Link to the registration form: https://forms.gle/qtAwNdhwHMuePkQF6
From small daggers to big knifes
During this HEMA event, different kind of fighting techniques with daggers, poignards, knife and so one will be addressed by the instructors. Two workshops in a row will be scheduled: you’ll have the choice to follow your own path through to workshops.
A specific focus is given on the German long knife or Messer, this is an absolute choice from the organization team.
This event is organized by ELSAMHE, a HEMA group located in Strasbourg, which is used to hold an annual event since more than a decade.
Instructors and Workshop Descriptions
Benjamin Conan – dagger from Fiore dei Liberi
The treatises from Fiore dei Liberi are rightly some of the most widely studied in the corpus of Historical European Martial Arts. Through the four surviving copies, the content covers a diverse range of weapons and techniques intended for 15th-century condottieri. The dagger occupies a prominent place—and undoubtedly boasts the most sophisticated systematization. Divided into nine sections, the Masters present the various techniques, remedies, and counter-remedies to be applied both armored and unarmored against different attacks. In this workshop, we will explain the principles of reading and interpreting Fiore’s dagger and put into practice a selection of these techniques, aiming to highlight both what the text tells us and what it omits.
Christian Stickel – dagger from P.H. Mair
Dupuis Olivier – Messer and dagger from A. Dürer sketchbook
Diana Matthess – dagger from the codex Wallerstein
In this workshop, we will have fun with the nastiest but yet beautiful weapon. The Dagger! We will explore several plates together from Codex Wallerstein. All you’ll need is a Dagger, gloves, mask and don’t forget our groin protection.
Emilien Sivry – How to engage the best way (which is not the one the other thinks it will be)
Workshop on the use of various feints in the Zufechten phase from Lecküchner treatise. We will look at 3 or 4 possibilities and sequences to initiate a fight. The idea is to have some keys to starting the engagement.
Ethel Weis – dagger fighting in armor
Here we are in a judicial duel in armor. You have lost your lance, your shield, and your sword. All you have left is your dagger and your expectation of winning.
How can you achieve this? How can you end a fight?
Gauthier Senellart – » Be like dagger my friend », dagger from Joachim Meyer
How to build a game based on the five general principles of dagger combat described by Joachim Meyer. The goal is to provide tools for creating a dynamic attack, parry, and riposte with fluidity and fun. The program includes strikes, grappling, and counters.
Gautier Nobis – Find the Flaw in Messer
The aim of this workshop is to put into practice a technique developed in Lecküchner, in the Krieg section: playing on the feeling of the blade pression to find the weakness in the opponent’s posture to hit a target. We’ll put focus on posture, structure, approach, attack, and defense, using the powerful shot as a foundation. In terms of equipment, a mask, jacket, and light gloves are required.
Klara Balic – wrestling im Messer
The focus of this workshop are the Ringen techniques in Johannes Lecküchner’s Kunst des Messerfechtens. We will look at various general principles and goals of close-distance, unarmed fighting before looking at concrete Messer techniques described in the manual.
Experience with Messer (or any sword, at least) is appreciated, but not mandatory. Experience with Ringen is not expected.
Martin Enzi – The other side of messer – In your face and « get hooked on »
Bio. Martin Enzi first got in touch with martial arts by practicing classical boxing, but finally found his passion when he switched to HEMA in 2001 to train longsword, wrestling, dagger and polearms.
2003 he got his hands on the first draft of the transcription of Johannes Leckuechners “Kunst des Messerfechtens”, while work was still in progress. This gave him the possibility to be one of the first persons to dig into this manuscript. Instantly fascinated while reading the first pages of the manuscript, this was when his fascination with and passion for Messer started.
Descr. This workshop focuses on all the parts and techniques of the Messer that have a fatal effect apart from the blade. Pommel, nail, grip, parry — all of these are rarely the focus of attention and, due to their nature and brutal efficiency,
are too dangerous to use in sparring and tournaments, or difficult to incorporate safely into training.
Vieillard Mike – The Circle and Deceit: Dancing with the Navaja
Between folk art and the science of dueling, this workshop explores the gestures and tactical foundations of Andalusian knife fighting, following the Manual del Baratero (1849)—the only known treatise on the navaja—and comparing it with popular accounts and stories from the 19th century. Discover how deceit, feints, and circular movement form the secret grammar of the knife duel: an art of distance and tempo, as cunning as it is economical, where survival hinges on a step, a glance, a breath. A historical and gestural exploration, rhythmic like a dance: slow, measured, precise. The workshop alternates observation, practice, and contextualization to evoke the dialogue between steel and space. Accessible to all levels. Suitable for both the curious and experienced practitioners. Knife simulators (foam, plastic, or blunt aluminum), comfortable clothing, and a curious mind are recommended.
Registration
Link to the registration form: https://forms.gle/qtAwNdhwHMuePkQF6
Location
The entire event takes place in the sports hall at 43 Allee des Comtes, 67200 Strasbourg:
This sport’s hall has it’s own parking, and is closed to the tramway station « Ducs d’Alsace ».