A Brief History
Northwest Armizare is a Portland Area group dedicated to the study of Historical Martial Arts. Originally founded in 2014 with a focus on the 15th century Italian martial art of Armizare, the group has expanded and now hosts regular classes on Sabre, Georgian Sword and Buckler, and Italian Longsword.
Our classes aim to teach swordsmanship through the lens of historic techniques and their martial applications. Our classes allow students to approach the arts through solo and partner drill, free fencing with (blunted) swords, grappling, and study of period sources. We believe that our martial arts are integrated systems that can work with each other, rather than distinct techniques that have to be isolated from each other. Our goal is that students will gain an understanding of why a technique works so they have a solid foundation and not simply a collection of tricksy techniques.
Building Community
Group learning is a large part of who we are as a club. the input from students allows new perspectives for how certain techniques work for different body types. With that in mind, we continue all types of discussions on our club discord, from breakdowns of historical manuscripts to sharing advice on safety gear.
Across Portland we cross-train in other HEMA clubs and with people in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), as well as participate in demonstrations at the Sherwood Robin Hood Festival.
Inclusivity Policy
We at NW Armizare believe that a Martial Arts School must be a safe space for everyone attending. It must be a safe space physically so that we can do emotionally difficult things, and it must be a safe space emotionally so that we can do physically difficult things! To that end, we strive to create a welcoming environment for all. We welcome everyone who wishes to study with us, regardless of race, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, physical ability, sensory sensitivity, or financial means.
We recognize that even the best intentions will fall short at times and commit ourselves to educate ourselves and our students in a way that fosters acceptance of diverse ways of being. And we reserve the right to update this policy to explicitly recognize and broaden it in the future as we learn more.
Commitment to Safety
As with any martial art, Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) involves some risk of injury. Many of the techniques we practice were originally intended to cause serious bodily harm; we use safety equipment and follow best practices to mitigate those risks, but the risk cannot be entirely eliminated. Our goal is to foster both a safe physical space so we can do challenging mental things, and a safe mental space so we can do challenging physical things. We expect all club members and participants to conduct themselves safely and to be vocal if they feel a safety issue has arisen. Review our full safety policy by clicking the yellow button.