Our beginner HEMA program typically starts with Introduction to the German Longsword.

The intro class features six sessions of learning the fundamentals of footwork, attacking, defending, and proper cutting angles.

For our beginner 6-week Intro to German Longsword class, you do not need any special equipment.

However we encourage participants to wear an athletic shoe and comfortable clothes that allow freedom of movement.

Along with the German longsword, we offer training in Renaissance rapier, Victorian sabre, and a variety of other weapons including staff, poleaxe, and arming sword with buckler.

For safety and to avoid injury, the minimum age to join our beginner sword classes is 14 years old.

No prior athletic or martial arts experience is necessary!

Our classes are generally held out of Midnapore and Lake Bonavista in South Calgary.

During the fair-weather months, we practice outside. During the colder months, classes are run out of community center spaces.

Our CFOS Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) classes cover techniques from the 14th through 19th Centuries, including: 

• Sword and buckler from I.33 Walpurgis manuscript as well as later Medieval and even Bolognese Renaissance sources, 
• Various traditions of German Longsword such as Lichtenauer and Meyer, 
• English techniques from Silver and Swetnam, 
• Rapier from Fabris and Capo Ferro, and of course, 
• Alfred Hutton’s sabre manuals from the Victorian period.

This eclectic collection of content we rotate through offers you a great way to work both your mind and body, improve fitness and coordination, and above all, learn about the real fighting techniques of Europe’s martial past.

It can be found HERE.