Safety Requirements
Here at Hilt and Helm, we fight our friends not our enemies.
Make sure your partner likes you at the end of your fight by following these safety requirements!
Historical fencing is an admittedly dangerous hobby. After all, we are deliberately swinging metal rods at each other with the intention of simulating armed conflict. To mitigate these risks, we employ pieces of equipment and practices that dramatically reduce the likelihood of an injury. Below are listed 3 layers of protection that everyone must be knowledgeable about in order to begin free sparring with us.
Layer 0: Minimum Required Gear (You have to bring this from home)
Layer 1: Under Gambeson Equipment (Required items provided by the club)
Layer 2: Gambeson Layer Equipment (Required items provided by the club)
Minimum Required Gear
This describes the clothes and equipment every student is expected to bring from home and will not be provided with a few exceptions outlined in this section.
Tennis shoes. Please bring athletic shoes to practice. If I had a nickel for every person I’ve seen show up in sandals or boots … I’d have 2 nickels, which isn’t a lot but it is weird that it happened twice.
Athletic shorts. Can you fight in jeans? Yes. Is it recommended? No.
Groin Protection. There is a non-zero chance you will get struck in the genitals. No matter how you identify on the gender spectrum … it sucks. We aren’t going to check before practice but for your own sake please don’t skip this piece of protective equipment.
Water Bottle. We have a water fountain you can refill it at and staying hydrated (especially in the hotter months) is essential for not over heating. Do we have disposable cups? Yes … but every time you throw one away it kills a panda, a whale, and a bee in that order. So do the environment a favor and bring a water bottle.
5. Athletic Shirt (Available for purchase). Let me be crystal clear on this next part. If you fight in a full kit, when you take it off you will experience a level of sweatiness and funk few have experienced outside of the world of sports locker room maintenance. This is not the hobby you want to wear a polo, dress shirt, or a nice cardigan to. Bring a shirt you don’t care about. One you don’t mind getting so unapologetically gross that it will change colors between when you arrive and when you leave. Also bring a second t-shirt change into and a zip-lock back to put the other shirt in so it doesn’t stink up your car on the way home.
6. Cute Dog. This one isn’t required, but it’s nice to have.
Under Gambeson Equipment
This layer of equipment goes over your athletic gear from Layer 0 but under your gambeson (padded fencing jacket). Don’t worry about bringing this layer from home we provide the required pieces which are highlighted in this section.
Long Socks. These are important if you’re going to be wearing shin protectors. They cover your bare skin so the plastic doesn’t dig into your leg if you take a hit.
Padded Fencing Pants. Shots to the thighs typically do not leave lasting damage but they can leave bruises. Not needed for most light sparring sessions but in a tournament setting where everyone is amped up on adrenaline a swing can have more force than normal and in those cases its better to have a bit more protection.
Plastron (REQUIRED). Taking a hard thrust or middle-hau to the chest or guy sucks. They are really nice to have if you don’t like getting injured.
Gorget (REQUIRED). This piece of equipment is the only thing stopping a thrust from going under your mask and striking you directly in the throat. DO NOT get into a sword fight without wearing one of these! The nice ones have clavicle protection to soften hits to the collar bone, but we can’t see if you’re wearing this unless we watch you get dressed so if you value your life/privacy, always wear a gorget!
5. Rugby Cap. This isn’t required but if you’re concerned about getting a concussion or if your helmet is just a little bit too big, this helps fill it out.
Gambeson Layer
This is the outermost layer of equipment needed to fight historical fencing matches safely.
Shin Protectors (REQUIRED). Leg shots are totally valid in HEMA. Make sure you’re protected.
Knee Protectors (REQUIRED). Don’t be that sorry guard in the mead hall saying “I used to be an adventurer like you ‘till I took a longsword to the knee”. Knees are kinda important for this hobby so make sure yours are covered by hard plastic and secured in place.
3. Gambeson/Padded Fencing Jacket (REQUIRED). This protects you against the vast majority of the strikes you’re going to receive in HEMA. They come in a variety of sizes, colors, and thicknesses, but they all share a few key traits. Padding and coverage. For this reason you aren’t allowed to fight in hoodies, lacrosse gear, or chain shirts over a t-shirt. None of these articles of protection offer enough padding for the types of impact you are likely to face.
4. Light gloves (REQUIRED). If you are going to be fighting with light weapons such as rapiers, military sabers, small swords, or daggers, you must be wearing a pair of these gloves or an appropriate equivalent. Lacrosse gloves are acceptable for these types of weapons.
5. Heavy gloves (REQUIRED). If you are going to be fighting with heavy weapons such as longswords, arming swords with buckers, katanas, or Polish/Hungarian sabers you must be wearing a part of these gloves. Light gloves of any sort are strictly not allowed for use with these weapons!
