Sword combat group in Ullapool to stage one-day course in Maryburgh with view to Historical European Martial Arts Highlands expanding eastwards
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A WESTER Ross group which practises the art of historical fencing is hoping to set up a new group in Easter Ross.
Organisers have set up a one-day course later this month in Dingwall which will provide an introduction to oriental sword combat – with a Highlands perspective.
It will be held at Maryburgh Amenity Centre between 10am and 5.30pm on Sunday, April 24.
Mick Skelly, from Historical European Martial Arts Highlands (HEMAH), will lead the course and he said they were hoping to create a group for Dingwall and Inverness – however this may take until the latter part of next year.
The 70-year-old, who has a background in Eastern martial arts, is part of the group currently based in Ullapool and said: "Although we are possibly the smallest and almost certainly the northernmost HEMA group in the UK we do 'fence above our weight' in terms of competition on the Scottish HEMA circuit. Above all it is great fun."
He first got interested in the sport around 16 years ago when he trained with Bob Brooks, who runs the Hotspur School of Defence which is now based in Newcastle, who ran a class in the Scottish Borders.
Mr Skelly moved to the Highlands eight years ago and has been involved with HEMAH for the past six years
This month's Bring Your Own Bokken one-day course aims to provide an introduction to swords and cover basic stances and footwork, basic cuts, thrusts and parries, basic combat concepts, as well as soft sparring.
It will be an introduction to Eastern swordplay and there will be an opportunity to handle a variety of replica Japanese, Chinese and European swords for comparison.
Mr Skelly said: "If people have martial art sparring kit it might be useful to wear it. There will be a substantial hand-out as an aide memoire for course members. If people have their own bokken they should bring them."
HEMAH usually trains at the Braemore Hall, on the road to Ullapool, on Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 8pm and sometimes meets on Sunday afternoons, mainly for sparring – they are members of, and insured via, the British Federation of Historical Swordplay (BFHS).
Mr Skelly said: "Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) is a very broad church with something for everyone – from living history via re-enactment to a purist martial art perspective to a competitive sport.
"Fortunately for me it can encompass the old as well as the young, the little as well as the large, with sparring remaining great fun throughout your HEMA career.
"Because of the breadth of HEMA, its connection to our shared history and shared capacity for realising the self through movement, there is always something to learn and discover in HEMA."
The Highland group focuses mainly on the late 15th to early 17th centuries which was the Linn nan creach – more than 100 years of peak inter-clan warfare which included the Battle of Leckmelm in the Scottish Highlands in 1586.
Mr Skelly said: "It was a period that saw great changes in combat and where both medieval arming swords, with targes or bucklers or shields, and hand-and-a-half swords could be found alongside rapiers on the same battlefield by the 1590’s.”
He said that at the time Scotland was also famous for the Schottische shorte sworde which was fundamentally a broad arming sword blade, often of German manufacture, fitted with a basket hilt.
"Last, but not least, this historical period saw both the great looking back to classical sources and philosophy and looking forward to the foundations of the natural philosophy that became science, the Renaissance that set the stage for the Scottish Enlightenment," he added. "There was a focus on analysis and getting to the essence of basic principles upon which to build ideas and technical skills."
The group currently has five members, who use either accurate replicas or training swords to train, and Mr Skelly is hoping there will be enough interest for the proposed second group.
Anyone who is interested in joining the course should contact Ali Cameron, of the Cameron School of Martial Arts, who has organised the course on 07810 000946.
And anyone who is interested in HEMAH should contact Mr Skelly either via email at mick.skelly@outlook.com on 07443 604693 – please note no texts.
