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Gotham Swords is excited to welcome back Michael Rogers of the Haitian Fencing Project for an intensive six-hour workshop this July!
In Haiti, the traditional art of machete fencing goes by many names, among them Tire Machèt (“Pulling Machetes”). Tire Machèt has roots in the Haitian Revolution, when the revolutionaries were often forced to fight with fewer guns than soldiers. Its combination of ancestral African combat systems proved highly effective both in battle and as a means of individual self-defense.
Tickets are $225, with all proceeds from this event benefiting the people of Haiti through the nonprofit organization Cultural Capital Haiti. We hope that you can join us once again for this unique and amazing experience and help do some good in the world:
TIRE MACHÈT WORKSHOP WITH MICHAEL ROGERS
Sunday, July 13th, 12pm-6pm
520 8th Ave., New York, NY
Tickets Here
Interested in Learning More about Haitian Machete Fencing?
Buy the official training manual!
Haitian Machete Fencing Project • Gotham Swords • Bauernwehr
The Manual
Haitian Machete Fencing is a functional martial art with deep roots in Haiti’s struggle for freedom. Over the course of a ten-year apprenticeship with master fencer Alfred Avril in Haiti, we were privileged to document this art form in ways never seen by the wider world.
Now, in collaborating with his children and other committed students, this book provides a deeper and more technical exploration of Haitian Machete Fencing than anything available so far, while preserving the respect for tradition upon which our teacher always insisted.
Lush photography by Charles Espey captures thrilling and informative images of Haitian Machete Fencing in action, as well as lovingly rendered portraits. Oral histories and essays – including an extended interview with Professor Avril that has never-before been made public – provide essential insight into the spiritual and cultural significance of this art form.
All author royalties benefit the people of Haiti through our nonprofit organization Cultural Capital Haiti.
GET YOUR COPY TODAY
About
Michael Rogers (Fencing Instructor & Program Coordinator) Michael is an assistant professor of humanities at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. He first traveled to Haiti in 2002 and has spent over four years living and working there. He is the only non-Haitian known to have mastered the art of Haitian machete fencing, and is featured in the documentary short Papa Machete, which he worked on as a consultant from concept through post-production. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Cambridge.
Gotham Swords: The Gotham European Martial Arts Collective is NYC’s premiere historical fencing social club. The centuries old Art of Swordsmanship offers countless challenges, rewards, and opportunities for personal growth. From general fitness to tournament training, Gotham Swords look forward to being a part of your journey! www.gemac.club
Gotham Bauernwehr — invites students to experience a unique fencing system of Ringen (wrestling), Messer (machete), and Stock (Stick) outside the context of the “noble” historical duel; favoring defensive approaches to an engagement. Our program is greatly influenced by the Avril Family Method of Tiré Machét, a living tradition of Haitian martial arts which serves as the heart of our practice. https://www.gemac.club/bauernwehr
A short reflection on our practice of THE GAME: An essential component of our Bauernwehr training program, the Game comes to us through the Haitian tradition of Tire Machèt and the amazing folks at the @haitian_machete_fencing Project. In this exercise the Mentor, or leader of the practice, gives hits to a Scholar, who is (almost) exclusively focused on defending, replying to each attack with the correct protective action — always abiding the Core Principles.
The Game is infinitely adaptable and open to students of all experience levels. Mentors slowly adjust the intensity and anticipated responses for each individual Scholar, who, in turn, is able to experience their skills in action. Our major objective is to champion the spirit of a defensive-first mindset:
"Resistance isn’t about winning battles but about surviving. If you can survive as a committed antagonist, victory is inevitable." — Haitian Machete Fencing: The Avril Family Method (p.216).
Grab your copy of Haitian Machete Fencing, now available!
Footage from our February Applications classes is now up; great work everybody!!!
About
These sessions are referred to as "Playing the Game": a method of learning by which you work directly with an Instructor or Senior Mentor to refine your practice. The Mentor gives hits while the Scholar focuses on solely performing the correct defensive actions as a response to those attacks.
We adopted this tool from our study and relationship with the Haitian tradition of Tire Machet.
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Peter Haas began training historical fencing in 2015 at Sword Class NYC in the middle of some life changes. Additionally, he studies Toyama-
Mentor Peter Haas was interviewed for MAYTT, check out what he has to say about martial arts, the struggle to be a good mentor, and how HEMA is like a Woolly Mammoth!
Imbolc the celebration marking the mid-point between winter and the arrival of spring. Here in NYC we’re still in for a few more official months of winter but the days are slowly getting longer and we await that slim window of beautiful weather known as “Spring”.
Holidays such as Imbolc are reminders of the importance of milestones and checkpoints. Without them, everyday would simply blur together. This goes for training too! Without identifying markers (big and small) we risk losing perspective and mindless practice.
Mindless practice is when you’re just going through the motions: sure, you show up, do the warm ups, do the drills, but you’re not really present. You’re not thinking about what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. This is both a waste of time and could lead to potentially dangerous situations.
A helpful tool for accomplishing proper mindfulness is to define an active purpose for your training and start making a roadmap on how you can go about achieving your goals. Giving yourself large goals to work towards as well as smaller moments to celebrate along that path is key to keeping you alert and determined.
Today, don’t forget to take a moment to celebrate this milestone towards better weather and we’ll see you in the Fechtschule!
We are super excited to announce to the HEMA-sphere that our friends at the Haitian Machete Fencing Project have released a book!!!
