Tournament Successes

HEMA medals after a longsword tournament. Photo by Keith Farrell, 2016.

At the Vanguard Centre, we have always placed our emphasis squarely on learning how to fence effectively and according to our historical source material. We don’t train specifically for tournaments, but every so often our members will enter a tournament to see how well our training is working – and we do have quite a history of Vanguard Centre members bringing home medals and recognition, not just from the UK, but from across Europe.

The following is a list of tournament successes and victories by Vanguard Centre members over the years since we opened in 2015.


HEMA tournament successes

2025

October – Stramash (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Adam Goodier – 2nd place in open steel broadsword/sabre
  • Thierry Flekier-Wathen – 4th place in open steel broadsword/sabre

August – Ecky Thump Cup (York, England)

  • Madeleine Thomson – 3rd place in the Medieval competition

July – Messer Fest (York, England)

  • Christophe Busche – 2nd place in the messer fechtschule

June – Albion Cup (Marlow, England)

  • John Colquhoun – 4th place for open rapier tier B

March – Hernes Cup (Newbury, England)

  • Marcus McCormick – 4th place for sword and buckler intermediate open steel

February – Glasgow HEMA Open (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • open longsword
    • Chris Stewart – 3rd place
  • open broadsword & sabre
    • Jamie McPherson – 1st place
    • Duncan McLaren – 3rd place
  • open cutting
    • Thierry Flekier-Wathen – 2nd place
  • open messer
    • Duncan McLaren – 3rd place
  • women’s+ longsword
    • Jay Li – 3rd place
  • women’s+ broadsword and sabre
    • Charlotte Crawshaw – 4th place
  • other awards
    • Jonathan Spouge – technical fencer award for sabre
    • Marcus McCormick – sportsmanship award for sabre

2024

December – Liverpool December Fechtschule (Liverpool, England)

  • Jonathan Spouge โ€“ joint 2nd place for experienced fencers

November – Wessex League (Exeter, England)

  • David Rybacki – 1st place for open steel longsword tier B
  • Duncan McLaren – 2nd place for open steel longsword tier A across the whole league

October – Wessex League (Bristol, England)

  • Duncan McLaren – 4th place for open steel longsword tier A
  • Kieran Brimson – 4th place for beginners open sabre

September – Wessex League (Oxford, England)

  • Duncan McLaren – 2nd place for open steel longsword tier A
  • Connor Kemp-Cowell – 3rd place for open steel longsword tier A
  • Finley Dickins – 4th place for women’s+ rapier and dagger

September – Edgebana (Dundee, Scotland)

  • Marcus McCormick – 1st place for invitational fechtschule
  • Duncan McLaren – 1st place for open steel longsword
  • Connor Kemp-Cowell – 3rd place for open steel longsword
  • Finley Dickins – 4th place for women’s+ steel longsword

June – Albion Cup (Marlow, England)

  • Duncan McLaren – 3rd place for open steel longsword tier A, 4th place for open steel sabre

May – London HEMA Open (London, England)

  • Finley Dickins – 3rd place for women’s+ rapier

March – Kings of the North (Keighley, England)

  • Duncan McLaren – 2nd place for mixed weapons

February – Glasgow HEMA Open (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • open longsword
    • Duncan McLaren – 3rd place
  • open broadsword & sabre
    • Jamie McPherson – 1st place
    • Thierry Flekier-Wathen – 4th place
  • open cutting
    • Jonathan Spouge – 1st place
    • Anders Jensen – 3rd place
  • women’s+ longsword
    • Jay Li – 2nd place
    • Rachael Hughes – 3rd place
    • Madeleine Thomson – 4th place
  • women’s+ broadsword & sabre
    • Madeleine Thomson – 2nd place
    • Tam Darlugdach – 3rd place
    • Finley Dickins – 4th place
  • other awards
    • Jonathan Spouge – best sportsman award
    • Duncan McLaren – technical fencer award

2023

December – Liverpool December Fechtschule (Liverpool, England)

  • Duncan McLaren – 1st place for experienced fencers
  • Jonathan Spouge – 2nd place for experienced fencers

November – Sword Breakers Broadsword Invitational (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • David Muir – 3rd place for open steel broadsword
  • Thierry Flekier-Wathen – 4th place for open steel broadsword

October – Wessex League (Taunton, England)

