The HROARR site focuses on different aspects of Historical European Martial Arts. It is meant to serve both as a help to active HEMA practitioners and as a source of inspiration for people that are unfamiliar with this form of Martial Arts. At its core the HROARR site is a free online HEMA magazine with contributions from the whole community. It is also a neutral meeting ground where we can all connect, share and learn from each other using the tools provided by the site.
Did you know that you can now help support HROARR by throwing in a dollar or two at its Patreon page?
Running a large knowledge hub and community site like HROARR unfortunately involves both a lot of costs in cash and time, paying for server, software, security and maintenance. For this reason, a Patreon page has been set up, so you, our dear visitor, can help out.
It is of course entirely voluntary, and HROARR will never have content locked up behind a pay wall, but the better HROARR’s finances are, the better content you will have, and the more frequently it will be updated with content and features. Hopefully, one day, the site will have a full time editor to manage it.
Last summer, a friend asked me a question that I did not know the answer to. A nagging doubt led me down one of those “rabbit holes” all researchers, and most curious people know so well today. In this case, there was quite a payoff. What follows is an account of this...
Certainly, one of the most exciting HEMA meetings of all time: The MAM — IFHEMA Symposium and IFHEMA General Assembly on December 3th – 4th 2022. There will be four great HEMA collections presented from a cross-cultural point of view: Gotti, Corble, Mokken &...
On the occasion of the International Federation of Historical European Martial Arts’s ninth General Assembly, and to celebrate the cooperation agreement signed between the Museum of Martial Arts (MAM) and IFHEMA, a symposium is organised in Brescia, Italy, 3-4...
Dear fencing friends!, it is our pleasure to announce the "HEMA goes Public" event. Last year, the project "HEMA in the Park" was launched for the first time in Austria and neighbouring countries (e.g. Germany, Hungary and Swizerland) to make our sword fencing...
The use of the striking German battle sword as found in many armories through out Germany still poses many unanswered questions. This article provides an overview over contemporary sources and proposes an approach to combine the information gained from those sources to determine possible techniques and principles for this weapon.
Note to reader: This document complements an essay published on the blog Martial Culture in Medieval town, available here: https://martcult.hypotheses.org/1373?fbclid=IwAR1Mbz2xWmIo66tI8rp9t9k8-SpHwPOXHXgfX4Q1txgn8QknQqQDzG-EroI This document offers transcriptions and...
After a bit of a hiatus, HROARR is back with a new, and quite fantastic article on medieval and Renaissance magic, by renowned HEMA scholar and instructor Jean Chandler! The title of the article is A historical fencer’s primer on late medieval and early modern...
When you first start reading the medieval fencing manuals, one of the curious things you keep running into is magic. As with so much about these strange and fascinating books, this is hard to know what to do with. Like most people I basically skipped over it. But as...
The procession arrives at the square. Publicans erects their tents and tap their barrels. Musicians collect into bands, and other performers wander the incoming crowd. Dominating the center of the square is a square fence, large enough to host several pairs of fencers...
And the first are those who, as soon as they can reach the opponent in the Onset, at once cut and thrust in with violence. The second are somewhat more moderate, and do not attack too crudely, outward from the centerline on a horizontal plane but when an opponent...
There is a particular tension at play in the modern Historical European Martial Arts community regarding the the early and later period expressions of the German fighting system known as Kunst Des Fechtens or “Art of Fencing.” The former is dominated by the...
“An average, foundational knowledge of the past helps us understand the 14th-16th c. Fechtschulen [...] that’s why we need researchers and people vested in recreating and reconstructing the Art of Fencing with a large view of the period in scope of their (the arts)...
Over a decade ago, the great and renowned HEMA maestro Roberto Gotti of the fantastic Gairethinx - Sala d'Arme degli Erranti came across a rather unique German paratschwert (1) kept in a museum in Italy which he both documented and...
When hearing of the planned HEMA participation at the 2nd European Games in Minsk, I first felt quite excited, and then ambivalent for what I am sure are obvious reasons to anyone who knows me. But, after giving it some careful consideration, I now here express my...
A problem that we commonly encounter in the training and teaching of martial arts in general, is the issue of how the "loser" of the training exercise is supposed to act and behave. Some common issues shine through both in videos explaining the techniques, as well as...
Today's community interview is with Maxime Chouinard who lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and who is the leader and main instructor of Kingston Irish Fighting Arts, as well as the director of Antrim Bata and head of Kingston Niten Kai Mr....
Mark, this is that before all things you shall rightly undertake and understand these two things, which are the Before and the After, and thereafter the Weak and Strong of the sword, and then the word “Meanwhile”, whence comes the entire foundation of all the Art of...
At least as early as in the early 17th cent, fencing masters swore to care in particular for widows and orphans, as can be seen in e.g. the oaths of the fencers of the Company of Maisters of the Noble Science of Defense. And this tradition was maintained in Germany...
Here is something very cool. A HEMA comic book full of goodies, written and drawn by 14-year old Emma King, historical fencer, and daughter of Meyer Frei Fechter Guild instructor James Reilly. "The story of a high school girl who accidentally tumbles into the...
So, I finally received the new test of the upcoming HROARR patches, to send out to all of the HROARR "patreons", and it looks much, much better than the first test I received. Hope you like it. To receive one of these, you have to be a patron of the HROARR web site,...
To better help us all get an insight into the fantastic variety of this great community, and the unselfish efforts, the sweat, tears and blood, the dreams and hopes, and the passion that drives it, HROARR here presents its first “community interview”, the first of a...
Fighters Against Racism
Acta Periodica Duellatorum