You can order this beautiful book over on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Haitian-Machete-Fencing-Family-Method/dp/1948529246
Written by Michael Dylan Rogers & Reginald Turnier
Photography by Charles Espey
“Explore the heart of Haiti's cultural heritage through Haitian Machete Fencing: The Avril Family Method-a unique blend of history, art, and combat technique, passed down through generations. Haiti is a country rich in culture, though economically poor. In the countryside, where time-honored traditions thrive, a legacy of African ancestry continues in music, dance, spirituality, folk medicine, and-perhaps most intriguingly-martial arts.”
“In case you couldn’t tell, we adore these folks here at Gotham. As many of you know we hosted Michael and Reginald this past August for an intensive two-day workshop. It was an absolute blast, and ultimately encouraged me to refine our Bauernwehr program in new and exciting ways. I highly recommend picking up a copy of this amazing book and support this important project today!” — Peter Haas, Program Coordinator, Senior Instructor, Gotham Swords.
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Dessert is celebration, a little reminder to savor life while working toward your goals. Celebrating your victories (both big and small) with a treat now and then is a healthy way to fuel your momentum.
Here’s two recipes we love for you to check out:
“Epic Chocolate Stout Cake with Chocolate Bourbon Sour Cream Frosting” from Domestic Fits.
Flourless Pumpkin + Chocolate Brownies from Erin Lives Whole.
Do you have a favorite chocolate cake recipe? Share it in the comment below!
Cake photo by Julie Prisloe (IG: @prisloephotography)
Forging beautiful relationships! Last week Peter Haas visited White Tiger Karate in Tilton, NH to led some Bauernwehr workshops. This was a truly wonderful opportunity to work with such an amazing and dedicated group of people!
Sensei Sharyl Geisert: Your students are incredibly talented, dedicated, and radiate joy. Thank you for for inviting Gotham Swords into your Dojo, we look forward to working with you again!
Shout outs to Steph, Dylan, and Will for all their help during the workshops!
Hello Friends, Peter here: I just wanted to take a moment and acknowledge all the fantastic work I witnessed yesterday in our Bauernwehr class! It was a day of many challenges and shaking off rust from the holiday season; no small task! 👏🏻
The work that’s happening here is absolutely amazing. Everyone, regardless of how long you’ve been training, put a focused effort into refining your practice and helping others to do the same… all while enduring and contributing the occasional Dad-Joke. The dedication and camaraderie is one of the many things I admire and appreciate about this group!
I applaud everyone’s spirit as well as their performance during cutting forensics (Papierzielenschneidenforensiken). For me, standing up before of a group of people that are silently watching me perform is one of the most intimidating moments in training martial arts. You all rocked it, and everyone should embrace that win. Remember — cutting isn’t a sport, it’s not a binary pass or fail, it’s not about competition: Target cutting is about feedback and learning to make new and more interesting mistakes.
Here's to a fantastic start for 2025! 🥂🍻🎉
Peter Haas and Kat Hamilton of Gotham Swords are excited to be presenting a Bauernwehr workshop at this year's Amici Armis Hema Symposium!
Learn more and sign up at: www.amiciarmis.ca/
About Amici Armis: CAMHS invites you to the second edition of our HEMA Symposium in Sherbrooke. The objective of the gathering is to highlight the diversity of martial traditions and European sources. Two days of workshops, sparrings, and meaningful encounters are planned!
Workshop Description: The Peasant's Defense, Bauernwehr, invites students to experience a unique fencing system of Ringen (wrestling), Messer (machete), and Stock (Stick) outside the context of the “noble” historical duel; favoring defensive approaches to an engagement, aiming to minimizes the damage taken to one’s own body.
This workshop offers an introductory survey to the Bauernwehr program at Gotham Swords. Beginning with core body mechanics and the concept of Fühlen (feeling), participants will learn and practice the core principles of fencing with the Farmer’s Knife and a brief introduction to intermediate techniques. The final third of the class focuses on applying the skills: students are given the opportunity to take turns working one-on-one with instructors to further refine the principles and techniques.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Anya is LIVE right now
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So we’ve somehow already reached the second day of January! It’s that time of year when we begin to evaluate how we want to spend the next twelve or so months at the Fechtschule. To help you out, we’re celebrating National Motivation & Inspiration Day! Whether you are new to swordplay or a seasoned student here’s some tips to help keep you on track to achieve your goals for the upcoming year:
Remember to celebrate all the progress you’ve made! If this is your first class: Welcome! You already made huge progress by taking initiative and showing up. Swordplay is wicked fun and you’ve started yourself off on a new wild journey! Is this your 50th class? Congratulations on the dedicated effort: you found a hobby you enjoy and hopefully are benefiting in all sorts of wonderful ways from your training. This idea extends to individual class sessions as well, because each little success is a stepping stone to reaching larger goals. Did you pull off a really excellent piece of footwork during a sparring session? Remember to think about it in the context of other goals and celebrate with an extra sip of beer at the Taco Bell after class.
Approach your training with purpose, thoughtfulness, and accountability — remember that training any martial art can be both fun and incredibly rewarding work but it is not without its own set of challenges! It’s important to understand when and why things aren’t going how you planned so you can make a plan to practice and improve. There are going to be some days when you feel unstoppable, and others that feel impossible and downright frustrating. Always remember to forgive yourself, move on from difficult feelings and remember you’re surrounded by people who want to see you succeed. We get it. We all have had our difficult days. How can your comrades and mentors help? Go ahead and ask!
Most importantly: the learning never stops! Day 1 or 100, foundational exercises or advanced techniques, every training session is a new lesson in some way or another. Embrace the mindset that martial arts is a lifelong pursuit and always approach class with a humble attitude, willingness to learn, and you’ll get something out of each day on the training floor!
In the comments below tell us what motivates and inspires YOU to train!
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