True Edge South

---

 A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO TRUE EDGE SOUTH:

First, thank you for joining our group! There are always lots of questions from beginners that join the page and that's ok! I decided to write this post to answer many of those questions and give you an idea on how the club works.

True Edge Academy of Swordsmanship - South is technically a college club that offers classes to the community. Everyone over the age of 16 is welcome! We are a martial arts school for adults, not children. Unlike the other martial arts you may be more familiar with, HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) is a weapon-focused martial art, which means that a certain minimum of both physical and mental maturity is required.

Practice:

Practices are always 7-9pm on Wednesdays and 10-noon on Saturdays. Practices are announced in a post usually a day before the practice itself. That post has the when and where, as the "where" often changes. When you start coming to practice, you only need to bring some athletic clothes and a water bottle. Please come early so you can start with us on time. We’ll have you sign a waiver for the HEMA Alliance and a waiver for UVU when you first arrive. After that you’ll join our beginner’s class where you will go over the basics of German Longsword and general swordsmanship!

Structure: 

If you're new to HEMA, expect to spend around ~6 months in our introductory course. This course is a series of 12 targeted lessons that repeats every 3 months, and here you will learn foundational swordsmanship skills, including basic techniques of the German longsword, good form, and sparring skills. This class has a conditioning focus, so come ready for a workout! Once the Beginner class instructors believe you have a decent understanding of the basics, you’ll test and advance to the Intermediate class. 

The Intermediate class is our main class where students learn the contents of Leichtenauer's Recital. You will learn the master techniques and have the opportunity to apply them in a sparring context. You will also be able to start studying other European weapons, such as arming sword and buckler, dusack, messer, saber, polearm, greatsword, and rapier. Expect to spend at least a couple of years in this class, possibly more depending on your goals, attendance, and individual progress. 

To join the Advanced class, you must have your Level 3 Longsword Certification and have demonstrated a readiness for more challenging material in the Intermediate class. This is a class for practitioners who are dedicated long-term to HEMA, where you will study directly under the head instructor, learning about other masters and weapon systems, strengthening your scholarship, and tackling the finer points of the European martial tradition.

Club Dues:

I’ve always thought it funny to charge beginners club dues if they don’t know if they want to be part of the club yet. That in mind we decided that you have 4 free practices to decide if this is something you really want to do! As soon as you decide you want to be part of the group you’ll pay your club dues. Dues are $40 per semester, so essentially $10 a month. Club dues do SO much for the club. Thanks to our students' donations we are able to buy high quality equipment for our new students to use. A few notes on that. If you want to buy personal gear, but haven’t paid club dues, pay your dues first. If you’ve come to four practices, chances are you’re converted. If you have paid dues before, and want to attend another semester you need to pay your club dues within the first two weeks of that semester. 

**If you have any other questions, please ask! We'll update this post as needed. We look forward to having you at practice!**