Individual minds and anything pleasant when I have time and inclination

The adventures in rural HEMA continue. Preparations for the second leg of the 2024 IHFL are underway at the Wrathful Peasants, and I got my first little lesson in rapier. Hold tight the action is about to get…. fairly low key and mellow, actually. Tournaments, and what to get from them On Saturday 20th of […]

Is new Always Better?

A triumphal return is nothing without a follow up. This week I am going to give you a look at the goings on inside my head (like, in a cognitive way, not in terms of squidgy tissues and neurotransmitters squirting all over the shop). I have started looking at rapier fencing, and I have some […]

Musings of an Absent Blogger

There’s not even much point saying it, but it has been a hell of while since I last posted on this blog. Let’s unpack a little bit. If you look at the history of the blog, I was getting all consistent and regular in 2018 & 2019. Then in 2020 we had that pesky pandy […]

Cork Blademasters Open 2022: the review.

Wow, what a great event. See now you don’t HAVE to read the rest of this blog post. You know the most essential fact. However, if you would care to come with me on a journey into the cold dark heart of a holiday village on the south coast of Ireland I will explain to […]

IHFL 2022 – 2nd Event, Dublin

This years IHFL is a bit shorter than it has been in past years, only two legs this year rather than the usual four. I went down to Cork a few weeks ago and this weekend saw the Peasants on the road again. This time to Dublin. Here’s my review of the day, I hope […]

Peasants, what is Good in fencing?

As I sit in smokey yurts made of bones and yak skin, surrounded by surprisingly ethnically diverse tribal elders, I am often asked “what is good in fencing?”. I am just as often (i.e. never) asked “what makes a good fencer?”. I touched on the question in my last post and it has being weighing […]

IHFL 2022 – First Event Review

We have been back to fencing at the Wrathful Peasants for a few weeks now. Long enough to start a new cohort of beginners and really get stuck back into getting as much as we can out of the Historical Martial Arts. I even went to a Irish Historical Fencing League Event (IHFL) run by […]

Back to the Club!

A return to blogging my thoughts and experiences as a Historical Fencer in Ireland

Fit for Purpose

This year I am going to be mixing in more HMA-adjacent content. Don’t fret dear reader, you will always be able to draw a fairly direct link between my articles and swinging swords about the place. I just want to widen the scope of the subjects I address. In that direction here’s my look at […]

Féile na Gaiscígh 2020: A review

As I mentioned in last week’s post I went to the Féile na Gaiscígh 2020 in Dublin at the end of last month. It’s a trip I have been making every year since I started doing HMA back in 2015. I have made it a major part of my calendar every year as I have […]