Fancy a trial training session?
You can try out our classes for four weeks, free of charge and without obligation. We provide rental equipment for the duration of the trial. All you need is workout clothes and sneakers.
To schedule a trial session for one of our courses, please email the instructor. You can find their contact details on our website at: Courses
become a member
After the four weeks are up, you must decide whether you want to become a member.
To become a member you must download our membership application, fill it out completely and send it to Membership application@twerchhau.de send.
Please only sign the membership application if you have read and accepted both the statutes and the training regulations in their entirety.
The minimum age for membership is 14 years
You can download the membership application here:
You can find our statutes here:
You can find our training schedule here:
TwerchhauTrainingsordnung.pdf
We currently only accept adults as members.
Membership fee – To finance our club activities, we charge a monthly membership fee.
Regular contribution:20,00€ monthly
Pupils / Students / Job seekers:15€ monthly
Admission fee: 35,00€*
*We charge a one-time joining fee. Upon joining, new members will receive a club shirt and a patch featuring our club crest.
Protective equipment –
To participate in our courses, you must purchase weapon simulators and protective equipment.
In the beginning, we can provide rental equipment, but after the first few months, each member should have their own simulators and basic protective equipment.
Weapon simulators
Since we don't train with real weapons, we use so-called "weapon simulators." These are modeled after real historical weapons, but feature blunt blades and points. Depending on the training objective, we work with simulators made of steel, plastic, or foam.
An overview of sources for suitable simulators can be found here: Weapon simulators Sources of supply
protective equipment
Since historical fencing is a martial art in which we train with weapon simulators, wearing protective clothing is essential. This modern protective gear isn't intended to simulate historical armor, but rather to enable injury-free training.
Depending on the training situation, different levels of equipment are required, but as a basis for any partner exercise, at least the fencing mask, neck and groin protector are required to protect particularly vulnerable parts of the body from accidental hits.
To prevent avoidable injuries during training, we have established standards for our club regarding the protective clothing that must be worn during training. You can find these in our training regulations.
An overview of the protective equipment used in historical fencing can be found here: protective equipment Overview
An overview of sources for suitable protective equipment can be found here: Protective equipment sources
Fencing manuscripts
We obtain the information on how to handle and fight with weapons from so-called "primary sources," which in our case are manuscripts and prints from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the early modern period.
These sources document the handling of the various weapons in their respective contexts.
The oldest work we used dates from around the 1320s. The presentation of the content varies from source to source. Some contain only text, others pictorial representations of a fencing situation with accompanying text, and still others contain only pictorial representations without any text.
For a long time, these works stood unnoticed in libraries until, towards the end of the 20th century, a few enthusiasts discovered the first fencing manuscripts and began to work with them.
Thanks to an international community of fencers, there are now a multitude of secondary sources in the form of literature and videos that convey the historical art of fencing.
In our courses we use different sources depending on the discipline.
A good overview of the various primary sources on historical fencing can be found in the online library:
Wiktenauer
