Event History

Longpoint traces its origin back to the 2010 Mid Atlantic HEMA Gathering, a day-long regional get-together hosted by the newly formed Maryland Kunst des Fechtens. The idea was to start an annual event for the Virginia-Maryland-DC HEMA scene to come together and get to know one another; few did at that time, despite one of the highest densities of HEMA practitioners in the US. About 30 people came and attended classes or free-fenced for eight hours before heading home through the beginning of one of DC’s most infamous storms, Snowmageddon.

Following experiences at the joint HEMA Alliance and WMAC Houston International Open Gathering (later named Fechtschule America) and Germany’s Worldwide Open Championships, event organizer and founder Jake Norwood decided to take the Mid Atlantic HEMA Gathering in a new direction, rebranding it as Longpoint and adding in a longsword and dussack tournament. Approximately 45 fighters came from as far as Alaska, Candada, Texas, and Florida, starting Longpoint down its evolution from regional gathering to international tournament.

In 2012 Longpoint published the first edition of its unique «CQTC» competition rule set. The Longpoint Rules moved away from the dominant paradigm of the time, wherein all strikes against all targets were considered equal. Instead, each strike would be assessed for contact, quality of strike, value of the target struck, and the attacker’s active control of the opponent’s weapon in the moment of impact. Longpoint brought in veteran HEMA referee Mikael Widegren and added a sword and buckler tournament and ladies’ longsword competition to the lineup. This year also saw the first longsword cutting competition in North America, run by New York Historical Fencing Association’s Mike Edelson; its format would be imitated and extrapolated by almost every other major HEMA competition in the US over the next year. Both the new longsword rules and the cutting competition contributed to Longpoint’s success in hosting over 65 fighters from the US, Sweden, Canada, Russia, Germany, and elsewhere.

Having outgrown its venue at a county sports hall, in 2013 Longpoint moved to Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland. The move brought all classes, competitions, lodging, and even meals and recreation under one roof. Veteran event staffers Ben Michels and “Evil” Ben Jarashow moved from supporting positions to leadership roles in planning, organizing, and executing what was quickly becoming one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest HEMA events. 2013 was also a new height in organizational ambition with North America’s first open steel longsword competition, the first HEMA triathlon (steel longsword, grappling, and cutting), and the addition of a Polish-style saber tournament and Ringen im Grublein grappling tournament to the traditional synthetic longsword, ladies’ longsword, and sword and buckler competitions. The finals were broadcast via live stream and garnered approximately 5000 views in its first year on YouTube. The class schedules were restructured to provide more time and room for competitions, while emphasizing marquee instructors with three-four hour workshops: Ilkka Hartikainen (Finland), Mishaël Lopes Cardozo (Netherlands), Aaron Pynenberg (USA), and Jake Norwood (USA). 2013 was also the year that Longpoint truly became international with over 100 fighters from the US, Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Mexico, Finland, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

Longpoint 2014 outpaced its predecessors, and heralds continued growth as one of the world’s most important competitive HEMA events. Nearly 150 fighters from the US, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Ireland, Denmark, and New Zealand participated in 14 competitions. Sword and buckler and saber were replaced with singlestick and steel messer; open Ringen (four weight classes) replaced Ringen im Grublein, and a paired technique competition and invitational German Fechtschule-style counted blows tournament were added to the lineup alongside three longsword tournaments, an improved cutting competition, and the Longpoint team award.  A lecture by Wiktenauer chief Mike Chidester was added to the instructor lineup, which included Axel Pettersson (Sweden), Lee Smith (Canada), Jess Finley, (USA), and Sean Hayes (USA). To fit it all in a half day was added to the schedule, bringing Longpoint to its current four day program of two and a half days of competitions and one day of workshops, classes, and dedicated open fencing areas. Longpoint garnered new media attention in 2014: web blogger Kristin Blumley published a 15-minute documentary as part of a series about Longpoint, and New York Times multimedia reporter Mac Bishop spent the weekend filming and interviewing fighters, crew, and spectators.

Whether it’s trailblazing new rule sets, pioneering modern cutting or technique competitions, breaking community records for tournament types and matches fought, premiering new equipment, or bringing the best fighters in the world under one roof to train, play, and compete, Longpoint has established a tradition of making history. Join us in 2015, and become part of it.