Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) refers to documentable methods of armed and unarmed personal and group combat of European origin. The term HEMA is most often used for the reconstruction of European historical martial arts.
The purpose of Prima Spada HEMA fencing is to provide safe, competitive historical fencing for Prima Spada students, using historically accurate weapons and techniques. It's an opportunity for our students to apply those techniques with intent, targeting areas and applying the actions that have otherwise been made safe in our historical exhibition syllabus. The primary weapon of our HEMA team is rapier and its companion weapons. Prima Spada teaches techniques from Academie de l'Espée by Gérard Thibault d'Anvers. HEMA Fencing training prepares Prima Spada students to compete at competitions, giving students the opportunity to represent Prima Spada as a team to compete in events within the Australian HEMA and swordsmanship community |
Due to the competitive nature of HEMA Fencing, true attacks dominate the fencing. This means that competitors should expect opponents will attempt to hit upon their target areas in order to score points in the bout. All competitors of HEMA Fencing competition therefore must abide by all rules and regulations governing the HEMA community competition. These rules dictate the weapons and protective equipment specifications that a student requires upon entering any HEMA event. For these reasons, students training in the Prima Spada HEMA Team must obtain the appropriate protective equipment, uniform standard and approved weapons before they can commence their training at Prima Spada.
Training students in HEMA Fencing requires basic understanding of historically-based attacks with the point and edge as well as a knowledge of historically-based defences and counter-attacks.
HEMA Fencing is an internationally recognised competitive sport. Rules and regulations govern this sport and as Prima Spada is an affiliated body to the AAI (Academie D’Armes Internationale) through the Australian Academy of Fencing, the school offers students of HEMA Fencing the opportunity to perform and compete within the local, national and international HEMA communities.
Training students in HEMA Fencing requires basic understanding of historically-based attacks with the point and edge as well as a knowledge of historically-based defences and counter-attacks.
HEMA Fencing is an internationally recognised competitive sport. Rules and regulations govern this sport and as Prima Spada is an affiliated body to the AAI (Academie D’Armes Internationale) through the Australian Academy of Fencing, the school offers students of HEMA Fencing the opportunity to perform and compete within the local, national and international HEMA communities.
Available Training Locations
Resources and Application
Prima Spada School of Fence adopts principles from a variety of sources in all of our historical fencing. This adoption of principles and actions from a variety of manuals allows Prima Spada students the opportunity to practice a comprehensive view of swordplay which focuses on the wider, more universal aspects of swordplay for a more fully rounded development of their skills.