Happy New Year!

 

It’s that time of year to celebrate the wins and reflect on the challenges of the past 12 months!  This is also an opportunity to contemplate how we want to move forward with our training and resolve to set goals for and make changes in our practice for the year to come.  Stay motivated, be safe, and we look forward to seeing everyone on the Fechtschule floor in 2025!

Don't forget to check out all the HEMA and Historical Fencing classes from Gotham Swords at gemac.club!

German Historical Fencing Class Begins!

 

Good news Friends,

We have started our new German Historical Fencing course!

German Historical Fencing, or our Deutscher Historischer Fechtverein, explores the Augsburg school of swordsmanship, a tradition of historical dueling arts originating in the southeastern region of what is now Germany. Students will be instructed in the art and techniques of the Longsword, Messer, and Bauernwehr.

This series is designed to guide students towards a fulfilling hobby of Historical Fencing that includes elements of fitness training, skills, and free-fencing bouts.  Additionally, students wishing to compete in HEMA Tournament settings will find this class helpful as it builds familiarity with organized fencing exchanges, judging, and score-keeping.

All the German Historical Fencing classes are Beginner Friendly
and are designed for students of all levels of experience.

Newer students will be introduced to fundamental skills and general lessons while experienced students will engage in more advanced practice.

 This course runs on Saturdays and is comprised of three related sessions:

• Sword Fitness
• Skills
• Applications
  

September Announcements & Updates

Hello everyone, just a few announcements for September!

• LED-Saber Update
  
• Guided Solo Practice Sessions
• September 16th: German-American Steuben Parade
• September Class Schedule
  

2023 Begins!

Catching Up

Jeez, it's been a long time! Things have been, to say the least: busy. I'm happy to announce that major time-consuming HEMA-related projects are now, for the most part, on auto-pilot which leaves me with time to get back to contributing more here.

A roundup of the big ticket events so far:

• Gotham Swords has been up and running for just over two years (hurray!). We've radically expanded our class offerings to include a variety of one and two-handed weapons.
• Highlights: 
• LED Saber is on Saturdays.
• Side Sword Study Group is on Tuesday nights.
• Great Sword is now on Saturday afternoons.
  
• The 2022 Dueling Workshop was a resounding success! Thank you to everyone who joined us for a dive into Sir William Hope's New Method. Don't worry if you missed it, we're planning another for 2023, dates TBD.
• A huge shout-out and thank you to the wonderful people at Doors of Divergence and Future Proof for hosting our '22 Holiday Bash! 
• For the next two quarters I'm teaching two courses: German Longsword, and Bauernwehr & Messer. Both classes will focus on the "Altes Kunst des Fechtens" (Old Art of Dueling) rooted in the Augsburg/Lübeck School of swordplay. Check out our website for more information and Bookwhen for sign ups.

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to watch this space for notes and updates!

Happy π Day!

Happy Pi Sword Nerds!

To help you celebrate, here are some pies you can make at home, and a very special crustless version!

Peter found this recipe on the British Museum's blog:  

In Memory of Vincent Lloyd Malveaux

 

 

Vincent Lloyd Malveaux
Brooklyn, New York
November 28, 1990 - December 3, 2021

It deeply saddens me to report the passing of Vincent Malveaux, a member of our fencing community and FDNY Probationary Firefighter.

Open Floor Class 11/27

Peter will be supervising an
Open Floor Session on 11/27
BUT IT WILL BE AT A DIFFERENT RIPLEY-GRIER LOCATION
520 8th Ave, 16th Floor, Room 16D
at 12:30PM

• Again, please note that this class is not at our normal Ripley-Grier location, instead it will hosted at the nearby 520 8th Ave location, in room 16D.
  
• Open floor means that there will be no official class plan; instead we will be providing a space for folks to come and spar/gekken, or practice in a supervised environment. 
• Students are encouraged to come prepared with questions or things they want to work on.
• This is a great opportunity to explore other systems and/or weapons! Please contact our instructors if there are any particular subject(s) of interest.
  
• Don't forget to sign up on our schedule page or by visiting gemac.club!
  

Messer — The Holiday Special 2021!

Dear Comrades, 

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:.

GEMAC HEMA CLASSES: NEW LOCATION AND TIMES!

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 

Upcoming Messer Class Schedule

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!

8/21 — 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?

8/28 — Talhoffer System Overview

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.

9/4 — No Class!

See you next week!

9/11 — Underhand Ward

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.

9/18 — Overhand Ward

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.

9/25 — Laming Techniques

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.

No Messer Class Sat 8/14, Will Back on 8/21!

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!

Schedule Updates!

Exciting news Comrades!  We are expanding our Hema Workout and Lecture lineup to include new topics will explore all sorts of Hema and Hema-adjacent subjects.

December 2020 Lecture Schedule: 

12/08 Kat Hamilton Workout & Lecture: Mindful Warmups and Cooldowns

12/11 Peter Haas Class: Langes Messer Class

12/15 Katie Meade Workout & Lecture: Sword Games!

12/18 Peter Haas Class: Longsword & Messer 

12/22 Peter Haas Workout & Lecture: Sticking’em with the Pointy End

12/25 No Class         Movie Marathon on Discord

12/29 Joe Ceirante Workout & Lecture: Tour and comparison of the messer sources

01/01 Peter Haas Class: Happy New Year, Time for 1,000 Cuts!

For more information and registration check out our schedule on Bookwhen!

Classes Snap Shots!

Thank you everyone for joining us for our third week of safe, outdoor classes!

