Portuguese Party Weapons with Jessica Gomes

The Sword Guy Podcast, episode 38

Jessica Gomes runs her own club, the Velha Guarda Marcial, in beautiful Sintra, Portugal. She focuses on Fiore’s system, Capoferro rapier, and Portuguese staff fighting, Jogo do Pau. Jessica explains what this Iberian “party weapon” is all about, and how it influences and complements training with other systems.

There are some pictures of the Portuguese staffs here, with English translation: https://www.jogodopau.pt/category/media/fotos/feiras-e-romarias/  

We talk about teaching different weapons systems alongside one another, such as Jogo do Pau and rapier, and how you keep them separate… or not. There is also lots of advice in this episode for anyone thinking of setting up their own club. We discuss the cultural side of HEMA and how we could get it recognised as a world heritage activity, with the aim of making it easier for new clubs to get started and to help with weapons regulations.

For more information on the Roberto Gotti exhibition in Minsk that Jessica attended in 2019, see here: https://www.hema-minsk2019.org/catalogue

For more information about the host Guy Windsor and his work check out his website at https://guywindsor.net/

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