Not Your Mama's Zorro: Swordfighting While Black and Other Tales

    Group picture before the sparring started!! Last weekend myself and a few other members of Crossroads Swords, loaded up our vehicles, packed up the weapons/armor, and made the drive to Tampa Bay for the Black Flag Hema Open Fencing and Social event.  The event itself played host to about 50 fighters and around 20 non combatants, showcasing a massive variety of weapons during combat. Longsword, Saber, Singlestick, Dussack, Spear, Smallsword, Rondell Dagger, Sidesword, Rapier, (with cape/dagger) and even Lightsaber were all brought by various fighters and avaliable for use by anyone in attendance.     A rare fight in Florida: Polearm vs Polearm!!! Alexander Craddock and the rest of the crew divided the warehouse into three sections for sparring and socializing while staying vigilant in making sure proper distance was kept between swinging weaponry and unarmored onlookers with such tenacity that multiple non combatants felt comfortable ...

In Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), there are certain protective gear items that we technically aren't allowed to compete without. Fencing masks of a certain grading, protective gloves that vary depending on what weapon you compete with, and the topic of today's post: the jacket.  Close up shot of myself wearing my custom Ishidora.  There are your tried and true brands like Red Dragon, Superior Fencing, and Spes, but today I wanted to focus on a relatively new kid on the block: Akado Armory. Their website for purchasing gear has not been active for long (less than a year as I am typing this) but their quality, customer service, and overall designs have more than impressed this seven year competitive fighter.  HEMA jackets, or steel fencing jackets in general, tend to come in two gradings: 350N and 800N. 350N tend to be lighter and more maneuverable than their 800N counterpart which doubles down on fabric to give more protection overall. From Akado I pu...