When one thinks of gladiators; the medieval chivalric inspirations of hope, faith and charity; and renaissance Italian swordplay; one just knows that you’re contemplating combat of some style as practiced in … Malta!
Discuss, Demonstrate, Drill.
GOZO NEWS (Malta) 12 June 13 Public Lecture on the use of swords from 14th-19th century
Last week, Prevosto Andrei Xuereb, one of the founding members of the now two-year old Malta Historical Fencing Association was active in pushing forward HEMA/WMA education within an area rich in sword-use history. His lecture, ''The use of swords & other edged weapons from the 14th to the 19th century’, was given to the Malta Historical Society and included live demonstrations and public handling of the weapons spoken of.
Xuereb is the first non-Italian student to be qualified in the Federazione Italiana Scherma Antica e Storica (FISAS) system and also the only instructor in Malta to be qualified in Historical Fencing.
This is the Pretty One – This [SMACK!] is the … Functional One!
TIMES OF MALTA (Valetta) 20 June 13 Sword carried in the siege - Unembellished weapon would have been by Grand Master Jean de Valette’s side (Kim Dalli)
TIMES OF MALTA (Valetta) 17 June 13 The real de Valette sword - Vittoriosa's best kept secret (Kim Dalli)
The to-and-fro between France and Malta about the ownership of Grandmaster Jean Parisot de Valettes’ ‘ceremonial sword’ continues – but there are other aspects to this part of Maltese history that deserve investigation. Though most of the content of these two press items is by subscription only, both are worth a visit, if only for the offered photographs of de Valettes’ ‘fighting sword’ and supporting video. Please note; you will have to understand at least one of the two official languages of Malta to fully benefit from the video, but the content should speak for itself regardless.
Italians Want to Fight Swedes … and Everybody Else.
SPORT 2.0 (Turin, Italy) 14 June 13 Scherma: Alla scoperta dell’HEMA torinese, altrimenti nota come scherma storica.
There was a HEMA/WMA element to Turin’s recent Sports Festival, where ‘historical fencing’ with dagger, sword and buckler, long sword, spear, axe, side sword, “sickle” and Polish sabre were featured.
The participants are hoping to undertake closer ties and bouts with their European and North American peers – and indicated that for them – the premiere HEMA/WMA ‘tournament’ is the ‘Swordfish’ competition held annually in Sweden.