Classes

Membership of the club is subject to the completion of a new starter course to a required competency level.

New starter courses cover both the club approach to training as well as core skills for the syllabus currently being taught. At the end of a course, a student should:

– have a good understanding of why we practice both solo work & paired work, and how to do that to best effect;

– a basic vocabulary (cut names, guard positions etc.) for the current topic;

– basic movement skills (both foot and hand) for the current topic;

– basic weapons skills (how to hold the weapon, how to cut, how to parry, how to defend and counterstrike etc.) for the current topic.

The beginner class costs £50 for standard adults, £35 for students, and lasts four weeks. It is run once a quarter at the same time & venue as the main club.

All equipment will be provided during the classes by the club.

The new starters courses typically covers topics in Fiore de’i Liberi’s Art of Armizare in empty hands, Rondel dagger, and longsword combat techniques.

Currently, Suffolk HEMA holds regular technical training sessions on Monday evenings, 7-8:30 pm at Stowupland Sports Centre. These sessions are for members only. We do not run tasters sessions, or accept one-off attendance, instead, we run four-week introductory courses. Successful completion of which facilitates membership.

The formal training session starts with a warmup, aimed at getting one ready in body and mind for the training ahead. Followed by a mixture of solo and paired work covering the current syllabus.

After the formal training session, there is a half hour slot where students can either:

– take part in a 20 minute interval training activity, which works on

– cardio and general muscle tone suitable for HEMA, followed by a sort stretch based warm down;

– or use this half hour to practice what they have been taught, but there will be no instructor available to assist during this period or leave if they prefer

Payment is by bank transfer on a monthly subscription-style basis at the start of the month. The current cost is £40 a month. There are no refunds for missed sessions.

The club also runs a HEMA sparring session, please contact us for further information. Suitably competent members of the main Suffolk Swords club may also attend these sparring sessions.