Detroit HEMA Open

Equipment Requirements:

Head

Head protection must cover the entire face and front of the throat, and the entire head, and front of the throat must be covered for competitive sparring. It must be sturdy enough to withstand impacts. There should be no gaps in coverage that would allow a thrust or strike to the face or back of the head. Back of the head protector is mandatory.

Throat

A rigid covering to protect the throat.

Torso

Padded, puncture resistant padded clothing to cover the body. No armpit gaps. Women must wear a rigid chest protector.

Groin

An internal or external cup.

Elbow

Hard elbow covering to protect the joints.

Hands

Sturdy gloves or gauntlets must be used to protect the hands and wrists. Gloves must include protection on the sides and tips of the fingers sufficient to resist hard strikes from weapons. An unsupplemented lacrosse/hockey glove is not sufficient. Steel Gauntlets need additional interior padding of some sort. A mechanic’s-style glove has minimal padding and when used inside a metal gauntlet would not be sufficient. Most HEMA-dedicated synthetic gloves or gauntlets, such as Sparring Gloves and Black Lance, are adequate. Finger breaks and hand injuries are the most common injury in HEMA, and we will do our best to be conscientious of these risks.

Legs

Hard knee covering to protect the joints, and shin guards.

Weapons

If you’re concerned that your sword won’t pass our standards, please message us. Most acceptable major name-brand longswords will pass. We will do our best to provide loaner equipment and weapons. This is a friendly tournament, so we encourage participants to use lighter, more flexible swords. Swords must have federed blades, not just blunt/rebated swords. Only swords from commonly known, reputable manufacturers will be accept, Castille Armory, Zen Warrior Armory, for example. We will be checking swords individually.

Unacceptable, banned swords:

All Hanwei swords. 

All CAS Iberia swords.

All Kingston Arms swords.

All Black Horse swords.