Swordfish 2012

Of all the events I have attended this year, this has certainly been the best. Run by the GFHS (Gothenburg Historical Fäktskola) it had so many positive features that I wanted to share a little of what I found there. The crew.
Without exception, everyone who ran this was insanely positive, not just being professional and friendly, but also actively improving and tweaking as things as they went on.
The venue.
The entire event is held in one sports centre, with most people staying on site, and all activities clustered around the same area (all halls close to each other so no wondering where the hell you are) this means the event is weather proof and focussed.

The participants. Both the people who came to compete and those who came to take part in workshops were again very focused. The people learning really put their all into processing a lot in a very short space of time and as for the competitors... They rock! Whatever your feeling about competition In HEMA, I would suggest you go watch the one that takes place at Swordfish. Having the sportive aspect as the core and focus of the event adds something... a slow building of pressure maybe, knowing that you are going to see fighters at the top of their game, that while you are teaching and learning people are being eliminated through cruel twists, combinations of skill, luck and judgement (I don't care by the way if you thought the judges made bad calls, they always will, and if they could have seen the awesome shot you saw and they didn't, they'd have been sitting where you were and you'd be lamenting the shot they missed from another angle), something about this dual running of workshops and competition works stunningly well , it may well be that eagerness to see who is winning, who will be there for the finals invigorates the classes keeping a higher level of energy running throughout (well it could be the coffee too but I'm going with the buzz).

The Finals. You should have watched them (I will post more links to these as they come through). They need more judges, the judges they had were great and overworked, don't complain, get good at judging and offer your services. As for the fights themselves, I will let you hunt them down and judge for yourselves

If I have one complaint, it is that the atmosphere is too conducive to friendship and drinking, that if not careful you will find yourself squinting and pointing with the same hand that clutches a drink saying ''the important thing about silver is...'' to someone who really just wants to get to the cornflakes.

This event has captured something special in HEMA. I will be going again (if they will have me), make sure you do.