It's Critter Time!

I have sword autism. Specifically HEMA Autism.

I love the look of European Longswords and I actually managed to take HEMA classes for a few months before life got in the way (I want to resume so badly).

The Warwick from Albion Armoury, oh how I want thee


Sideswords are also amazing


Give some love the Messers, swords made like knives


Filipino and Chinese Swords are also something I'd like to learn more about




How about you? What swords catch your eye and why?

Yooooo a HEMA thread!

I've never taken proper classes or anything but I've always found it cool and liked stick fighting my siblings in the yard when we were little.

For a good year or two I went to a meetup of a hobby group in a park that taught me a little bit of a few different styles. I am nowhere near what I would call good but when I joined a friend for a LARP group a few times I was told I was a hard fight lol.

By my memory I learned a good bit of longsword, a lot of cavalry saber (or might have been a style of saber but they only had cavalry sabers?) which I LOVED using, and a few other weapons I tried around but never learned too much about and kinda just winged it.

My favorites to use were always the saber and occasionally sword and board. Until someone brung a partisan one time and I am a big enjoyer of polearms so you know I loved that thing.

I dont have an easy way to go there anymore and rural 'murica is WAY more about guns than they are HEMA so there isn't really anyone I can fence with anymore but I do own a helmet and a synthetic longsword for when the need arises.

In the meantime I've just settled for going to a friends house for goofy LARP duels which are normally a blast.

HEMA!!

I'm big on swords, but being somewhat rural means the nearest place that offers proper HEMA courses is an hours drive away which is a HUGE COMMITMENT (and even then I think they only offer intro courses). Even friends that I could share in the hobby with are hours away so I've not even made any attempts to get gear or anything to practice with.


Personally I'm a longsword kind of gal, but I also fw falchions, and jian and dao. Former is a classic and popular for good reason, but falchions have a bit of flair that I love. When I was a kid I was gifted a blunt jian from my grandmother (I'm Taiwanese-American fwiw) but I misplaced it some time ago moving states.