Sabre curriculum
The Art of the Dueling Sabre, Christopher Holzman’s translation of Settimo del Frate’s 1872 Military Sabre manual Istruzione per la scherma di sciabola e di spada del professore Giuseppe Radaelli scritta d’ordine del Ministero della Guerra.
Other manuscripts in the Radaellian tradition are very useful for extending your understanding of this sabre style and can be found here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/chrisholzman
VHCA instructor Sebastian Seager also has a blog Radaellian Scholar, where you can find plenty of articles and translations about Radaelli sabre and 19th century Italian fencing.
Melbourne HEMA Schools
Melbourne is well-served with schools teaching Historical European Martial Arts and Western Martial Arts, including:
Melbourne Fencing Society (MSS): A fortnightly open hall in Carnegie. The best opportunity for VHCA members to do more freeplay and get individual coaching in various weapon systems.
Fechtschule Victoria: Based in Canterbury, FSV teach longsword in the German Liechtenauer tradition, mainly using 14th and 15th century manuscripts.
School of Historical Fencing: With a focus on Italian sword fighting traditions, SHF teaches sword & buckler, rapier and longsword from the 15th – 17th centuries. They can be found in Preston.
Fitzroy College of Arms: Based in Preston, FCA focuses mainly on the 16th-17th century backsword system of Englishman George Silver.
Scholar Victoria: Based in Hawthorn East, focusing primarily on 15th and 16th century German longsword treatises.
Melbourne Messer Club: Training in Fitzroy North, the Melbourne Messer Club trains in the use of the messer, the short German sword popular in the 15th century.
AESIR: Teaching 18th century English and Scottish broadsword and sabre, AESIR is based in Werribee and runs classes on Sunday mornings.
Useful HEMA information
Wiktenauer – an online encyclopaedia with an excellent collection of primary and secondary source literature that makes up the text of historical European martial arts research. Not very good for Victorian-era manuals.
The Schola Forum – a database of over 650 Historical European Martial Arts texts from the 1300s to 1945, hosted by Schola Gladitoria.
Defense dans la rue – resources about late 19th Century / Early 20th Century French street fighting styles.
Bartitsu Society – an online resource / community of bartitsu scholars and practitioners. Bartitsu is a mixed martial art developed in the UK at the end of the 19th century.
Hema Misfits (I Don’t Do Long Sword) – a blog for non-Longsword HEMA practitioners. Lots of interesting articles about 19th Century European Martial Arts.
Gear and Suppliers
VHCA Gear Guide – VHCA’s go-to list of HEMA gear recommendations.
Leon Paul – Top of the range fencing company who supply some quality HEMA gear. Highly recommended but expensive.
Castille Armory – Our preferred steel sword smiths. On the pricey side, but great quality.
SPES – One of the best HEMA protective gear suppliers.
Absolute Force – Martial arts supplier with an extensive range of HEMA protective gear.
WMA Shop – Australian-based supplier of synthetic swords and HEMA protective gear.
Darkwood Armory – Good quality steel swords and other HEMA products.