Rotating Classes-2026

The following is a list of the currently scheduled Quarterly classes offered by the St. Paul Freifechter on Wednesday evenings at the Art in Arms location in St. Paul.

Due to space limitations at the facility, please bring only the equipment you will need for that evening’s class. Also, due to the padded flooring, no street shoes are allowed unless they are dedicated indoor footwear without an aggressive tread.

If you have any questions, please use our Contact Form or reach out to the instructor leading the session.

Note – All attendees for these classes *MUST* be current HEMA Alliance members due to Insurance requirements. (click here for more info…)

Q1 – Jan 7th-Mar 25th 2026, 7-9pm : Sword and Buckler

The class objective is to explore what the German fencing masters wrote about sword and buckler. There are several manuscripts that have plays for sword and buckler. We will study Paulus Kal, Hans Talhoffer, Andre Lignitzer, Paulus Mair, Heinrich von Gunterrodt and Royal Armories 1.33.

Required:

HEMA Alliance Membership
2 months HEMA Experience

Required Equipment:

Gloves (lacrosse is minimum)
Fencing Mask
One-handed Sword (synthetic)
- Preferred: arming sword (Blackfencer, Red Dragon, Pentti)
Buckler (12” synthetic, wood or leather)
- recommended: synthetic Coldsteel buckler ($35 PurpleHeart Armory or Amazon)

Recommended:

The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship by Jeffery Forgeng
Sword Fighting 2: An Introduction to the Single-Handed Sword and Buckler by Herbert Schmidt (~$35 on Amazon or PurpleHeart Armory)
Fencing Jacket, gorget, knee pads and shin pads

Q2 – April 4th – June 24th 2026, 7-9pm: tentative Dussack

Study of the Dussack, drawing primarily from Meyer, but also looking into other masters/sources such as Paulus Hector Mair, Andreas Paurenfyndt, and the Messer of Hans Lekuchner

Q3 – July 8th – Sept 23rd 2026, 7-9pm: Open Study Sessions

Trying Something new with the goal of helping people become more curious and connected to the sources they study or find of interest.

These sessions will be following an “Open Study”/small group format designed to encourage people to work on their own studies. These sessions are specifically for working on research, discussion, interpretation and application of concepts, principles, and techniques from the sources, and not simply a 2-hour “open gym/open sparring” session.

Topics will be driven by the attendees, and are not instructor led, so bring the Source material you want to study and the gear you’ll need to test your interpretations.

Registration links are below, We’ve set them up so people have a number of options, allowing individuals to register for the sessions that best fit their schedules – the full 12 sessions, by each month, or just registering in advance for “Drop-In” sessions useable any time there’s space available.

NOTE: ALL Attendees MUST be a current member of the HEMA Alliance (for insurance purposes), and the HEMA Alliance Safety Policy will be in effect regarding the condition and level of gear being used for interpretation and application testing.

Registration links:

Drop-In Sessions