HEMA - Historical European Martial Arts

The purpose of HEMA is to reconstruct and preserve fighting arts which were practiced in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Bastion focuses on the study of different weapon systems dating to the medieval period. It involves studying historical manuscripts, treatises, and other primary sources to understand the techniques and principles of these martial arts systems.

Bastion's Training Methodology

It is a great way to connect scholarly pursuits of learning from history with the adrenaline-filled fun of learning how to handle various historical weapons.

At Bastion, we are trying to reconstruct the history of medieval combat. In order to do this effectively, we need to have a solid understanding of what the medieval fencing masters were trying to teach, and this approach has three main pillars - 1) proper study of sources, 2) authentic equipment, and 3) pressure-testing. Our training methodology incorporates these three pillars.

Firstly, we rely on historical sources, such as medieval manuscripts with texts and illustrations, to ensure that our techniques are faithful to historical practices. 

Secondly, we provide use a variety of different weapons to practice these techniques, from the more safety-oriented foam swords to historically faithful steel swords. We also provide a full range of protective equipment for different levels of training.

Lastly, we put you through pressure-testing in several tiers – drills, scenario training, and sparring. This is used to replicate the stress and unpredictability of medieval encounters, and enables you to practice the techniques in a controlled yet challenging environment.

Our main focus is on medieval German texts, such as Liechtenauer through Ringeck, Danzig, Lew, Paulus Kal, Lignitzer. In addition to recreating these historical martial arts, it can also promote physical fitness, mental discipline, and personal growth through the development of martial arts skills and knowledge.

Bastion uses various types of equipment to train different skills, with each type having its place. High-density foam is great for working on stamina and fighting for long periods of time with less gear. Wood and synthetics are great all-around for safe training while balancing realism. Steel helps us get closer to understanding how the medieval masters used their skills.

How our approach differs

The HEMA landscape is broader than it looks from outside. Several distinct practices share the visual vocabulary of historical European swordsmanship, and they are not interchangeable. It is important to know what your goal is.

Sport HEMA takes the techniques of the historical sources and adapts them to tournament rulesets. The result is athletic, competitive, and rewards what scores points under a specific format. Over time, sport-driven priorities can pull a practice away from what the manuscripts actually describe such as faster exchanges, and tactics that work in the ring but might not worked in earnest. There is real skill in sport HEMA. It is not, however, the same thing as historical practice.

Theatrical and stage fencing serves narrative and spectacle. The choreography is built to read clearly to an audience, the strikes are designed to look dramatic rather than to land, and safety is achieved through performance rather than through pressure. It is a legitimate craft in its own right, and entirely different from what we do. The goal is to tell a story.

At Bastion, the manuscripts are the standard. Our curriculum is built directly from the surviving treatises, from masters like Ringeck, Danzig, Lew, Paulus Kal, Lecküchner, I.33, Talhoffer, and our methodology rests on three commitments: First, that techniques are drawn from the historical sources rather than invented or imported. Second, that we use training equipment selected for the work at hand: blunts when we are studying mechanics and structure, light feders when we are drilling at high repetition or sparring at speed where injury risk would otherwise be unacceptable. The point is not the gear itself, but training honestly within its limits and remembering what each tool can and cannot teach. Third, that interpretations are pressure-tested in sparring rather than left as theory.

We compete and we cross-train, but we measure ourselves against the manuscripts, not against the tournament results.

The focus