The Society for the Study of Swordsmanship
To a great extent, the Triple-S does what it says on the tin. We study swordsmanship. Specifically, European swordsmanship from the beginning of the Renaissance to the point where it became purely a sporting or recreational activity. We do have peripheral interests in other forms of HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) and WMA (Western Martial Arts) which means we train with weapons such as singlestick, greatstick, tomahawk and long knife, but our core activities are mainstream HEMA - Rapier, Smallsword and Military Sabre.
At grave risk of pointing out the obvious, that means we do not train with katanas (Japanese Samurai swords) or other Oriental weapons.
The SSS was originally set up as several chapters. Ours was/is the Durham Chapter, but in reality we are now an independent group charting our own path. We are part of the British Federation for Historical Swordplay (BFHS), which provides insurance and instructor certification. At present three of our instructors are officers within 'the Fed', and we are regularly invited to teach at events like SWASH, Smallsword Symposium and the Fed's own Autumn Exchange.
The next few sub-pages are all about our group. The text is similar to that on the SSS website, mainly because I wrote it....
But first, an overview of SSS (Durham)...
Our class meets 7:30 to 9:30 on Wednesday evenings at Penshaw Community Centre. Membership is open to over-18s only, for insurance reasons among other considerations. New members are given a 4-session trial period for free, after which the standard Chapter Fee of £20 per month applies.
New members are initially taught English Military Sabre, as this is a very structured fighting style which is easy to pick up. Along with the specifics of the weapon, students also learn skills that carry over to other styles of swordsmanship such as an understanding of measure (distance), lines of attack and timing.
Once students reach a reasonable standard and are safe they can begin to take part in freeplay, which is basically sparring with swords. Fighting with large pieces of steel could be considered a hazardous activity (!) so we do have some fairly strict safety rules and all freeplay is at the discretion of the instructors. Some students do not want to freeplay, preferring to study and practice instead.
We currently have several qualified instructors, each with a slightly different area of expertise. All of our instructors are qualified under the British Federation for Historical Swordplay (BFHS) and some hold other teaching qualifications as well. Our instructors regularly teach at national and even international events and occasionaly return from tournaments with shiny pieces of metal.
Ours is not a very large group – indeed, some evenings our instructors outnumber the students! Most teaching is done on a small-group or individual basis, with most students free to choose what they want to study any given evening.
The club has a certain amount of kit for use by new starters (and any other members), which includes all necessary safety equipment. Students will need suitable footwear and clothing for physical activity, which must not leave any bare skin. Blades are not sharp but can become burred on the edges, which will snag unprotected skin.
... And of Historical Fencing In General
Historical fencing is not quite the same thing as modern, Olympic-style ('Sport') fencing. There are many similarities of course, but there are also significant differences. Modern fencing is governed by the FIE (Federation International d'Escrime); historical fencing is not, and has slightly different rules and conventions. The required safety equipment is slightly different, for example. Although most of the kit required for sport fencing meets or exceeds the needs of historical fencing, there are additional requirements for historical fencing that do not exist elsewhere. Notably, this includes gloves on both hands and a measure of impact protection which is not necessary in Olympic-style fencing.
The other key distinction is in the field of conventions. 'Sport' fencing is referred to thus because it is a sport, with electronic judging equipment and a set of rules that must be played to. These rules are the same everywhere, though they vary between disciplines. Historical fencing does have rules for tournaments, but these can vary considerably since the weapons in use have very different characteristics and historical fencing in general is a very broad subject.
The main difference is that there is no electronic judging and a 'touch' is not enough. We do not hit hard, but to be valid a hit must be delivered in a manner that would cause a significant injury. 'Significant' in this case means something that would determine or alter the outcome of a fight. A tiny nick or 'pinking' someone would not affect the outcome of a serious sword fight (though it might cause upset later!) so does not count. Similarly, 'getting there first' does not protect you from a cut or thrust that lands immediately afterward. It is not enough to 'get there first' in historical fencing, you must 'get there only', so to speak.
