While various fencers have entire spectrum of different views on source material for HEMA, last video of YouTuber Shadiversity video is even more surprising. Is his talk, he responses to previous Matt Easton’s point about the letter “H” in the acronym, arguing that relying on written sources is gatekeeping. We don’t want to be biased, so watch it for yourselves.

It is important to note, however, that using other sources outside the written fencing treatises is common in pretty much every HEMA club around the world.

“Dagger” still counts as “unarmed”

“Basically everybody carried a dagger” – says Mark Berryman from The Exiles. This is – in his opinion – the very key to understanding medieval unarmed combat.

From this video you will learn main postures of unarmed combat and their connection to the rest of the Fiore’s system.

If thrusts are too painful

Chest protector and gorget offered by Tempus Fugitives serve as augmentation of regular gear. In short words: Matt’s opinion is quite positive, although those elements do somewhat restrict movement – as does all protective equipment.

It’s important to point out that a similar designed gorget was offered by Leon Paul at a ridiculous price and never really caught on. The TF version is much cheaper. Watch the full review:

Is fighting with a two-hander dancing? Yes, when you do it like this

One might argue this is not strictly HEMA, as Kristina Korshunova, waving that spectacular Pike Armory Montante around, seems to be mainly focused on stage combat. However, when you check more thoroughly, that is patently untrue – she is clearly using Montante sources to inform that, and she is part of a HEMA club in Moscow (MwS), and her skill and flow with a weapon of this size is a joy to watch.

Inside Destreza

The study of the Spanish school – Verdadera Destreza – is growing. If years ago knowledge on it was mostly restricted to those with good Spanish and a lot of patience, nowadays we have developing translations of the big Destreza sources, and also more and more video content. This is a long and detailed lecture about the context of Destreza – Verdadera and Vulgar, by well-known fencer and researcher of the topic, Manuel Valle Ortiz. The audio quality may not be great, but if you are interested on the topic, it’s worth the watch.