HEMA – Historical European Martial Arts

Historical European Martial Arts, commonly referred to as HEMA, is in short the reconstruction and practice of the various martial arts that were practiced in historical Europe. From wrestling and pugilism (boxing) to historical fencing and fights with swords and other weapons. It is based on historical resources, mainly the detailed treatises and manuals on martial arts that we know of. The earliest surviving treatises found are from the middle ages in the 14th century and HEMA practioners covers European martial arts up to about the 19th century. Earlier martial arts as those from e.g. the antiquity or the vikings, are also covered within HEMA. But the older historical resources available are few and minor, making older martial arts very difficult to reconstruct.

These martial arts can sometimes be referred to by the term WMA – Western Martial Arts, which is a broader term covering more martial arts than those within HEMA.

Aspects of HEMA

Trying to reconstruct and practice the various historical martial arts from Europe has several aspects. The list below covers the main aspects, but that is not to say that HEMA is limited to these.

  • Training – solo drills, partner drills, et.c. based on historical resources
  • Sparring – from slow sparring to full contact sparring (with proper gear)
  • Competitions – Fights (usually full contact) or cutting competitions with sharp weapons
  • Theory studies – Study already existing theory and interpretations of manuals and treatises
  • Research – Interpret existing treatises and manuals and searching for more unknown resources

To call oneself a HEMA practioner one must not practice all of these aspects. One can if one will focus and practice only on some. Some enjoy the training more, some are highly competitive and some focus more on the historical theory and further research.

Martial Arts within HEMA

Covering the European history over several hundreds – or thousands – of years gives practically an infinite number of martial arts if including all systems, variations and different schools over time. Here are some of the more or less commonly practiced today listed, but HEMA is certainly not only these.

HEMA Resources on the Web

These sites contains a lot of resources for those who wants to dig into HEMA in more details.

Wiktenauer
The free library of Historical European Martial Arts books and manuscripts.

HROARR
Resources for the Historical European Martial Arts and Sports Community.