Ironclad Academy of the Sword Inductions start 2, 5 June 2019
What: Ironclad Inductions: Four introductory lessons in historical re-enactment combat
Who: Ironclad Academy of the Sword Inc.
When:
Sundays 2, 9, 16, 23 June 2019, 9am - 11am
Wednesdays 5, 12, 19, 26 June 2019, 5pm - 7pm
Where: 5B River St, Hindmarsh, Adelaide, South Australia 5007
How: Check their Facebook page for details!
Chivalrous South Australians are being urged to step up and sign up for the Ironclad Inductions held this June 2019!
The SAcommunity Team had the opportunity to visit the Gumeracha Medieval Fair and meet with some of the organisations involved in the May weekend event including the Ironclad Academy of the Sword Inc. so we asked President James Powell a few questions about their historical re-enactment group to find out more.
The Ironclad Academy of the Sword Inc. contributed by James Powell, Ironclad Academy of the Sword President
How did you first become involved in the organisation:
I joined in mid 2012 after seeing a fledgling Ironclad perform at the Gumeracha Medieval Fair. I had been going to Medieval Fairs within SA for most of my teen and adult life and new that I wanted to join one of the groups at some point, once I saw Ironclad i knew that was what I wanted to do. Thankfully I had a friend that was part of the group and he was able to help answer some of my questions.
How did your organisation start? and why did it start?
Ironclad evolved from a group called the Fair Players, who performed plays that contained some choreographed sword fighting, as more people joined, the sword fighting took more center stage and moved away from choreography. We found that choreographed fights are more effort than they are worth. As in, you could spend weeks or month training with a partner on a fight preparing for a show, to then have your partner get sick on the day and all the training time is lost. We found it was better to just learn how to fight. Then on the day of any show, you can fight anyone on the field. I'm happy to say we still have founding members of the Fair Players involved with Ironclad.
What is your organisation and what do they do?
We have a few different pillars that make up Ironclad. In no particular order, there is:
Historical European Martial Arts. HEMA for short, HEMA is the study and practice of pre medieval, medieval and post medieval study and practice of martial arts that found use in warfare and duels within Europe. Primarily Ironclad studies "The Art of Combat" by Joachim Meyer, originally published in 1570. This is then often applied to a sporting and competitive context. World wide this is a growing sport and it's exciting to learn with people from all over the world.
Reenactment Combat: This is what most people familiar with Ironclad would know us for. We will train using the HEMA techniques to then put on a full armoured combat tournament with the goal to entertain the crowd. Using 14th century inspired European armour against 16th century "unarmoured" sword fighting techniques allows us to avoid injury as much as is possible with any physical sport, let alone one involving swords.
Crafting: Many of our members will create their own equipment and armours using medieval or modern methods as a custom and measured suit with allow you to move with minimal restriction.
All of these will take place within our club rooms in Hindmarsh SA Sunday Mornings from 9am and Wednesday afternoons from 5pm.
How does your organisation help people connect?
As we come together once or twice a week, we've formed an excellent bond and culture within the club. Our primary rule of Ironclad is that you don't have to fight anyone you don't want to fight and you do not have to give a reason as to why you don't want to fight them. This rule leads to the philosophy of "be the kind of fighter that people want to fight". Competition is welcomed, but recklessness and wanting to hurt people is not.
How does your organisation help their community?
We share our club rooms with the Charles Sturt Fencing club (or more accurately, they share with us), this allows both of us to be able to afford a fairly central and secure location to train for our respective memberships. Quite often at public events, Ironclad will try to assist in anyway possible local and interstate groups and projects to get off the ground or attend events. For example, we recently acted as the go between to introduce new performers to the Gumeracha Medieval Fair, or are involved with filming productions that need authentic sword fighting.
What help does your organisation need?
Ironclad is always on the lookout for new members, I've often said to the newer members, the more you put into the club, the more you'll get out of the club. None of our membership take a wage from this and we do it because we love it. This means that the club is only able to put on larger shows or help with interesting and fun projects when there are the numbers to do so. So if you or someone you know has an interest in learning how to fight with swords, to have an excuse to legitimately buy a suit of armour and to have fun while doing it, please feel free to reach out to use via FB or email.
Anything else you would like to add?
Our inductions are advertised on our Facebook page and we welcome you to come check us out!
Interested?
Contact the Ironclad Academy of the Sword Inc. via Facebook or Email and find out how you can get involved!
