What do we do?
HEMA stands for Historical European Martial Arts. As a whole, the community at large tends to focus on recreating martial arts systems used roughly from the 14th through the 18th century across many weapon systems. Historical manuals are the main source of information and go into varying levels of detail. These are used as a basis for understanding practices and their applications in the historical context in which they were created.
At the Historical Weapons Guild schools specifically, we treat the historical sources as a guideline for recreating a martial art. We pull heavily from Lichtenauer and Meyer so because of that, we incorporate wrestling into the core of our training and martial curriculum. We believe in a holistic approach to training that employs shared concepts across all weapon systems.
Anthony Buonomo
Founder/Head Instructor
Anthony has been studying HEMA since 2014 though his martial arts training begins much before that with Eastern Martial Arts. He brings a passion to teaching HEMA that pulls from both scholarly and movement sensibilities to create an empowering experience for students. He founded AHWG on the idea that anyone can swordfight.
"I want to create an inclusive space
for people to experience a historic fighting system on their own terms. If they want to come and fight their friends once a week, we are here for that. If students want to compete, we are ready to coach and challenge them to be their best. We fight with good intentions, good technique, and good sportsmanship"
Anna Beard
Co-Owner/Resident Dance Nerd
Anna has been a sword nerd since 2018 when she took her first class at AHWG. Now she partners in the operations of the school as well as guides the teacher training teaches a technique drilling class, and has brought dance into the mix. With over twenty years of dance teaching experience, she is always looking for ways to connect her two-movement loves.
"Anyone can dance and anyone can swordfight! It's my mission to empower people to follow their own movement journey through strong technique, lots of fun, and sometimes a little sweat. My passion is teaching and sharing whether it's ballet, renaissance dance, or some good ol' messer sparring."
Andreas
Fabis
Senior Instructor
Andreas started his sword journey with the AHWG in 2018 and has been excited about hitting friends safely ever since. He enjoys teaching and seeing students get hooked on a fun and exciting martial art. As a native German he can pronounce "Schlüssel" correctly.
James Cooper
Senior Instructor
Drawn to HEMA as a dual pursuit of academic knowledge and physical discipline, James started studying the art with AHWG in 2016. With a professional background in education, James loves to share this passion and his knowledge with others while continuing to learn himself.
Morgan
Sinko
Instructor
Morgan has been training with AHWG since 2017, but has been a lover of fencing long before. His positive attitude and desire to facilitate learning makes him a great asset to our team. He assists with our adult Beginner Courses and helps new grackles on their sword journey!
Jon
Garcia
Instructor
Jon started his HEMA training with Austin Historical Weapons Guild back in 2021 after leading a life of D&D nerding, ren faire visiting, and boffer weapon swinging. He brings a great eye for detail to teaching as well as a great big enthusiasm aimed at helping others discover what they love about sword fighting.
Kaitlin McClendon
Asst. Instructor
Kaitlin has been in HEMA since 2021, where she started training at AHWG- as a sword and fighting enthusiast, she loves helping newer students navigate the fundamentals and being the official-unofficial hypewoman for both new and veteran Grackles alike!
