Art by Pure_Poet
Historical Weapons Guild
An inclusive sword fighting
community teaching people
how to safely hit their friends since 2016
What is HEMA?
HEMA stands for Historical European Martial Arts. As a whole, the community to focus on recreating martial arts systems used roughly from the 14th through the 18th century across many weapon systems. Historical manuals are the main source of information and go into varying levels of detail. These are used as a basis for understanding practices and their applications in the historical context in which they were created.
At the Historical Weapons Guild schools specifically, we treat the historical sources as a guideline for recreating a martial art. We pull heavily from Lichtenauer and Meyer though are not limited to those sources as we believe in a holistic approach to training that employs shared concepts across all weapon systems.
Offerings
Whether you are just starting your sword journey, looking for a place to continue your training or maybe you want to swing swords for a fun date night or event, we can help!
BEGINNERS
AUSTIN
6-week intro course
Cost: $215
During this 6-week course, students aged 16 and up will learn the basics of longsword, dagger, rapier, and single sword techniques that will prepare them for the exciting world of sword fighting. Once this course has been completed, students will be able to take part in our regular classes as well as open sparring.
What's included:
12112 Anderson Mill Rd Building 9 - Unit B, Austin, TX 78726
TRAVERSE CITY
Every Tuesday
Cost per class: $30
During this 6-week course, students aged 16 and up will learn the basics of longsword, dagger, rapier, and single sword techniques that will prepare them for the exciting world of sword fighting. Once this course has been completed, students will be able to take part in our regular classes as well as open sparring.
What's included:
2419 Sybrandt Rd Suite B, Traverse City, MI 49684
PRICING
AUSTIN
UNLIMITED
BASIC
PREMIUM
$250 Monthly
8 classes
add’l classes $15
$115 Monthly
$175 Monthly
Unlimited
Workshops 1/2 price
15 classes
add’l classes $15
12112 Anderson Mill Rd Building 9 - Unit B, Austin, TX 78726
TRAVERSE CITY
SUPER +
BASIC
PREMIUM
$180 Monthly
5 classes
add’l classes $15
$80 Monthly
$140 Monthly
10 classes
add’l classes $15
15 classes
add’l classes $15
2419 Sybrandt Rd Suite B, Traverse City, MI 49684
SCHEDULE
AUSTIN
TRAVERSE CITY
12112 Anderson Mill Rd Building 9 - Unit B, Austin, TX 78726
2419 Sybrandt Rd Suite B, Traverse City, MI 49684
Owners
Anthony Buonomo
Founder/Instructor
Anthony has been studying HEMA since 2014 though his martial arts training begins much before that with Eastern Martial Arts. He brings a passion to teaching HEMA that pulls from both scholarly and movement sensibilities to create an empowering experience for students. He founded AHWG on the idea that anyone can swordfight.
Anna Beard
Co-Owner/Instructor
Anna has been a sword nerd since 2018 when she took her first class at AHWG. Now she partners in the operations of the school as well as guides the teacher training, teaches a technique drilling class, and has brought dance into the mix. With over twenty years of dance teaching experience, she is always looking for ways to connect her two movement loves.
Instructors
Jon Garcia
Senior Instructor
Jon started his HEMA training with AHWG back in 2021 after leading a life of a D&D nerd, ren faire visitor, and boffer enthusiast. He brings a great eye for detail to teaching as well as a great big enthusiasm aimed at helping others discover what they love about sword fighting.
James Cooper
Senior Instructor
Drawn to HEMA as a dual pursuit of academic knowledge and physical discipline, James started studying the art with AHWG in 2016. With a professional background in education, James loves to share this passion and his knowledge with others while continuing to learn himself.
Andreas Fabis
Senior Instructor
Andreas started his sword journey with the AHWG in 2018 and has been excited about hitting friends safely ever since. He enjoys teaching and seeing students get hooked on a fun and exciting martial art. As a native German he can pronounce "Schlüssel" correctly.
Morgan Sinko
Senior Instructor
Morgan has been training with AHWG since 2017, but has been a lover of fencing long before. His positive attitude and desire to facilitate learning makes him a great asset to our team. He assists with our adult Beginner Courses and helps new grackles on their sword journey!
Instructors
Kaitlin McClendon
Junior Instructor
Kaitlin joined HEMA in 2021, where she started training at AHWG. As a sword and fighting enthusiast, she loves helping students navigate the fundamentals while hyping up both new and veteran Grackles alike!
Eric Schweinsberg
Asst Instructor
Purveyor of swift moulinets, narrow voids, and dumb jokes. Eric has been studying HEMA since 2022, focusing on singlesword combat as well as the intersection of form and function.
Jessica
Bloodgood
Asst Instructor
Jessica was lured in with twords and history when she started HEMA in 2022. She is a self-proclaimed "museum nerd" who reads too many fantasy novels and loves to welcome new grackles into the flock
Giovanni
Hinojosa
Asst Instructor
Giovanni is a history nerd who has wanted to fight since quite young; Since starting HEMA 3 years ago, he’s enjoyed working in multiple weapon systems and helping students grow in their personal fighting goals
Lenore
Hellman
Asst Instructor
Lenore, a movement-enthusiast, started HEMA in 2022. She loves exploring the motion and quality of body mechanics with a sword, influenced by her years of yoga and social dance instruction.
Press
The Austin Chronicle was nice enough to chat with us about swords and what makes hitting your friends so special.
More swords in more states! We were pleased to chat with Northern Express about bringing HEMA to northern Michigan.
9 & 10 News
We had fun showing how swords are accessible to anyone and everyone! We appreciate the local news taking the plunge with us.
There have been many weapons explored on this show over the years from longword to pop can flail vs ham.
WEIRD OPEN
2025
If you’re new to the WEIRD Open or events in general, check out this short docu-style video from last year to get a feel for our vibe and why holding an event like this is important to us. We hope you choose to come be WEIRD with us in Austin 2025!
Video and art by Pure_Poet