FAQ

Please see our classes page for more information and for our full weekly schedule.

Please see our prices page for a full description of our session prices and our multi-session passes.

Most of our new students are complete beginners and have never done anything like this before. Book yourself in, come along, and give a go!

Our archery classes are suitable for ages 12+ (although note that anyone under 16 will need a parent or guardian to accompany them).

Our regular sword-fighting classes are for ages 16+.

For more information, please see our classes page for our full weekly schedule, including the minimum ages we can accept for each activity.

There is some on-street parking in front of the venue, but there is never a guarantee of a convenient space. In the nearby area there are always plenty of parking spaces, but you may have to circle the blocks a few times!

There is also the Bridge Street Park and Ride just a couple of minutes away.

We would recommend looking at the Parkopedia website for information on local parking spaces.

HEMA is an acronym for Historical European Martial Arts. In past centuries, fencing masters wrote textbooks in which they described how to fight with the different swords and weapons of the day. We study these old textbooks and practise the systems as a modern martial art, with appropriate modern protective equipment such as fencing masks and padded gloves.

Why not come along to one of our HEMA classes and give it a go?

The sword fighting that we teach is not modern, Olympic fencing. Instead, we teach historical European martial arts (HEMA), where we work with textbooks written by medieval and renaissance fencing masters who describe how to fight with different swords and items from the time period in question.

However, we do wear modern protective gear such as fencing masks and protective gloves and jackets, and we train the activity as a proper sport and martial art. Several of our members have won awards at tournaments around the UK and even further afield.

We do offer private tuition by appointment. Please contact us to describe your requirements and we will do our best to accommodate you.

No, there are no more blacksmithing classes at the Vanguard Centre.