A very important part of starting your school will obviously be selecting a weapon and the accompanying manuscripts to study from. This will distinguish your club from those surrounding it, and lay down the ground work for any future study you do. Another very important part, of course, is training methods. The type of training, the intensity of it, and so on. This will contribute to the culture of your club. And importantly will bring out the desired base level of athleticism in your students.
You will have to consider your goals when choosing a weapon and manual. Do you want to find out how a certain weapon was used? What time period or place are you interested in? Are you interested in interpreting the manual 100% accurately? All of these questions will determine your goal with HEMA. Some people want to interpret a certain text, or group of them. To zero in on a small time and place, showing how the weapons were used from that context. Some people don’t care as much about the historicity of their study, and wish to understand the weapon in completion. Still others want to become the very best, that no one ever was.
You, as the founder of the club, must consider every possible reason for a student studying HEMA, and bring them the options they desire. Make available the documents you use to your students. Give them the lessons about history, show them the complete study of the weapon, and give them the skills to excel in the sparring environment. Give them a strong community and the physical training they desire.
I cannot give you a true recommendation, as the variety of texts available to you is staggering. However I will recommend that you find one that’s comprehensive. You’re looking for a text that covers your weapons in-depth. Accompanying secondary sources on YouTube, in books, and on articles, also helps a lot. Looking for other clubs that study your primary source will be important. Establish a good rapport with those clubs.
The Niagara School of Arms decided to study Fiore dei Liberi as our beginning manual. This is because Fiore’s text covers many comprehensive plays. The only thing it doesn’t truly cover, is distance and timing. But those concepts are available to us in other manuscripts. And they’re fairly universal fighting concepts. We also have clubs close to us that study Fiore, but are far enough that also studying Fiore wouldn’t be redundant or bring members away from each other. This works out in both of our advantage, as having a larger pool of Fiore students will benefit both schools. But dare I say that the NSA benefits more, from AEMMA’s previous research, and it’s more experienced members.
Training methods will be important, as they’ll also shape the goals of your club. Who you will want to attract and keep, the level of fitness in your club, and so much more. You should be practicing footwork at every lesson. Open with it. Footwork is the alpha and omega of fencing.
The NSA also uses a basic “fencing tag” game that emphasizes footwork and the feeling of pressure and binds. It also works on distance, and can be done with no safety gear.
You use the palm to strike the front shoulder or upper chest. No fingertips. The arm and hand can be used to move your opponent’s hand aside. Tag and get a point. Be tagged in return and it doesn’t count.
We also use a modified “push hands” drill, where we stand with our feet shoulder width apart, and try to push each other off balance while retaining our own. It works well to show people pressure in binds and grapples, and gives them a sense of their balance.
We also use good old fashioned running. Beyond this, I am not qualified to give instruction on. I admit I don’t know very much about fitness instruction. I’ve adopted these at the recommendation of local martial arts instructors, and through discussion with other HEMA instructors. I cannot give you a complete lesson physical fitness. But this stuff is rather basic, and can serve as a good basis for introducing people to fitness in HEMA.
