Danelaw Sparring Group - Historical European Martial arts (HEMA)

Historical European Martial Arts. This is a catch-all title for many many different disciplines. We train "unarmoured" weapon based fighting. Typically using sources and strategies laid out in Medieval and Renaissance texts. At the Danelaw sparring group we all have different interests in different time-periods and warrior types of the past. So we play with ideas from many different sources. If you're looking to find or build your own style, then your safe with us.

Nope, if you're brand new and just want to see what we do, feel free to drop down to any of our regular sessions or send us a message. If you're coming for sparring, then you need to be part of a HEMA group and have active student insurance. Ask your club leader/instructor for more details on this. Members just get a little discount on their classes is all. Favouritism at it's finest.

British Military Sabre, Longsword, Rapier Dagger, Sword and Shield, Viking Round shield, Sword and Buckler, English Backsword, Polearms and much more. We try to focus on concepts that can be used across weapon sets. This allows for much more flexibility and to help you find your own style. However our instructors have experience with a wide variety of weapons, although we do tend to have favourites! See our instructors page for more

If you're coming to a taught session, then just some comfortable clothing, and practical footwear. Most of us choose to wear shorts and t-shirt, Trainers with some grip would be great. If you're here for sparring, then you'll need at a minimum 350N mask, gorget, and gloves (Red Dragons are seen as a minimum for hand protection). https://danelaw-sparring-group.bmaba.app/#kit-requirements For the full recommendations and requirements

We have everything you'll need to join in our taught classes. If you're sparring, simply bring your favourite weapons! We try to be mostly steels in our sparring clubs, but we all have plenty of synths too. If you're here to learn, we've got everything you'll need. But any extra padding and protections are always welcome. Maybe bring yourself a bottle of water too.

We're not masters, we're a bunch of people who love learning and exploring different sources and perfecting our own styles, with all sorts of weapons. We're here to have a good time, get some good fights in, and make some friends along the way. If that's the kind of group you think you'd like to be part of, then come join us.