels that would enable HEMA oriented authors to conduct research and publish their work according to academic standards. IFHEMA may be heading in the right direction by contributing to the professional partnership with Acta Periodica Duellatorum, a regularly published reference point of HEMA publications.

The major part of current IFHEMA work deals with setting up a machine that would serve the needs of national HEMA federations. As an umbrella organization it was set up to help, promote and uphold the processes that bring respective IFHEMA member communities further in their HEMA activities.

In addition to the competitive side (see IIC, link) and networking of dozens of clubs, a quiet but strong current is also gaining momentum. This time, the focus is not on respective federations, but on making a joint effort in providing a confident appearance in one of the bastions of modern professional spheres – the academic circles.

 

Academic and non-academic HEMA researchers

Until recently, researching HEMA was not considered an academic endeavour in its own right. HEMA approach could appear in the shadow of ‘proper’ academic disciplines such as history or archaeology, yet donning faithful reproductions of historical martial gear and discovering the true meaning of material and written sources was regarded as something to frown upon.
Not anymore.
People like Daniel JaquetThore Wilkens, and Eric Burkart are pursuing their academic careers in researching HEMA.

There is a sizeable group of people, which we also need to take into consideration and it does not belong to academic worlds. A community of non-academic HEMA researchers, who have contributed immensely by locating and interpreting sources and artifacts, and making their results available in many different publications.
These researchers are not full-time academics and usually do not aspire to hold an academic tenure. Their approach is tailored to their respective life circumstances and they often deliver their conclusions through publicly available channels of mass communication. In addition to travelling and teaching, they design video channels, dedicated websites, printed books and social networks to get their message across.
Their persistence is leading them to a number of significant results with the ‘professional’ academics starting to peek in.

What both groups may need today is a sort of a HEMA-dedicated platform where they could publish their conclusions on academic level for the benefit of further HEMA research and studies. The platform itself needs to remain independent, non-profit, with open access and has to provide peer-reviewed information.
It is one of the aims of Daniel Jaquet to establish a researchers’ associacion to promote HEMA studies and to foster the emerging field of research. The project is ongoing under the name of SHEMAS, Society for Historical European Martial Arts Studies.

 

From logistics to heritage

In early summer of 2012 Mátyás Miskolczi earned his PhD and wanted to use the momentum to do something useful for publishing community. At first, he wanted to start a journal on logistics, but he soon realized that particular market was already crowded.

The idea about a journal still lingered and as Mátyás is also an important member of the Hungarian HEMA community the next step seems very logical. At least in retrospective.

I expected nothing less with my question: what about starting a journal on HEMA?

‘Yes, it was new and revolutionary.’
Which was an understatement for tears, sweat, sleepless nights and substantial telephone bills when Skype is down. Still, with some chances of enjoying the fruits of labour after a while.

As every year, that summer he attended the HEMA summer camp organized by his federation. There he spoke to Szabolcs Waldmann, another pillar of the Hungarian HEMA community, who met the idea with enthusiasm. They both agreed that such a journal offering articles and reviews on HEMA related matters would bring the wider community forward.
Daniel Jaquet joined as the third pillar of the endeavour.

Mátyás acknowledges that ‘at that time many people were already active in HEMA communities as researchers’.
They were involved in very important activities such as locating and reading the sources, transcribing and translating, providing comparative analysis, and developing tools.

However, outside HEMA communities, especially in academic circles, the term researcher carries an additional expectation – an academic activity.

‘There is a gap between academic and HEMA research’ Mátyás explains.
That does not mean that non-academic contribution is less valuable in any way, but in order to get accepted by other scholarly communities, publications should comfort to certain forms and procedures. The journal he had in mind would help bridging the by motivating its contributors to develop methodology and apparatus, which would bring their work closer to those communities and make it available for further academic research.

I was interested in knowing what other communities he had in mind.

‘HEMA is close to history, no question about it, but there are other disciplines. HEMA is interdisciplinary.’
Mátyás certainly had a point. Sport sciences, biomechanics, physics, metallurgy, and linguistics are just some of many disciplines a researcher of HEMA has to include to proceed with work; surely the outcome can go both ways.

Mátyás agrees that not all independent researchers should assume a uniform style of publishing, but certain methodology has to be established. This is the ground that Acta Periodica Duellatorum (APD) has stood on for three years.