In short, historical fencing simulates the use of real weapons in a historically authentic manner.
If you fight as if you and the opponent had 'live (sharp) weapons, you won't go far wrong.
At grave risk of pointing out the obvious, that means we do not train with katanas (Japanese Samurai swords) or other Oriental weapons.
The SSS was originally set up as several chapters. Ours was/is the Durham Chapter, but in reality we are now an independent group charting our own path. We are part of the British Federation for Historical Swordplay (BFHS), which provides insurance and instructor certification. At present three of our instructors are officers within 'the Fed', and we are regularly invited to teach at events like SWASH, Smallsword Symposium and the Fed's own Autumn Exchange.
The next few sub-pages are all about our group. The text is similar to that on the SSS website, mainly because I wrote it....
But first, an overview of SSS (Durham)...
Our class meets 7:30 to 9:30 on Wednesday evenings at Penshaw Community Centre. Membership is open to over-18s only, for insurance reasons among other considerations. New members are given a 4-session trial period for free, after which the standard Chapter Fee of £20 per month applies.
New members are initially taught English Military Sabre, as this is a very structured fighting style which is easy to pick up. Along with the specifics of the weapon, students also learn skills that carry over to other styles of swordsmanship such as an understanding of measure (distance), lines of attack and timing.
Once students reach a reasonable standard and are safe they can begin to take part in freeplay, which is basically sparring with swords. Fighting with large pieces of steel could be considered a hazardous activity (!) so we do have some fairly strict safety rules and all freeplay is at the discretion of the instructors. Some students do not want to freeplay, preferring to study and practice instead.
We currently have several qualified instructors, each with a slightly different area of expertise. All of our instructors are qualified under the British Federation for Historical Swordplay (BFHS) and some hold other teaching qualifications as well. Our instructors regularly teach at national and even international events and occasionaly return from tournaments with shiny pieces of metal.
Ours is not a very large group – indeed, some evenings our instructors outnumber the students! Most teaching is done on a small-group or individual basis, with most students free to choose what they want to study any given evening.
The club has a certain amount of kit for use by new starters (and any other members), which includes all necessary safety equipment. Students will need suitable footwear and clothing for physical activity, which must not leave any bare skin. Blades are not sharp but can become burred on the edges, which will snag unprotected skin.
... And of Historical Fencing In General
Historical fencing is not quite the same thing as modern, Olympic-style ('Sport') fencing. There are many similarities of course, but there are also significant differences. Modern fencing is governed by the FIE (Federation International d'Escrime); historical fencing is not, and has slightly different rules and conventions. The required safety equipment is slightly different, for example. Although most of the kit required for sport fencing meets or exceeds the needs of historical fencing, there are additional requirements for historical fencing that do not exist elsewhere. Notably, this includes gloves on both hands and a measure of impact protection which is not necessary in Olympic-style fencing.
The other key distinction is in the field of conventions. 'Sport' fencing is referred to thus because it is a sport, with electronic judging equipment and a set of rules that must be played to. These rules are the same everywhere, though they vary between disciplines. Historical fencing does have rules for tournaments, but these can vary considerably since the weapons in use have very different characteristics and historical fencing in general is a very broad subject.
The main difference is that there is no electronic judging and a 'touch' is not enough. We do not hit hard, but to be valid a hit must be delivered in a manner that would cause a significant injury. 'Significant' in this case means something that would determine or alter the outcome of a fight. A tiny nick or 'pinking' someone would not affect the outcome of a serious sword fight (though it might cause upset later!) so does not count. Similarly, 'getting there first' does not protect you from a cut or thrust that lands immediately afterward. It is not enough to 'get there first' in historical fencing, you must 'get there only', so to speak.
In short, historical fencing simulates the use of real weapons in a historically authentic manner.
If you fight as if you and the opponent had 'live (sharp) weapons, you won't go far wrong.
