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ABOUT SCHOLA GLADIATORIA
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Schola Gladiatoria is an historical European martial arts group with its HQ in Ealing, West London, Great Britain, founded in 2001 and led by Matt Easton (click for more info about Matt). We have 2 chapters:
Equipment is provided for beginners at our classes, there is no annual membership or joining fee, and most classes are around £5 per person per session. All you need to bring to your first class are some comfortable clothes. To check specifics drop us an email or phone us. We always welcome beginners at any time of year. All ages (over 18) and levels of fitness are welcome. What are we?
What is HEMA? Many people are surprised to learn that Europe has complex martial arts systems. Historical European martial arts (HEMA), also known as WMA (western martial arts), are the study and practice of Europe's indigenous fighting systems. Some of these have living traditions, whilst most have died as lineages. We use the various detailed historical combat treatises, and our experience and experimentation as martial artists, to breath life back into them. Many of us have previous martial arts experience (Asian and European), and through years of working with the historical European treatises written and illustrated by combat masters of bygone periods, and pressure-testing our interpretations of them, under various conditions with accurate copies of the equipment they used, we hope to be able to approximate an understanding of the fighting systems taught in Europe in bygone periods. The end result, we hope, is a martial arts system that can stand up against any other.
Are we good at it? We compete in martial arts tournaments and members of Schola Gladiatoria have a good track record in such competitions. Against opponents from across Europe, our members have previously won, amongst others:
We have also ranked highly in competitions at the Dreynevent in Vienna, Swordfish in Gothenburg and the Worldwide Championships near Hanover. As a member of Schola Gladiatoria you don't have to compete, but if you want to then we'll help you become the best you can be. We are well known for producing good fighters.
Who are the students? We have members from many varied training backgrounds, all ages and both sexes. People come to us from Asian martial arts, modern sport fencing, re-enactment and so on, and most people come into historical European martial arts with no previous related training at all. Fitness is not a barrier to taking part - if you want to get fitter then we'll help and it won't be as boring as going to the gym! People from all backgrounds are welcome in Schola Gladiatoria. Is it social? As much as you want it to be. We generally go for a drink after training, but of course this is not compulsory. We have occasional day trips to museums and suchlike for those who are interested, and HEMA events are great fun even after the training has finished for the day! Schola is known as a very social club, and we have good friends spread throughout the UK and across Europe. Can you study other weapons and styles? We provide a foundation of martial principles for our students, who if they wish are then welcome to branch out and study different weapon forms and sources. There are fighting treatises surviving from 1300 to the modern day, so a HEMA practitioner can study anything from medieval dagger fighting to renaissance rapier fencing to Victorian bayonet practice or Edwardian walking stick self-defence. A large proportion of the known fighting manuals are now freely available on the internet (see our Online Treatise Database).
Who else is doing HEMA? The historical European martial arts have grown in popularity considerably in the last decade, and Schola Gladiatoria enjoys friendly and co-operative relations with groups in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Poland, Norway, USA, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. We enjoy very close friendships with the Company for Historical Combat, Boar's Tooth Fight School and School of the Sword in particular. Schola was a founding part of HEMAC in 2000 and in 2006 joined the BFHS. Since 2001 we have been actively involved in presenting at, teaching at and organising national and international martial arts events. You can see photos from some of these in our gallery. Attendance of these events is totally optional for members, as is frequency of training, though we find that once a member goes to a big event they generally want to go to the next one! If you want to find a group closer to you then have a look at our links page, or the groups listed on the HEMAC and BFHS websites.
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Contact: schola-gladiatoria@hotmail.co.uk |
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| Last update: 01/08/2010 |
