A sociological conceptualization of Jogo do Pau
This is a really interesting clip with Portuguese Jogo do Pau master Luis Preto.
Hi everyone! As we all know HEMA has many different aspects that are all equally important in our shared effort in recreating these forgotten martial arts. Lately, tournaments have received much attention and the top fighters are household names for … Continue reading →
To all swordsmiths, protection gear manufacturers, equipment retailers, event organizers and other HEMA-related business owners: HROARR is now introducing a discreet and HEMA-specific Ad banner system to help you market your products. The hope is that this will get you … Continue reading →
The beauty of posting your texts on HROARR is that we then can have lots of HEMA articles published under various categories, even quite specific ones, where people post their thoughts and research, and all of it is searchable for … Continue reading →
From at least as far back as the early to mid 1400s, all the way up until about the French Revolution in 1789, longsword fencers have been practicing with fechtschwerter, or what is today commonly called federschwert, a specific sword type with a … Continue reading →
Hi everyone! I would like to share a bit of my vision for the new HROARR site. First of all, its purpose is simply to help research, material development and practicing of HEMA. This is done by providing tools, source … Continue reading →
This is a really interesting clip with Portuguese Jogo do Pau master Luis Preto.
May 17th, 2013
What's our problem? The main purpose of any fencing art is to keep the fencer safe from the hostile intentions of his opponent(s), i.e. defense. However, in all of these arts it is recognized that through defense alone, a fencer will eventually lose, because as his opponent continues throwing attacks, inevitably[...]
May 16th, 2013
I know I am not the only one who feels fencing is more than training, research, techniques, sparring, and competitions. Being a fencer means something—but what, exactly? Some of the best people I know are fencers, and their personalities are a part of their fencing. Their greatness as humans carries over[...]
May 5th, 2013
I sought this article out of simple curiosity and was intrigued and surprised by the content. At face-value it seems a charming snapshot of Victorian society, the Facebook of its time. On reading, however, I was struck by the attitudes it contained, and how they compare with those facing women[...]
April 30th, 2013
Hi everyone! As we all know HEMA has many different aspects that are all equally important in our shared effort in recreating these forgotten martial arts. Lately, tournaments have received much attention and the top fighters are household names for all of us involved in HEMA. This is really cool and[...]
April 26th, 2013
I first learned staff in the late eighties, and although I was not that interested in the provenance, as I recall my master learned it in Scouts as a child. I never had any documentation for it, but it was a simple system consistent with what I have subsequently seen[...]
April 19th, 2013
"If you want to learn how to fight properly and effectively with the long sword, so that you may, without gloves and without all armour, guard your hands and your entire body against all kinds of weapons, against sword, against spear, against halberd, against long knife and also against other[...]
April 13th, 2013
Great news for students of Joachim Meyer and Leküchner, from Dr. Jeffrey L. Forgeng, posted on the Reprint Forgeng's "The Art of Combat" Facebook group. "I'm happy to be able to report some updates on the various projects. I have contacted Freelance Academy Press and let them know that I would[...]
April 8th, 2013
"A telegram? Oh, dear. It seems someone has been "biting me"...? Fetch me my trousers at once! No, not those. Those are my time travel trousers. No, those are my tea trousers... That's it! Those ones. My fighting trousers! Ah, yeah!" When it comes to equipment HEMA has come a very long way[...]
Smallsword... for we are many.“Draw not your Sword but to serve the King, preserve your Honour, or…
Brief Notes on Using the Cloak with the RapierThe following are some suggestions for using the cloak with the rapier.…
Humans attempt to make sense of their environment results, quite often, in…
Joachim Meyer's dagger systemNote: This is a working document and will continuously be updated as we…


In an attempt to build a stronger case for the HEMA community when speaking to manufacturers of protective gear and sparring swords, media, and other Martial Arts disciplines, I have initiated a survey to calculate the numbers of Hema practitioners all over the world.
The current results can be found here: The Great Big Global Hema Census
If your club has no numbers attached to it, or if your club isn't even listed, then please don't hesitate to contact me.
Kronhauw – Crown Cut
— Higgins Armory Sword Guild
Secondary Cut: In Meyer, this is a short-edge cut executed from the Crown parry.
Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden
Universitätsbibliothek Wuerzburg
Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
The Higgins Armory Sword Guild
Gothenburg Historical Fencing School

The Historical European Martial Arts Coalition

The Meyer Frei Fechter Guild

The HEMA Alliance