Today we highlight some of the techniques for fighting to first blood with a historical feder in relative safety. These are some of the ideas from a class taught by Dr. Nathan Clough of Arms and Armor and James Reilly of Goliath Fencing at SoCal Swordfight 2026. We drew on the work of Joachim Meyer, the late 16th century fencing master who was involved in fechtschulen, a tradition of public swordfighting exhibitions that were popular in the Holy Roman Empire. In these tournaments fencers fought entirely unarmored (no head or hand protection) and the goal was to make your opponent bleed from the scalp without hurting them in any other way. Thrusting was not allowed and breaking your opponents hands was highly frowned upon.
Here is a brief article about historical fechtschulen by our friends Chris Von Slambrock and Kevin Mauer of the Meyer Freifechter Guild.
These historical federschwerts, like our Fechtschul Feder which is a replica of a 1570s training sword in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and substantially different from the modern feders used in HEMA. In particular they have a tip that is essentially sharp. Based on Nathan’s measurements of original feders in the Met and the Higgins Armory at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts as well as measurements taken by friends in Europe, most of these swords are less than two millimeters thick at the tip and many are less than one millimeter thick.
Our Fechtschul Historical Feder, a replica of examples in the Metropolitan Museum circa 1570.
Here is a link to the website for SoCal Swordfight, the largest HEMA event in the world and a really exceptionally good event. We highly recommend this event to anyone interested in historical swordsmanship.
As always, our swords and other weapons are entirely made by us, by hand, at our shop in Minneapolis, MN. Sword blades are hand ground of 6150 carbon steel, hardened and tempered to 50-52 Rockwell. All of our products are made to look, feel, and function just like the historical originals on which they are based. Arms and Armor is dedicated to quality and authenticity. For over four decades we have worked with museums, collectors, and scholars around the world to develop a deep understanding of European weapons; knowledge we use to make products that exemplify the finest qualities of the very best historic pieces. When we select historic items to reproduce, being pretty isn’t enough, they have to move with grace and beauty, and beg to be used when in the hand. These are pieces that feel as good as they look, and that work as well as they feel. Our mission is to craft items that recreate the look, feel, and function of the best historic originals. Check out our website with all of our products, blogs, and upcoming events here.
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at many HEMA events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985
