The Michigan Medieval Combat Association invites sword fighters of all skill levels to take part in their yearly HEMA (Historic European Martian Arts) tournament, the Brezelhau.
This year they’ll be continuing to use fechtschule ruleset based on tournaments from 16th Century Germany. The most notable quirk of these tournaments, is there’re no thrusting attacks, and ONLY strikes to the head. The various schools in attendance will be the guilds (teams). Each bout you win earns you “gulden” (coins).
The two tournaments will be STEEL LONGSWORD, and LEATHER DUSSACK.
This is intended to be a friendly, more fun and casual atmosphere, without the heavy stresses, (or price tag), of bigger tournaments.
There will be prizes for:
-guild who brings the most combatants.
-most coins earned (individual).
-most coins earned (by guild).
-most exemplary fighter.
In honor of the infamous illustration in Jörg Wilhalm Hutter’s 1523 combat treatise “Kunst zu Augspurg”, which depicts a random pretzel vendor amongst the swordsmen, we will be serving pretzels at the tournament!
Kyle Randall-Tansek (aka: the Great Erasmus) teaches a weekly Medieval sword fighting class in Livonia, Michigan. He is chief instructor and founder of the Michigan Medieval Combat Association has been studying and teaching the art of historical weapons fighting for about 15 years.
What: Michigan Medieval Combat association annual HEMA tournament: Brezelhau
When: Saturday, May 14, 2022
Where: Stymelski Veterans Park (14407 Stark Rd, Livonia, MI)
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (tournament begins at Noon)
Cost: $20.00
FB event
https://www.facebook.com/events/658081935618810/
More info
https://www.michiganmedieval.com/brezelhau/
List of HEMA clubs
https://mihema.org/clubs-schools-groups/
Equipment Requirements:
Head = Head protection must cover the entire face and front of the throat, and the entire head, and front of the throat must be covered for competitive sparring. It must be sturdy enough to withstand impacts. There should be no gaps in coverage that would allow a thrust or strike to the face or back of the head. Back of the head protector is mandatory.
Throat = A rigid covering to protect the throat.
Torso = Padded, puncture resistant padded clothing to cover the body. No armpit gaps. Women must wear a rigid chest protector.
Groin = An internal or external cup.
Elbow = Hard elbow covering to protect the joints.
Hands = Sturdy gloves or gauntlets must be used to protect the hands and wrists. Gloves must include protection on the sides and tips of the fingers sufficient to resist hard strikes from weapons. An unsupplemented lacrosse/hockey glove is not sufficient. Steel Gauntlets need additional interior padding of some sort. A mechanic’s-style glove has minimal padding and when used inside a metal gauntlet would not be sufficient. Most HEMA-dedicated synthetic gloves or gauntlets, such as Sparring Gloves and Black Lance, are adequate.
Finger breaks and hand injuries are the most common injury in HEMA.
Legs = Hard knee covering to protect the joints.
Most acceptable major name-brand longswords will pass. Purple Heart Armory leather dussacks are the first choice. Will do best to provide loaner equipment and weapons.
Purple Heart Armory leather dussacks will always be accepted, (if in good condition).
This is a friendly tournament, encourage participants to use lighter, more flexible longswords.
Longswords must have federed blades, not just blunt/rebated longswords.
Only swords from commonly known, reputable manufacturers will be accepted.
Unacceptable, banned longswords:
All Hanwei longswords.
All CAS Iberia longswords.
All Kingston Arms longswords.
All Black Horse longswords.
