Members of the Renaissance Sword Society revive medieval martial arts at MSU

Thursday nights in the second-floor gym of the IM Circle building may look like a scene from a Shakespeare play, but members of the Renaissance Sword Society don't have to carry heavy heads or crowns. All you need is their long sword and a deep knowledge of swords. Medieval dueling tactics and a bit of padding.

Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), as the name suggests, is the study and practice of ancient European martial arts systems that have long since disappeared.

However, there has been a resurgence in the past 10 years, including here at MSU, and last spring, Han Yu, a British senior, founded the Renaissance Sword Association.

Yoo started practicing HEMA before he was a student at MSU. When he enrolled at his MSU, there were no existing clubs on campus, which was motivation enough for him to establish one. Yu said that when he started the club, his initial goal was to make new friends, fencing together, and eventually start his own club and contribute to the larger and growing HEMA scene. He said his goal was to create new fencers who could “go out into the world.”

Although it was a successful goal, Yu said it was by no means an easy goal.

Although the Renaissance Sword Society is now a registered student organization funded by donations to support about 15 regular members, the club began as a small group of people practicing outside the show hall.

“It was tough because we didn't have any tools and no way to reach new people other than people looking at us and asking, 'Hey, what are you doing?' ,” said Yu, who is now the club’s president. .

However, in the end, Yu said that although it took quite a while, they were finally able to register the club as an official student organization. After that it was smooth sailing.

But HEMA is more than just a clash of swords. Although it may seem like a simple sword-fighting sport, it actually requires scholarship and interpretation of ancient texts.

When sophomore linguistics major Maggie Howell, current vice president of the club, first joined, she said the club focused on the works of Johannes Lichtenauer, a 15th century German fencing master. .

Perhaps the most notable of Lichtenauer's works are his fencing instructions formalized into a list of mnemonic aids called “Zettel”.that It is often considered to be similar to poetry and is open to many interpretations.

“It's pretty hard for a newcomer to look at a manuscript and understand what to do,” Howell says.

Fortunately for the newcomers, part of Mr. Howell's job as vice president is to help members understand the difficult messages found in centuries-old documents. But even that can be difficult.

The club is currently focusing on 16th century German fencing master Joachim Mayer. Howell said Meyer was writing for an audience that already knew how to fencing, and just added concepts to make it more artistic.

“We're people who don't know how to fencing, so at the same time we're learning how to fencing, we're also learning how to make it artistic, which makes it even more difficult,” she said.

While it's certainly difficult, Howell said learning fighting styles based on old books adds an element of conversation and opens up multiple interpretations and arguments depending on how you read the text.

“Each club will probably find a slightly different interpretation of Meyer,” said Jakob Stibal, a sophomore in the School of Computer Science and Engineering.

But members of the Renaissance Sword Society are not the only ones translating the old works of masters like Lichtenauer and Mayer. The club often brings in guest lecturers to help put the words of the poem into action, such as those from Lansing His Longsword His Guild.

For Yoo, the academic pursuits that come with HEMA are what drew him to it. Before practicing HEMA, Yoo was primarily interested in swords, but his educational side then led to a deeper interest in European history.

And while it's certainly possible to become a good HEMA fencer just by going to the gym and asking questions of the instructor, what separates a good fencer from a great fencer is the level of understanding of the text and the person's ability to apply that knowledge. said Yoo. What they will be practicing in the gym.

However, the educational aspect of the club doesn't stop it from being fun, as Yoo described it as “calm and relaxing.”

“I've been to some HEMA clubs in the past where they had two-hour blocks and the first hour was just exercise,” Yoo said. “Isn't that why people come out? They come to learn how to fight with swords.”

And while, as with most hobbies, the complexity can seem a bit daunting, Yu says one of the best parts about the club is that it's very welcoming to beginners. It is a community that will help you. Not only that, Yu said he met many people he now considers friends between the club and the Lansing Longsword Guild.

For Howell, she finds it interesting that everyone at the club is still learning, including the officers. But beyond that, she enjoys teaching others what she has learned.

“That's why I said yes to becoming a police officer,” she said.