GateKeeping in HEMA?

I would like to start by saying the HEMA community is one of the most all inclusive bunch of people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Yes you get people who are arses, unsurprisingly you always do no matter what the activity. My best advice give them a chance to change. If they don't, have nothing to do with them. As a instructor I see it as part of my job to look after my students both physically and mentally, I'll have a quiet word but after that, good bye. Most instructors/clubs will do the same.

Yes the majority of people are male and white, but you know what so many of us are trying to change that.

What's inspired me to write this? A few weeks ago I encountered a very insulting post on UK HEMA Historical European Martial Arts in the United Kingdom Facebook page entitled how to tell a low social economic peasant. Now this was clearly done by a manufacture and I'm pleased to say (I think it was) Keith Farrell quickly took it down and wrote a short sweet note to the poster but I was really pissed off.

I can see so far because I'm stood an the back of giants.

It could be argued that HEMA started in and around the 1990's when a bunch of curious people got together with a bunch of other curious people to hit each other with swords. I'm talking people the likes of Guy Windsor, Matt Easton, Keith Farrell and Dave Rawlings to give a few names. Guy Windsor because I have several of his books, Matt Easton because of his YouTube channel. Keith Farrell with all his blog posts. Dave Rawlings because well its pretty imposable not to know that name.

Probably using sport fencing gear, foils, rapiers and so on before starting to improvise equipment. Maybe a re-enactment sword or two, and the ones from the 90's were kind of dodgy. These people studded horrible grainy Microfilm before trying to figure out what was going on while trying to learn a language that hasn't been used in its form for a hundred years just to translate impossible to read writing. What was I doing in the early 90's? At school/college With a mate swinging a stick at each other trying to figure out why what we had seen on a film didn't work. (I could say its the same thing from the opposite direction).

I'm so unbelievably lucky. Its so easy for me to just go online and find a multitude of material available that has been released for free. Ok I try and translate things myself but as I put it to my German teacher at school "Ich bin Legastheniker kann kaum Englisch sprechen, ich kann kein Deutsch sprechen." Yes I just used a quick google translate for that, and yes I sometimes use it when looking at text. Why not? I can take a photo of writing with an app and it will do the job for me. It may not be a great translation but we have the technology why not use it. you know what? I very much doubt one of these for lack of a better term trail blazers would put me down for using these. Pretty certain they would have loved it, but others have.

I ended up taking over the running of a school. Did I want too? Nope. I had the thought in my head of spending a few years using any holiday entitlement I got traveling around crash on peoples floors and visit as many different schools as I could, learning from the instructors honing the craft of how to teach HEMA before maybe opening my own school but it was that or see the school shut down. instead I go from being a senior student to running the place. Not exactly easy.

What do I mean about gatekeeping?

My school is in quite a low economic area. Its founder ran it as non profit venture and so do I.

I do this so that people who would normally be put off by the cost stand a chance to get into what I believe to be a fantastic hobby/activity full of great people.

When the average rent where the school is eight hundred odd a month, with a average wage of one thousand three hundred a month you have to think long and hard before dropping close to £300 on some gloves. The amount of quite open hostility towards people with cheaper rage of kit I've encountered online is quite frankly disgusting especially the way the economy has gone.

I've also never known one of the above mentioned people to put someone down for the kit they can afford. If they did I'm certain we would all soon know about it.

What can be done about it?

I do wish there was an easy answer. It certainly wont be sorted out by a rambling blog post like this one. I'm the first to admit the cheaper kit isn't quite as good as the more expensive stuff but its improving all the time and you know what if you can brush your teeth without stabbing your self in the eye you should be able to fence without hurting someone. My students are probably sick of me saying "Your training partner is the best bit of safety kit you cannot replace. Look after them." The same should be true for free fencing. excluding it for decency sake you should be able to fence in the nude safely. If you cannot do this without hurting someone have you considered a different sword based activity. Battle of nations always want people. Your safety kit is not armour and shouldn't be treated as such. It should be there for the worst case scenario if something goes very wrong. Until we get a mentality shift I'm going to stick to fencing with people that I have enough respect for I don't want to hurt them and respect me the same way.

(Quick not for Battle of nations people. I can respect you as athletes Its just your activity I really can't stand).

Chris

GSA senior instructor