HEMA Alliance

The HEMA Alliance (HEMAA) is a martial arts federation dedicated to the study of Historical European Martial Arts. It is organized as a United States nonprofit organization incorporated under the laws of the State of Utah. As of 2014, the HEMA Alliance represents more than 40 distinct HEMA groups (many of which contain multiple study groups) as well as numerous independent practitioners, making it the largest HEMA federation in the Americas.

One of the alliance's stated goals is to connect HEMA groups from all over the country.

Programs and Services provided by the HEMA Alliance include:

“Where we lack the oral tradition of Asian martial arts, handed down from teacher to teacher over centuries, what the original masters left us might be more valuable: their original words and instructions,” says Jake Norwood, former president of the HEMA Alliance.

Michael Chidester has provided extensive concordances of a number of manual groups on the Wiktenauer.

The Alliance is directed by three counterbalanced bodies: a Board of Directors, a Governing Council, and a Curriculum Council. The Board of Directors is responsible for oversight and strategic direction, the Governing Council manages the daily operations, and the Curriculum Council is responsible for research and training programs. The Governing Council is democratically elected by the Alliance membership while the Curriculum Council appoints its own councilors. The Governing Council has veto power over Curriculum Council appointments, and also recommends nominees to the Board of Directors.

As stated on the Alliance website, "The Alliance is dedicated to excellence as well as freedom and variety in the pursuit of Historical European Martial Arts. The Freedom of Study Policy built into the bylaws guarantees that the membership will always have freedom of association in their training and that the product of the Curriculum Council will never be presented as a mandate. The Financial Policies guarantee that member dues will serve the full membership and not select individuals or clubs. The HEMAA is an all-volunteer organization..."

Each year, the HEMA Alliance sponsors and co-sponsors a number of regional HEMA events for members, as well as non-members. The largest of these events is Longpoint, an international event held each year in Ellicott City, Maryland. Longpoint is home to North America's largest open international tournaments. Events include open steel longsword, women's steel longsword, invitational/counted blows steel longsword, open synthetic longsword, open steel messer, paired technique demonstrations, single stick, longsword cutting, and ringen (grappling).

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