Willkommen! This Gotham Swords program studies a historical fencing tradition from Augsburg, Germany. The Augsburg School emphasizes a curriculum of foundational skills and concepts which inform the application of higher order techniques. The lessons forge a system of fencing that is applicable to Ringen (wrestling), Messer (knives), and Schwert (Longsword).
It deeply saddens me to report the passing of Vincent Malveaux, a member of our fencing community and FDNY Probationary Firefighter.
Instructors work hard to design and teach classes. I am not paid, so if you are able to contribute, please tip and help keep these classes coming!
VENMO: @peterjhaasIf you'd like to donate on a more consistent basis please visit www.ko-fi.com/peterjhaas
HEMA Halloween Spook-tacular! This weekend we covered the Shiel Hau, and Messer Military Drills for the Zombie Apocalypse.
In the spirit of the upcoming holiday and as celebration of finally moving indoors for classes, let's don our Halloween costumes for a special messer class this Saturday!
If you have anything German (lederhosen, dirndls, etc) or faire garb we'd love to see it, but all costumes are welcome!
XO,
Lhr_pH:.
For this class we began our exploration of techniques using the off-hand (i.e. the hand not holding the Messer) for performing what is referred to as “the grips”, a method of manipulating your opponent by grabbing, pushing, or pulling their sword arm.
What an exciting day! Saturday’s class was our first time returning to an indoor training space in almost two years. We had a fully booked roster, including three new students!
Good news everyone, as fall rolls in Gemac is moving indoors!
Please note:
• Classes will be held at Ripley-Grier Studios at 305 West 38th Street.
• Class times have changed so please double check the schedule when you sign up!
• Proof of vaccination & matching photo ID is required for participation.
• Class times have changed, see schedule for details.
• We recommend you arrive around 10 mins early to change or do any additional stretching before class.
Learn more and sign up for classes now at
www.gemac.club
Update your sword-calendars comrades! Here's a look at our upcoming classes for August/September. In the future I'll be posting more details regarding our class modules. I hope this makes it easier to follow along with our weekly study and enhances your individual practice.
Additionally, I will be helping Instructor Kenny Mai run his ASL-FFE LED Saber Dueling classes on Sundays.
As always, please sign up at www.gemac.club or on our schedule page!
This class sets out to describe: in the absence of advanced techniques, what does messer fencing look like? How do you apply the core basics (Grundlegende Lektionen) in a practical manner?
Through a hybrid of lectures, demonstrations, and practical participation this class reviews the six primary lesson modules, covering: concepts of the underhand and overhand wards, laming techniques, the grips and armored hand, fighting from luginslandt, as well as a review of the KdF tactical system.
See you next week!
This module examines the application of Versetzen using a häwen to the Läger of Stier. Beginning with the posture of Mittelhut, and expanding to other Läger, students will learn how to defend themselves from a variety of attacks using Stier as well as the appropriate nachschlag work.
This module focuses on the application of Eber, also known as the forehand ward: a displacement technique that leaves your tip high and the nail of your cross guard out. Students will lean both offensive and defensive techniques and how those skills fit into a larger tactical framework.
Laming techniques are designed to disable your opponent’s ability to continue a match by attacking the hands, wrist and arms. In this module students will learn to disable their opponent through defensive draw-cutting and warding-attacks.
Hello Comrades, there will be no Messer Class on 8/14, we will continue the following Saturday (8/21) with The Tactical System of Messer Fencing!
This class sets out to describe: in the absence of advanced techniques, what does messer fencing look like? How do you apply the core basics (Grundlegende Lektionen) in a practical manner?
Sign up today at www.gemac.club!
I'm excited to announce that in addition to our normal classes on 8/7, I will be hosting a padded sword workshop that is designed to get us all back into shape for the up coming sword season!
Gekken, or Schwertkunst is a method of applying technique to low-gear freeplay fencing with padded training swords.
It’s important to note that the equipment used in Schwertkunst is NOT LARP-gear. While these tools are technically padded it is still possible to do considerable harm to your opponent. For this reason we begin every class with a basic safety review.
We will review the Underhand Ward, and begin our investigation of the application of the Overhand Ward.
If you missed the Zornhau class, it is currently now online!
Download the slideshow deck here: ZornHau Class Deck
These patterns are a choreography designed to help you practice and perfect basic actions.
Remember: it's not about speed or simple memorization. Part of the choreography means finding a tempo that allows you to focus on improving each movement and action. Start slow, make it smooth, then work on adjusting the tempo.
Hello Comrades!
Please take a moment to fill out this survey! It will help inform your instructors as they work on class content to address the students' interests and needs. We will accept submissions until Friday, February 12th (two weeks from today). Thank you very much!
-Kat and Josh
o==[]::::::::::::::::>
In this practical longsword class, we’ll review the äussere mÿnn and other nachraisen techniques as described in the gloss by Pseudo-Peter von Danzig. We'll start with warm up stretches and cuts and then read the treatise and work through the material together.
Visit www.gemac.club/schedule to register now!
