Don't Get Hit

Rule #1 of HEMA: Don't get hit.

In one fight, my opponent thrusted their sword into my arm about five times before I figured out how to block it. The bruise from that fight went from my shoulder to my elbow.

My body didn't sign up for sword fighting. I don't look like the average longsword wielder in my classes. I don't come across as white, male, tall, or athletic. My body is completely different, and my body is the one who takes the damage.

When I get hit, it goes deeper because my body has no business participating in historical European martial arts (HEMA). I shouldn't even be there.

And yet, me and my body are there.

I'm existing in a space where I didn't know if I'd be welcome or rejected based on my body. Given the inevitability of injuries and the sheer amount of energy required, I wasn't confident that my body would welcome the space either.

The first rule of HEMA is not to get hit. And I break that rule repeatedly, regularly, almost religiously. This is acceptable to me because right now, at my skill level, the alternative is not to exist in that space at all.

The bruise that stretched from my shoulder to my elbow was an injury that took time to heal. It was also a statement representing my choice to practice something that I don't particularly excel in doing. Right now, I don't have to excel. I just have to be me.

This is radically different from my typical approach to anything. Historically speaking, I've had to work twice as hard to receive half as much. It's exhausting.

If you know, you know.

The thing is, I really like longsword. And by consistently placing myself in a position that wasn't built for me, by consistently risking my body to (controlled) violence, and by consistently taking hits… I can say that I'm better than when I started. Just by consistently being myself.

By being myself, I now know enough to lead a beginner class. And if I didn't meet the physical stereotype of a student, I sure don't fit in as an instructor. But as far as I can tell, no one cares. We're all there to play with swords.

Well, I'm mostly there to get hit by swords.

Rule #2 of HEMA: You will be hit.