In this time three issues were published, divided in two parts.
The Scholarly section contains articles with scientific (scholarly) character and is managed by Daniel Jaquet, a Swiss academic.
The Practical section delivering articles ‘which mainly support HEMA trainings or interpret manuscripts’ and are not academic, but of credible quality. This part is led by Szabolcs Waldmann.

Until now, Acta Periodica Duellatorum published 29 articles in total by almost two dozen authors, titles ranging from Translation memory and computer assisted translation tool for medieval texts and Honour and Fighting Social Advancement in the Early Modern Age to The Spanish response to the Italian fencing tradition and Organization and Regulation of Fencing in the Realm of France in the Renaissance.

 

How to get published in ADP

Call for papers is always announced on the Acta Periodica Duellatorum website with all deadlines stated. After submitting an proposal with a short description of the topic and the concept, the Editorial Board decides on suitability.
After the abstract is accepted, the members of the Editorial Board look for two peer reviewers, who will take on the full paper submitted by the author and do a “blind” or an anonymous review. The peer reviewers file in their feedback, then allow for a certain period, so that the author can amend the paper, if necessary.

Mátyás told me that there were cases of authors withdrawing their paper because of a less favourable feedback from their peer reviewers. In some cases it is a hit to self-esteem, naturally, but there are cases when non-academic authors accept it as an opportunity to improve their research and writing with great results.

After the final submission of the article, the technical wheels are set in motion and they do not rest until the next issue of Acta Periodica Duellatorum is printed.

 

Getting to the academia

‘Academia – that’s a rocky road.’ (I have always admired the diplomatic way in which Mátyás delivers less-than-perfect news)

It takes time, it takes effort, it takes results for the academic bastion to start lowering the bridge. I believe it also takes courage and people with good academic standing are welcome to promote the journal, too.

This year, APD founded a partnership with De Gruyter Open, a leading publisher of Open Access academic content (as written on their website). A very important feature besides open access is digital object identification (DOI) to uniquely identify each article online.

‘To be openly accessible is very important!’

Soon, Acta Periodica Duellatorum will also be found in the library of the National Museum of Slovenia for the benefit of Slovenian scholars and researchers.

 

The APD team

Mátyás serves the journal as the Editor in Chief, with the members of the editorial board certainly not strangers to HEMA communities: Daniel Jaquet, János Majár, Szabolcs Waldmann, Attila Törcsvári (with Harald Winter and Scott Brown being members of the initial editorial board).

Attila Törcsvári is also the technical editor of APD and Mátyás remembers the impressive article Attila wrote on computer assisted translation tool. Orsolya Waldmann is very valuable to the team for her website management.

The team is determined to keep the journal non-profit. All income is directed towards printing and shipping costs, and maintaining the website, while any potential surplus ‘will support research or a charity’. A printed copy of Acta Periodica Duellatorum is available on demand and at major HEMA events for an affordable sum.
Mátyás emphasized that before buying a copy, every customer is told that the articles are also made available online free of charge. Hardcopies, however, will be made available based on annual subscription, as is the custom with most of academic journals.

The most generous maecenas of Acta Periodica Duellatorum is Peter Regenyei, without his support the journal would probably get stuck before reaching the printing house. In the second year, PBT Historical Fencing started contributing towards covering printing costs.

 

The road ahead

In 2016, Acta Periodica Duellatorum will get a facelift and will present itself with a new website and format. It will remain a serious professional attempt towards promoting HEMA related research, both for academics and communities of practitioners. The team wants the journal to become the first and unavoidable platform for academic writing in HEMA (with publishing academic and non-academic contributors, insisting on double-blind peer review and providing DOI).

Both IFHEMA and Acta Periodica Duellatorum are happy to continue their professional partnership, as there are many opportunities offered by a big common interest  – motivating and promoting HEMA research in academic and non-academic spheres.

Acta Periodica Duellatorum home website

The online issue of Acta Periodica Duellatorum 2015 can be found at De Gruyter Open

 

 

The Second session of the General Assembly of IFHEMA took place in Vienna.

Delegates from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain (abs. Poland and Switzerland) welcomed new Member federations from Greece and the Netherlands.

Together we are stronger!