6. Forearm protectors (REQUIRED). Some schools do not require these, but those instructors have never been hit very hard in the forearms. Believe me … it sucks. These are 100% required for heavy weapons but with light ones it is recommended but not required.
7. Bad-ass samurai shoulder protectors. The Kaftan Gambesons are a little light in the padding around the shoulder areas, so I’ve elected to wear a pair of these but they are not required. They are cool as hell though so feel free to be jealous.
8. Helmet with back of the head protection (REQUIRED). Back of the head protection is the largest differentiator between Olympic and Historical Fencing head protection requirements. Because of the lateral nature of our fighting and the force we use it is important that the back of the head area be protected.
Fencing Etiquette
Now that you’ve learned about all of the types of equipment, you may be thinking, “That’s great! Now let me start beating people up!” Not so fast. Fencers must first learn a few key important lessons before they can start free sparring.
How a fight begins, stops, and ends. All fights begin by both fighters saluting each other by bowing their heads and clanking weapons to show they mean no harm. Once a hit has been landed by either fighter, both fighters separate and acknowledge hits scored against them. Once the matter has been settled fencing may resume. That middle part is super important because it keeps the fight from becoming a brawl. In an actual dual, the fight would stop once someone got stabbed, but with all of our fencing equipment it is possible to keep going after suffering hit that would have either seriously wounded or killed you had we been fighting with sharp weapons. Once either fighter becomes tired say “Does three more sound good?” Once the opponent has acknowledged the request, fight three more bouts then end the fight with a hug.
Respecting your opponent. Here at Hilt and Helm we fight our friends, not our enemies. It is important that you as a fighter let your partner know how much force you are comfortable with receiving and exceptionally important that you as a partner respect your opponent’s boundaries. Establishing before the match begins how much force is too much force is important to ensure your opponent remains a consenting participant in the exchange. After all, fighting is a lot like boxing in that if both parties aren’t consenting to the activity … it’s assault.
Calling hits against yourself. During a fight it is important to stop the fight when either you feel that you’ve hit your opponent or you feel your opponent has hit you. That latter part is very important for 2 reasons. The first is that it is honorable to give you opponent credit for striking you. This lets them know that their attack was martially valid and that they used an appropriate amount of force. The second is that you say “I didn’t feel anything”, that gives them license to hit you harder. Depending on how candid you are about them hitting you, this can quickly escalate into them using an excessive amount of force just to get you to acknowledge that you were hit which can accidentally cause them to hit you way harder than you’d like. Do both of yourselves a favor and acknowledge when you’ve been hit.
Lastly we’ll discuss fencing safely. The subject is pretty broad so I’ll narrow it down to a few important bullet points.
Hits must not use excessive force.
Control of the weapon should be maintained under pressure.
Ability to safely communicate between bouts.
Ability to safely halt a bout.
Respect for the opponent’s boundaries.
If you require an in-depth explanation of each of those bullet points, you aren’t ready to fence in free sparring yet. Contact one of our staff members and we’ll walk you through proper training and will let you know when you are ready to begin sparring with the rest of the club.
The Challenge of the Jarl
As part of our system for safely training students who are new to HEMA, we require students to pass a test called “The Challenge of the Jarl” before they can begin free sparring or use steel weapons. This test requires the completion of a light bout of free sparring with one of Hilt and Helm’s staff members, with the following criteria being met:
The student must demonstrate complete knowledge of the safety equipment by completing the following tasks.
Gathering all the safety equipment appropriate for the chosen weapon completely independently.
Briefly describing the purpose of each item.
Correctly putting the equipment on completely independently.
Returning the gear to the equipment room.
The student must demonstrate basic fencing etiquette.
Starting the fight appropriately.
Respect for the opponent.
Calling hits.
3. The student must demonstrate safe fencing.
Hits must not use excessive force.
Control of the weapon should be maintained under pressure.
Ability to safely communicate between bouts.
Ability to safely halt a bout.
Respect for the opponent’s boundaries.
Once the student feels they are ready to take the test, then they should ask one of the club’s staff members, available here, to perform the test.
Current students are exempt from this test if they meet at least one of the following conditions.
The student has already fought in a tournament before.
The student has already passed a Knight School session.
The student has already fought the Jarl (Chris Shelton) and put up enough of a fight to be classified as Hard to Kill, and has succeeded in landing hits.
Finally, remember that both free sparring and membership in the club is a privilege and not a right. Engaging in unsafe behavior will result in revocation of free sparring privileges. Egregiously unsafe behavior, as well as other violations of our code of conduct such as bigotry or disrespect of your partners will also lead to revocation of club membership.