Gladiolus School of Arms

Beginner-friendly HEMA

We’re a training group with lessons in Helsinki and Espoo. We study Fiore dei Liberi’s system, including abrazare, dagger and longsword, with the occasional polearm lesson thrown in.

We train to understand and learn the art of medieval personal combat in its context, using historical sources and physical practice.

Our goal is to reconstruct and learn martial arts systems from late medieval and early Renaissance Europe.

Fiore dei Liberi’s system includes a range of contemporary weapons. That’s why we train longsword, dagger, unarmed, spear, and pollaxe. Horses will be featured as soon as we figure out how to get a pony up the stairs…

Join us in class

All you need to start is exercise clothes and respect for your fellow humans.

Price 12 €/class, or 35 €/month if you join the club.

No requirements

No minimum required fitness level. And you really don’t need to know any HEMA or martial arts to get started.

We don’t come to class to know, we come to learn. Even if you’ve never trained anything in your life, come and try swords! (It’s actually pretty common for people to dislike sports but like HEMA.)


Both beginners and more advanced students are welcome – we’ll make sure you have a safe and productive start.

And if you’d rather start with other beginners, we do about two Starter Courses a year.

(Note: Minors should be accompanied by an adult at least to begin with.)

Where to find us

  • Tuesdays and Thursdays in Kannelmäki: Fysio Sakura, Sitratori 3.