About


Historical European Martial Arts
Historical European Martial Arts (or HEMA) is the reconstruction of fighting practices from historical manuals and training them like modern Sports. The practice of HEMA can include the study and interpretation of historical sources, athletic training with and without modern equipment, experimental archaeology and test cutting with sharp weapons.

Dominik S. Eaton
Dominik has been teaching HEMA for over 8 Years and is currently working on his first book on the subject. He has taught fencing at the University of Basel, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and at various clubs in Switzerland and internationally. Apart from the competitive aspect of HEMA, Dominik has choreographed and coached fights and violence in a variety of plays in amateur theatre ("She kills monsters" by Qui Nguyen and "Treasure Island" by R. L. Stevenson among others). He has academic degrees in philosophy and anthropology and is an enthusiastic teacher and student of movement and art.
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INDES Bad Vöslau -Fechten im besten Alter
Educational Quest: Understanding Vulnerability, Building Communities
Apart from the athletic and recreational properties, Historical European Martial Arts also contains a set of important social messages. As Martial Arts practice stems in violence, managing vulnerability is an essential feature of it. In the modern setting we use this feature not only to learn to exploit vulnerability in rule-bound competitive play but to become mindful of our shared weaknesses and strengths and using them to develop our social cohesion. The aim of this practice is to cultivate the understanding of interpersonal borders and how to protect ourselves and each other so we can live in a society based on solidarity and care.


