Saturday, Saturday, Saturday October 8th join us for Pittsburgh’s first ever HEMA themed pillow fighting tournament and pajama party!

This is the first of our quarterly social gatherings geared towards creating a fun time for new and existing students. Guests are encouraged to bring someone who has always wanted to try HEMA but have no idea how to fight.

To help out with that, we’ll start off the event with a HEMA basics class: “Dance for your life!” Where students will learn the basics of HEMA footwork and discover the mystical ancient art of getting the *$%! out the way! Our second class will be held by a guest instructor who’ll give a 1 hour intro class to katana. Then students will harness all 2 hours of their intensive training in the main event: “The fight for the golden sleep mask!”

All fighters will need to compete is a body pillow case, a regular sized, pillow, their pillow-sona (akin to a wrestling persona but … ya know … pajama themed). Then we will jump straight into a HEMA style tournament with these rules

• Fighters get to choose a song. A coin is flipped to see which fighters song gets played, then they fight until the end of a song (which will be pre-approved by management to make sure it isn’t too long or awkward. I mean, it is a party. No Gregorian chants please!)

• The fight is halted between sufficient hits so the director and judges can calculate scores

  • Head and body shots are worth 2 points

  • Arm and leg shots are worth 1 point

  • Grappling is not allowed (hard wood floors + falling = no bueno)

• Whoever has the most points at the end of the exchange wins!

The winner gets the golden sleep mask and their pillow-sona will be turned into a sticker and become next event’s mascot!

There will be snacks and refreshments and other people to talk to (it is a party after all) so fighters feel free to bring your kids, parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, coworkers, random strangers you’ve met on the bus, tinder dates, and even your arch rival so long as your disputes can be resolved in witty banter and or pillow fighting.

Guests will be free to make use of the main room for free sparring in between classes. All of the Hilt and Helm fencing equipment is free to use so long as those who do so sign a waiver first. We are requesting all attendants show proof of covid vaccination on admittance. Currently masks will not be required but if things change we will make an announcement indicating our updated policies.