  • Madeleine Thomson – 4th place in women’s longsword

September – Stramash (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Jamie MacPherson – 2nd place in broadsword
  • Gabriel Uri Brito Davansso – 3rd place in beginners’ broadsword

June – Albion Cup (London, England)

  • Duncan McLaren – 2nd place in open steel longsword tier B
  • Madeleine Thomson – 4th place in women’s rapier, 4th place in women’s sabre

February – Glasgow HEMA Open (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Jonathan Spouge – 1st place in longsword cutting, 3rd place in longsword, technical prize for longsword, 3rd place for broadsword cutting, 2nd place for open broadsword, sportsperson award for broadsword
  • Duncan McLaren – 2nd place in longsword cutting
  • David Muir – 4th place for open longsword

January – Steel Ring Academy Fechtival (Bradenton, FL, USA)

  • Duncan McLaren – 1st place in open steel multi-weapon fechtschule

2022

December – Wessex League (London, England)

  • Duncan McLaren – 2nd place in sabre, technical fencer award

November – Glasgow Sword Breakers Broadsword Invitational (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Jonathan Spouge – 3rd place in steel broadsword

November – Fechtschule Edinburgh (Edinburgh, Scotland)

  • Duncan McLaren – 1st place in longsword, 1st place in sabre, 1st place in dagger

October – The Wee Stramash (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • David Muir – 1st place in broadsword
  • Conor McKeag – technical prize for broadsword
  • Wojciech Wlodarczyk – technical prize for broadsword

2021

Covid-19 meant that not much happened this year.

2020

Covid-19 meant that not much happened this year.

2019

December – Glasgow HEMA Open (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Jonathan Spouge – 1st place in dussack, 2nd place in open longsword

June – European Games Invitational Gala Tournament (Minsk, Belarus)

  • Jonathan Spouge – invited to represent the UK

2018

December 2018 – Glasgow HEMA Open (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Ben Hamilton – 3rd place in singlestick

September – Edgebana (Dundee, Scotland)

  • Ben Hamilton – 1st place for singlestick
  • Jonathan Spouge – technical prize for singlestick

2017

October – Edgebana (Dundee, Scotland)

  • Ben Hamilton – 1st place in singlestick, and a technical prize

July – Feile na Gaiscigh (Dublin, Ireland)

  • Anezka Havlikova – 3rd place in novice longsword

June – Red Dragon Tourney (Conwy, Wales)

  • Ben Hamilton – 1st place in singlestick

April – Blademasters Cup (Cork, Ireland)

  • Ken Kot – 2nd place in open longsword, and a technical prize

February – Ringeck Triathlon (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Ben Hamilton – 2nd place in the triathlon
  • Ken Kot – 3rd place in the triathlon

2016

December – GUHAS Christmas Tournament (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Ben Hamilton – 1st place in open steel longsword, 2nd place in open steel single-handed
  • Alex Bourdas – 2nd place in open steel longsword
  • Anezka Havlikova – 2nd place in beginner’s broadsword

September – AHA Glasgow Broadsword Tournament (Glasgow, Scotland)

  • Ben Hamilton – 1st place in singlestick
  • Keith Farrell – 3rd place in singlestick

July – Edgebana (Dundee, Scotland)

  • Keith Farrell – 1st place in open steel longsword, 1st place in open synthetic longsword

July – Feile na Gaiscigh (Dublin, Ireland)

  • Keith Farrell – 2nd place in open steel longsword

April – Fechtschule Brugge (Brugge, Belgium)

  • Keith Farrell – joint-2nd in the fechtschule competition

2015

December – GUHAS Christmas Tournament

  • Alex Bourdas – 2nd place in open steel longsword

October – TaurHEMAchia (Turin, Italy)

  • Keith Farrell – 4th place in open steel longsword

August – FightCamp (Coventry, England)

  • Jonathan Spouge – part of the 2nd place team in the team melee competition

July – Edgebana (Dundee, Scotland)

  • Jonathan Spouge – 1st place in open steel longsword
  • Keith Farrell – 2nd place in the cutting competition, 3rd place in open steel longsword

Archery tournament successes

2025

2024

2023


Feel inspired to get involved at the Vanguard Centre? Wonderful, we’d be delighted to have you along!

Take a look at what classes we offer and our regular weekly schedule, and then either book yourself in to attend one of our sessions, book some private tuition, or contact us to discuss something in more detail!