Simply turn up in clothing that is easy to move in – a tracksuit or other martial arts uniform if you have one.  A synthetic longsword or wooden Bokken trainer will be provided for you to begin with – depending on the class you are taking.  Once you decide to take part you can purchase your own at low cost. If you practice with us for a while you may think about getting a sword.  You will know when you are ready and we will make appropriate suggestions.  All blades should blunt and need to be approved for use.  Please do not think a £20 wall hanger bought at a boot fair will do the job.  It won’t.

Fitness

Unlike other Martial Arts, sword arts can be taken up by anyone at any age. In the main for beginners, it is a solo and paired practice under guidance to learn the basics.  Japanese and German sword techniques are split into various levels of difficulty.

In the beginning, we practice unarmoured fighting techniques and therefore this would have been carried out without armour or padding – just the clothes they wore on their backs.

Equipment

It is always useful to start building up your protective equipment so we advise protective gloves and a fencing mask. Later on you may wish to take part in free fighting in which case you will need much more protection and that would include jacket, arm and leg protection as well as throat and groin guards. We can recommend suppliers as and when required.  At this point, you also might wish to consider investing a steel longsword.

It is suitable for men or women of any age. Currently we are only accepting those aged 18 or over.   Please do let us know or any medical conditions or injury that we need to be aware of.

Costs

We charge £7 fee for each class. There is also an annual fee of £30 to cover insurance and organisation membership (£20 if joining in 2021). There could be further costs for other organisations you may wish to join such as GROM for firearms training.