Hilt and Helm’s 3rd Anniversary Retrospective

As I pen this blog post on New Year’s day and look over all of the things we’ve accomplished I’m both profoundly proud and exhausted. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought that this was the direction my life was going to take. What initially sparked from a cool advertisement for a sword fighting club I saw on the internet was an interest. When I swung my first sword and tasted the adrenaline of combat that interest became a hobby. When I went from just training and competing to teaching and winning medals, that hobby became a passion. And when given the opportunity to form my own club, that passion formed with the passions of others to become Hilt and Helm Pittsburgh Fencing Club. Although I put a lot of myself into the club, it’s not all me. If it were, the club would be called “Shelton’s Splendiferous Sword School”. But the club wouldn’t be what it is today without the help of a few people I’d like to thank.

Liz Wildenhain

When we landed in the Hamilton Avenue location, I’d been blindsided by the red tape involved with the occupancy permit and the logistics of actually moving into the space we’d just signed a lease on. Thankfully for us, Liz had a connection at Ace Axe Throwing that allowed us to keep up practice without having to fight outside in the park. Because of her, practice was able to continue uninterrupted as I navigated us out of that perilous pit trap.

Tony Cavalline

After things stabilized at Ace Axe Throwing, it was Tony’s connections that found our current space. Thanks to him, a whole new generation of Hilt and Helm fencers will only know the sweet caress of conditioned air and the street level entrance of our current location as opposed to the suffocating heat and steep-ass-stairs of our first location. The “smell” of a fencing club will forever be mitigated by our dehumidifiers and handicap accessible shower. Without him, we’d be a transient, smelly, and heat stricken bunch of sword wielding vagrants bouncing from park to parking lot.

Robin Steele

With so many things constantly changing, one person I could always rely on to help maintain what we had was/is Robin. From helping maintain push press, our equipment, and every other tiny little thing that helps keep the club running, she’s always been there to help me keep things together.

Paul Wintruba and Scrimshaw Media

Paul’s photo’s are some of the best photography I’ve ever seen. And the fact that he does it for the club on top of maintaining our instagram account is something I can never thank him enough for. Our online presence wouldn’t be anything like what it is today without him. Before him I was doing my best with my shitty iPhone 8 and intermittent posts, but thanks to him we actually look like a respectable business.

Emy Bitner

Emy is the mastermind behind all of our club artwork with the exception of the original logo. We owe our entire line of merchandise, our distinctive stickers, and a big part of our club culture to her taking my wild-ass-ideas and bringing them to life.

Our Instructors and Administrative Team

Eric McChesney, Phil Clark, Kevin Brough, Ryan Leonard, Aleksei Bulan, Shawn Howering, Pete May, and everyone else that I may have missed I couldn’t run this place without you. Seriously, if I had to be at the club every god-damn-day to do every god-damn-thing I’d pull my hair out. It’s only because of you and your assistance that we’re able to be open 4 days a week and generate enough income to keep our location from turning into … I dunno … a Pottery Barn or something.

Our Students

Last, but certainly not least are our students! Thank you all so much for putting your faith in us. It takes a lot of courage to walk into a place and allow people to beat you with swords, and I can’t thank you enough for trusting us with your safety and continuing to come back to form this awesome community. Here’s to making 2025 just as awesome as the last year (hopefully with a lot less having to move the club).

2024 Hilt and Helm Tournament Performance Summary

The Medal Count: 15

• Unicorn Cup: 6 top 8

• Ascalon Sword Festival: 5 top 8

• Duel for the Jewel: 1 Silver and 1 Bronze

• Lost Art: 1 Gold and 1 Bronze

• Scioto Open: 2 Bronze

The Highs

• Ran our first successfull large scale tournament (Unicorn Cup 2024)

• Ran the country’s largest HEMA sparring camp

• Survived getting displaced from 3 different training locations

• Set up shop in our very own training location

• Expanded from operating 2 days a week to 4

Future Event Plans

The Unicorn Cup - Jan 18th 2025

Join us on January 18th for The Unicorn Cup! As of the writing of this post, there is exactly ONE ticket left in the Rapier Dagger event and everything else is completely sold out. There are plenty of slots on the wait lists. If any people drop out, we will allow those on the wait list the opportunity to buy the tickets in the order in which they appear on the wait list. Hope to see you in January!

The Alicorn Cup - Summer 2025

Some people were upset that we had to remove Gender Minority Longsword from Unicorn cup. The reality of the situation is that we had a really low turn out last year and needed to replace it with event that would draw a larger crowd. Instead, we are planning a Gender Minority Tournament at the club. We’ll have it in the summer with twelve spots for Longsword and 12 spots for Saber. Once we have more information on the date, time, and tickets, we will announce it.

More Bang for your Buckler - Fall 2025

Some other people were upset that we didn’t have sword and buckler at Unicorn Cup. We figured since we loved the name of our Pillowfecht tournament that went by this name that we’d have another full tournament at the club for all of the seldom fought weapons. Ideally we’ll have 4 tournaments with 12 spots each: sword and buckler, rapier and cape, side sword, and small sword. Once we host the Alicorn Cup and see how well our current space accommodates a 1 day tournament, we’ll announce this proposed 2 day tournament.

Schedule

Here is the schedule for January to February.

• Mondays

  • Beginner Longword Class with Tony Cavalline - 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

  • Free Spar - 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

• Tuesdays

  • Intermediate Saber II Class with Eric McChesney - 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

  • Free Spar - 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

• Wednesdays

  • Intermediate Rapier Class with Liz Wildenhain - 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

  • Free Spar - 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

• Saturdays

  • Begginner Sword and Buckler with Robin Steele - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

  • Free Spar - 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

We are also offering private lessons.

• Thursdays with Paul or Liz

  • 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm (Paul or Liz)

  • 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm (Paul)

• Saturdays with the Chris Shelton (The Jarl of Hilt and Helm)

  • 8:00 am to 9:00 am

  • 9:00 am to 10:00 am

  • 10:00 am to 11:00 am

See our class passes page for details.