This week we covered: Sword & Buckler, Langes Messer, and freeplay fencing.

Check out our schedule page for information about future classes.

Schedule is Online!

As we still navigate the question of "what next?" we're increasingly have socially-distant outdoor class meet ups.  Check our new schedule page or www.bookwhen.com/dafak for more information regarding class times, locations, and participation requirements.

Stay safe, and look forward to seeing you all soon!

MOVING FORWARD: A Brief Statement [and a Survey!]

Comrades,

We live in challenging times.

I am incredibly grateful for all the times we had together at Sword Class NYC: we trained. We built a new training space. We trained some more. We partied. We expanded our realm of study from Longsword to messer, sword and buckler, spear, saber, and ringen. We experienced the excitement of tournaments.

We collectively owe everyone at SCNYC, and especially Tristan, Raab, and Sara a huge thank you for their time, blood, sweat, tears, and many sacrifices they’ve made to help us create this space and build this community.

Moving forward, I want to reassure everyone that we will continue to be doing what we do best: be a community of awesome people with a bad-ass sword habit.

There is still much work to be done in hammering out the details, but here is what I know and what I can personally offer you at the moment:

• The Discord channel is here to stay! If you’re not already a member, let us know, and we can add you.
• The Lecture / Ask Me Anything and Virtual Class Sessions will continue!
• TZLongsword and Squinting Rabbit will continue to produce amazing training materials!
• I am currently working with everyone to see how we can move forward to provide in-person classes. Please be patient!

This being said, running two virtual sessions a week, plus [at least one] in-person class is a lot for any individual.

I’m currently looking to restructure our current schedule; I know Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday have been long carved out in terms of classes, but I don’t want to automatically commit to those times without your input.

Please take a moment to fill out this schedule survey:

https://forms.gle/8UE2paq8CUpdQyL89

The more information I have, the better my choices can be for everyone!

As I mentioned before, there are still a number of details to work out; there is a lot more work to do, and there will be many opportunities to contribute to this process!

Thank you all for the outpouring of support, and I look forward to fencing with you all again soon!

Hugs,

Peter

Re: Training Outdoors [IMPORTANT]

An important reminder to all students practicing outdoors in NYC:

Due to recent NYPD activity, Please be careful and take extra precautions.

The NYPD are getting more aggressive and are now snatching people off the streets. We don't know what the limits to their outreach / threat level is at the moment. They could easily misinterpret our training and act in unpredictable ways.

1) Wear a uniform if you can. If you don't have a uniform, wear a club t-shirt.

2) Go in appropriately socially distant groups.

3) if you have wooden trainers, use them instead of metal if possible.

4) if you have a training space / club business card be sure to bring them.

Use your best judgement, do your best to keep calm, and again: please be careful.

Reflection on Our First Post Covid-19 Class

We had our first in person class last night, a huge thank you to everyone who was able to make it out!  It felt amazing to train with my Comrades again.

Some Thoughts Regarding Tonight's Class

Comrades,

Tonight is going to be an experiment. 

With New York City entering Phase III of re-opening, group gatherings of up to 25 people are now allowed, as long as participants adhere to social distancing and mask / face coverings.  So, for the first time in several months, our Longsword group is going to attempt a meet-up.

COVID-19 Studio and Training Information

Post issued from SwordClassNYC:

    Skip one day of training and lose one hundred days.

    - Chinese Proverb

Losing your routine is hard. In fact, coming back to training after significant time away is one of the greatest challenges that any martial artist can face. We get it. We’re all going through it and we’d like to help you avoid that malaise of daily inactivity.

Our studio remains closed until gyms in NYC are permitted to reopen, but we’ve created a number of online resources for you to access while you’re unable to come in for training. Although online instruction is not a replacement for the traditional training environment, we hope these will help to keep you active, challenged, and engaged with our incredible community of enthusiastic and caring instructors and practitioners.

If you have any questions, please email us at info@swordclassNYC.com. Train hard, and we’ll see you in class!

For information regarding Online Group Classes and Talks and Sword Class NYC Online 

please visit: http://swordclassnyc.com/covid19/

A Note from Peter

Comrades,

We live in strange times.

It is in our most difficult moments that we are accustomed to turn to our friends, family, Comrades, and allies for support.  The challenges of the current pandemic, and subsequent lock-down have removed access to  much of the intimate comradery we so often depend upon.

Yet, while the world feels askew, it brings me incredible pride to see the countless ways folks are proving you can't keep a good club down:  uplifting check-ins via phone or messenger, shared online gaming, remote movie nights, and creating the community's Discord forum (thanks Dylan!) all have offered a wonderful way to help us all feel less isolated.

While we continue to be away from the FechtSchule, I want to encourage everyone to gift themselves the time to study and practice.  Join the online study sessions, aim to include your solo practice hours, even if it means roping in your partner, roommate, or pets.

If you have new, creative methods of practicing, please share them with us — or if you're encountering difficulties in your practice, such as: discovering exactly how low your ceiling actually is, please let us know and we will do our best to help keep your training on track.

More challenges are ahead, and things are going to feel out-of-whack for a while. You're not alone in your worries, fears, and concerns.  I know our community, and it's a good one; we're going to get through this together.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me for any reason.  I'm available via phone, e-mail, and now the kids have pulled me onto the Discord [peterjhaas#7618].

Continue being awesome to each other!

Best,
_pH:.

- - - - -
Peter J. Haas
Lehrer, KdMF(DAFAK)