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What Do You Train With and Where Can I Find It?

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AnsalonPaladin:
So, as a fan of the Order Of The Marshal and someone who has viewed them a few times at the VARF, I can't help but want to train with the members. So, my first question is what kind of armament would I have to acquire, secondly, who would I talk to to practice with this armament, and thirdly, when and where can I begin?

Thanks for your patience and consideration----Paladin

Sir Brian:
Well according to your profile you live around Richmond, VA. and after referencing the HEMA Alliance Forum -http://hemaalliance.com/discussion/viewforum.php?f=5&sid=19ea16ca685ed2d54de191985d3c46ae in the
Club Finder discussion -http://hemaalliance.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=33
Nearest to Richmond - http://www.communitywalk.com/THE-HEMA-Group-finder-E-North-America-Eastern

Is this Club: http://www.sallegreen.com/escrime.html

I'm not familiar with that club and not sure if it is even open, but it is a start. The link to the HEMA Alliance Forum is a good site to find a club nearest you. As for equipment, you should probably find a club or form your own club before investing too much. Good news is that Christian Tobler's revised Fighting with the German Longsword is being printed and should be available within the next several weeks and should be your one of your first purchases in reference material. http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/
:)

Sir James A:
As Sir Brian said, get equipment based around what your club requires. Some may be scholarly only and you won't need a lot of safety gear, some may be heavily competitive and will need a lot of gear or have specific requests.

My personal list of gear used is:

Swords:
Baltimore Knife & Sword (BKS) custom feder: http://imakeswords.com/index.htm
Ensifer Heavy (on order): http://www.woodenswords.com/product_p/ensiferlong.htm

Safety:
SPES Axel Jacket: http://www.woodenswords.com/product_p/spes-jacket.htm
AF HEMA Mask w/back of head: http://www.afinternationalsporting.com/product_info.php/products_id/145/cPath/8
Red Dragon gloves (weekly/classes): http://www.woodenswords.com/product_p/glove.red.dragon.medium.htm

Competitions / Tournaments:
AF HEMA Deluxe mittens (instead of red dragon gloves): http://www.afinternationalsporting.com/product_info.php/products_id/195
Red Dragon shin/knee guards: http://www.woodenswords.com/product_p/rd-shin.guards.htm

There are additional bits you can get like forearm guards, elbows, etc. I don't use forearm guards since the AF mittens cover most of my forearm already. I have two different gear configurations ("light" and "heavy") since one is for known duels with classmates, which are generally lower power levels and intensity, and another where I don't know and don't trust my opponent to make a conscious effort to not injure me. Personal preference.

For most drills and beginning HEMA classes, mask and gloves tends to be all you will need; but again, confirm with the instructor(s) you find. You can probably start with $30 hockey gloves instead of $90 red dragons (or $300+ customs). The instructor may even have loaner gear that you can use while trying out the class for a few months.

And glad you enjoy the Order. :D

Sir Nate:
One of my fellow martial artist had the Ensifer Feder from purpleheart this sunday. It was quite nice.

I use a wooden longsword from Purpleheart: http://www.woodenswords.com/category_s/1820.htm
My Gambeson is meant for re-enactment, but I use it for light sparring as well: . http://kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=SNMC7108E&name=13th+Century+Gambeson+-+Natural+
It is a bit stiff. I don't have trouble sparring in mine because my mail has broken the padding in a bit.
You would have to check with your local group if it is acceptable to spar in. Im not sure if it meets any competition requirements.

Sir Edward:

When just starting out, a wooden waster or synthetic trainer can be a nice inexpensive way to get started. Purplehart Armories has a good selection of both, and makes what is probably the best synthetic trainer on the market.

If you intend to hit people in your training, then I'd go with the synthetic and skip the wood.

If you decide to stick to it, or just want to go ahead and invest in something you'll use a lot longer, there are many options for steel weapons. In no particular order, some good selections are the Albion Meyer, the A&A Fechterspiel, the Ensifer Heavy, and the Darkwood Armory longswords.

The darkwoods are probably the cheapest of that list, and are very serviceable. They just lack some of the subtle cosmetics of the others.

Usually for gear I recommend working with your club first to find out what they recommend and prefer, but you can't really go wrong with the weapon choices above.

Hand protection is the hardest part, but you can get started with hockey/lacrosse gloves to do some light fighting or drills with.

A "3 weapon" fencing mask is the cheapest way to get started on head protection. Some companies (like Absolute Force) offer variants with built-in "back of the head" protection, or you can get one that attaches with elastic to a regular fencing mask. Various jackets and gambesons are out there, as well as elbow/knee pads, and so on, but again it's usually better to talk to the club you'll be training with first.

Our group doesn't have just one school up here. We all train separately across the DC region.

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