Swords Against Humanity Podcast

This episode was recorded, 19 June 2024. About the guest: On or off the piste, Christian 'Xian' Niles has had a lifelong love for martial arts. Starting with Shotokan Karate at a very young age, graduating to MMA and Kickboxing. A former international Epee fencer, Xian’s fencing career spans over 19 years. He has represented his home country of Barbados as a two-time Pan-American Champions...

In this episode I chat with Jay Maas, the owner of swordshop.ca, a founding member of Storica Defensa, and head instructor of Wolves Den Historical Fencing. Jay and I cover quite a few topics, from silly fencing debates online to more serious topics such as creating intentional balanced spaces for both competitive and recreational HEMA, and what it entails to run a HEMA gear shop that strives for...

In this episode we chat with Olive Nuttall — a biological catgirl engineered in an agricultural laboratory on the outskirts of Kirikiriroa. She likes writing books about transsexuals, boydykes, girlfags, queers, and other angels. Olive trains in historical fencing with longsword and sabre.

In this episode I interview Ashanti Ziths, a HEMA fencer who also specializes in designing products for HEMAists. We discuss historical fencing interpretations, HEMA injuries, and lots of gear talk.

In this episode we discuss safety through communication and what a physical and emotional safety-focused force calibration should look and feel like. John "Pax" Crum has been practicing martial arts for 35 years. His focus has ranged from competition to combatives and self-defense, and has settled on training and ethics. For 12 years, Pax has studied HEMA, specifically Liechtenauer's...

In this episode, I chat with my friend Gabriel Pottebaum about their experiences as a differently-abled athlete and the difficulties that arise in acquiring gear for historical fencing. This episode was recorded 27 of February 2024 in Utah, USA

In this installment of the Toll of Tournament, Fran Lacuata, Kristen Argyle, and Thierry Flekier-Wathen spill the tea with me about our experiences in the HEMA community. We also discuss our thoughts on light swords and tournament culture.

This episode is a recap of our experience competing at Valley of the Sun Cutting Tournament 2023 in Mesa, Arizona with my guest co-host Josh Barnett of Bold City Longsword. I also interviewed the two other women who competed in the open, Irene Yang and Harriet Coates, as well as VOTS 2023 open longsword bronze medalist Kevin Spencer.

In this episode, HEMA fencers Camilla Fraizer, Arly Ord, and Clara Elliott talk about their transition experience, some history of trans women in the early days of HEMA, what it's like to be a trans athlete, tournament and in-club experiences on safety, belonging, and inclusion. The 3 episode guests also offer advice to fencing clubs and individual fencers  on how to foster a welcoming and inclusi...

In HEMA we often see and hear people talk about their training routines, drills, and general preparation for tournaments and classes. However, we seldom hear about what one can do to maintain their well-being mentally and emotionally in high stress environments such as tournaments,in-club sparring, and partnered drilling. This series aim to provide resources and community support for both beginner...

In the final installment of the series I chat with a couple of fellow Filipino-American HEMA practitioners. Chris Vivo has been fencing and coaching for over 30 years while my friend Swan is a new practitioner. Chris discusses the importance of having a good mindset while having fun as the key to a good tournament experience while Swan shares his experiences as a beginner and the things that keep...

In the continuation of this series, I talk to instructor Joe Cantore and some folks from Einhorn Los Angeles. In this episode I get to know some of the members of the club as we chat about the importance of free play and what it means to be the best swords person one can be. 

In this episode of Swords and Mental Health, Janna travels to California to spend time with HEMA folks to free spar and ask the question, where do you find joy in this hobby? In this first installment, she meets with folks from Wednesday Nights In the Park. They chat about common fencing, special interests and a special audio appearance of a pack of coyotes in this episode. This episode was record...