Phase 2 of Fundraising Completed!
Just 6 different club mates in 6 different color jackets fighting three completely different weapons systems. Don’t mind us. Living our best lives.
When we set out for phase 2 of our fundraising efforts we had the following goals:
Acquire 6 more jackets in XSmall, XLarge, and XXLarge
Acquire a flag with the club logo on it
Create a kick ass promo video to advertise the club
To raise these funds, we sold tickets to our first sponsored event (Funfecht 2022) and sold merchandise (tshirts and patches). Between the proceeds from the event, merchandise sales, and a generous grant from the three husbands foundation (ie me) we had a sizable amount of money to play around with when deciding what to buy. The flag, we got and we’re happy with. Although we would have liked to have bought 2 of each of the odd ball sizes, we elected to get one of each instead. Training with padded weapons is more cost effective and safe, so the new jackets wouldn’t be needed for classes, just free sparring. Since most students who attend free sparring have their own equipment, we felt it made more sense to have one of each of the odd ball sizes just in case a larger/smaller person wants to try sparing with steel and use the extra money towards other endeavors.
I’d reached out to several videographers to get estimates on the promo-video and quickly discovered that professional shooting and video editing is wildly expensive. We are going to attempt to do video editing in house to keep costs affordable. With the money it would take of a 60-90 second promo-video, we could instead buy 2 of every other steel weapon we were missing from the arsenal. So that’s what we did! Hilt and Helm fencing club now can offer any two fencers sized small to large the ability to fight with longsword, saber, rapier, rapier/dagger, rapier/cape, side sword, sword/buckler, messer, dagger, and katana. Instead of doubling down on one weapon system, we’ve elected to offer ten!
Starting August 3rd with the introduction of our newest instructor Sheradon Crow, HEMA basics (which focuses on longsword) will now be moved to Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 7:30 and open sparing will be from 7:30 to 8:30. Those who have never picked up a weapon will be encouraged to get the “squire bundle” (8 classes for $100 plus a free t-shirt when you finish the last class) in our store come on Wednesday nights. Advanced students who come on Wednesday nights will be asked to help out the newer folks.
Saturdays from 1:00 to 2:00 will be our rotating HEMA symposium where students will get the opportunity to vote in an online survey on what they’d like to learn that week from the following options unless there is a predesigned lesson scheduled for that day.
Advanced Longsword
HEMA Basics (Longsword)
Single Rapier
Rapier and Cape
Saber
Free Spar
Whatever, man. I’m just here for the good vibes!
The survey will be open on our Facebook page from Sundays until Thursdays with the class announcement on Fridays. As we acquire more training weapons we’ll expand the scope of the symposium. Our future fundraising efforts will be geared towards buying more training equipment to add more weapon systems to the options available on Saturdays. 2:00 to 3:00 will still be free spar.
To achieve our new fundraising goals, we will be hosting a new fundraising event called “Pillow Fecht!” It will be Pittsburgh’s first and only HEMA themed pillow fighting tournament/pajama party. The event is designed to introduce new people to the concept of HEMA tournaments without the steep learning curve of having to train a particular weapon for weeks or months. A fun and music filled night of pillows, food, drinks, blankets, pajamas, and some actual beginner fencing instruction if people feel inclined, this will be an event anyone even remotely curious about HEMA should feel welcome to come out to with a few friends. We are actively working on the event and more details will be made available as soon as possible.
