HEMA tournaments aim to do many things, but a key difference to other combat sports is our connection to history.
The Teutonic Fecht 2023, held for the first time in Harman, Romania, will be a combination of both high level and intense historical fencing, and an event full of passion for history - in a fortified historical church at the heart of Transylvania.
The HEMA event itself is part of a larger festival in the ethnic German village, all centered around the Evangelical church built in 1240 and fortified in the 15th C. To celebrate the history of the town, reenactors in armor, on horseback, archers will demonstrate their skills, on top of numerous other activities.
In the 13th C the Hungarian king Andras II, who controlled the region, invited the Knights of the Teutonic order to construct fortresses and in return gave them lands. The Order brought German settlers into Transylvania and they found multiple towns and villages, some populated by German speakers to this day. One of those is Honigberg, or as the Romanians call it - Harman.
Two tournament disciplines will be offered, a more typical longsword tournament and a special, sudden-death sidesword tournaments with swords provided - with many guaranteed matches in both categories. Fully video-assisted judging will be used in the sudden death tournament.
With a weapon as middle-ground as sidesword, rapierists, sabreurs, messer and arming sword people can easily take part and feel at home in a high-stakes tournament - and they don't need to bring a sword!
Save the weekend of 25th-27th of August and come fence in Harman, Romania.
