STRAMASH!
21/09/24 - 22/09/24
Welcome to Stramash!
Saorsa's own Tournament and Workshop Event!
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This year, we are hosting The Wee Stramash and The Big Stramash!
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Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates!
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Back in 2022, we held the first Wee Stramash tournament.
With all the disruption that covid caused to people keeping fit and doing what they loved, we realised there were so many people who hadn't had the chance to compete or attend a workshop. We wanted to welcome them to HEMA and help them to join the community and so we held The Wee Stramash - the first Workshop and Tournament designed for Beginners in Scotland.
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The weekend was so successful, it has run yearly ever since and with the addition of a ceilidh and our steel tournament, The Big Stramash, it has only continued to grow!
The purpose of The Wee Stramash is to promote grassroots HEMA in Scotland. The Wee Stramash tournament is therefore reserved for those who started HEMA in 2021 or after.
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For more advanced practitioners who have their own kit and steel swords, we will be running The Big Stramash!
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The workshops will run concurrently and workshops for specific levels will be labelled beforehand.
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Please note event attendees must be 18+ and have their own personal insurance.
Personal Insurance is usually provided through club membership so if you don't know if you have it, we recommend asking your club for more information.
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Stramash will take place on the 21st and 22nd of September and will be held in Glasgow Club - Scotstoun: Danes Drive, Glasgow G14 9HY.
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Workshops​
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Workshops will be open to everyone, regardless of experience. Most of the workshops will start at a level appropriate for beginners and will offer progressions however there will be some intermediate/advanced level workshops aimed at the participants of The Big Stramash.
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We have a fantastic line up of Instructors this year featuring those from the Glasgow HEMA scene and further afield. The topics will cover a range of single sword fighting techniques but there's an additional motive to these workshops.
Four of the Instructors are running workshops with subjects that will correspond to a tournament technical prize - that's two technical prizes for The Big Stramash and two for The Wee Stramash.
Throughout the tournament, judges will be watching for these techniques in particular, alongside general good fighting, and at the end of the tournament, these fighters will be rewarded with a technical prize.
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Our confirmed instructors are:
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Ben Hamilton
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Chloe Headdon
Academy of Historical Fencing
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Colin Fieldhouse
Schola Gladiatoria and Saltaire Academy of the Sword
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Christopher Halpin
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Kerri Tamplin
London Historical Fencing Club and Cambridge Historical Fencing
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Chris May
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Kat Ferguson
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Lauren Ireland
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Find out more about our classes on our Workshops page.
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Tournaments
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The Wee Stramash is reserved for those who have started their training in or since 2021 and who haven't won any medals in any tournaments yet! We want to make sure as many people as possible can compete so this tournament will be with our foam swords to keep kit to a minimum.
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The Big Stramash is for those who have their own full kit and own steel sword.
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Our Tournament rules will be very simple and easy to understand. To find out more, visit our Tournament page.
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Prizes and Sponsors
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To help you attend future tournaments, our winners will all receive prizes that will help kit them out in style! In addition to our podium winners, there will also be four technical prizes up for grabs.
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Our Tournament is sponsored with prizes by;
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Armour Class
Premier sword makers based in Glasgow
https://www.armourclass.co.uk/
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Flett Forge
A small artisanal bladesmithing company
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The Knight Shop
The Largest Historical & Medieval Shop in the UK
https://www.theknightshop.com/
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​Shoukat MfgCo
A new manufacturer of HEMA gear and fencing equipment.
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Black Fencer
Black Fencer emerged to fill gaps in the specialized equipment necessary to practice this beautiful martial art in an optimal way.
https://blackfencer.com/en​
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Raven Forge
Raven Forge is a family-run business that was founded in 2019 by brothers Sam and Tom Ive. Built from the ground up, Raven Forge started as two brothers with a love of history and fantasy, both excitedly selling axes and swords from their living room. It soon grew into something much bigger and they're currently in the process of opening a bricks and mortar shop!
Visit their website here
https://ravenforge.com/
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Patchion LTD
Patchion is one of the leading names in the field of Embroidered Patches in the UK and they offer all kinds of embroidered badges in many styles and fabrics. They take custom designs and create top quality patches.
Visit their website here
https://www.embroidered-patches.co.uk
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SIGI Forge
SIGI Forge is a manufacturer of HEMA swords based in Slovakia. Here's what they have to say about their business; "At SIGI we believe that everyone should be able to enjoy and practice HEMA with safe and reliable tools. With our extensive line of products and customisations we hope to satisfy everyone's aesthetic and functional preferences. Proudly, from Slovakia, your SIGI."
They have kindly donated some vouchers as prizes for our tournaments.
Visit their website here:
https://sigiforge.com/
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To find out more about our prizes and sponsors, visit our Sponsors page!
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We also would like to thank;
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Lyn Sneddon from Potion9Design
Graphic Design for print, advertising and signage. The creator of our logos!
https://potion9design.business.site/
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For their sponsorship
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We want to say a big thank you to our Instructors and our Sponsors for their time, effort and support! We would also like to thank our many volunteers for the day. Without all of these people, this event would not be possible!
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The Ceilidh
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After the workshops on the Saturday, we will be hosting the Stramash Ceilidh! Entry to the ceilidh is included in the price of your ticket!
Our ceilidh this year will be held Victoria Park Bowling Club. The venue is a 10 minute walk from Scotstoun and has plenty of on street parking. We will be ordering some pizzas to the hall (gluten free with vegan and vegetarian options) but there are plenty of takeaways and restaurants nearby the venue if pizza doesn't float your boat. Feel free to bring food into the venue.
Never been to a ceilidh? No worries! We will have plenty of experienced ceilidh go-ers and a caller to help you out! And if you're not keen on the dancing, there will be plenty of time for chatting and getting to know each other. Want to bring someone who's not coming to Stramash? No problem, we have some +1 tickets on sale too!
Ceilidh Venue: Victoria Park Bowling Club. Address; ​1284 Dumbarton Rd, Whiteinch, Glasgow G14 9EU.
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