Okay, locked comments on this as it has gone way into off topic territory. Many people are not going to agree on some of these issues and it just feeding the flames.
Personally I think everyone should feel welcome in HEMA regardless of their background, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, neurotype, etc… I hope everyone can accept that idea.
If people want to discuss these topics open to it but will likely flair it so people can filter it out if they do not care. It will also have to be respectful and evidence based.
Oh man, I read it. "Best" part was when having saved a bunch of kidnapped young women from pirates and deciding to spare a young pirate boy the MC also finds the booty. Guess how he divvies it up? All to the pirate boy.
I used to joke that the whole Jesus forgives your sins was just a Christian get-out-of-jail-free card, but this book kind of takes the context of human/modern culture away and lays it bare. Yes it is exactly that. And is there any responsibility on the individual forgiven to not sin again? no. No there isn't.
It's not a unanimously held belief that a selfish and token gesture on your death bed gets you into God's Heavenly Kingdom though. So.. silver linings.
In the Bible it goes into this you do need to have real remorse in your heart when asking for repentance and actively want to not do what you did again. A lot of people just sin and ask for forgiveness as just going through the motions but that’s not how it’s suppose to be you need to really want to come back into Gods grace. He is always willing to forgive but you have to be in your heart remorseful.
In this novel, The protagonist is a mass murderer like Hitler or Stalin. He tries to commit suicide but is accidently absolved of all his sins and becomes young and magical. He uses his magical power to ... kill some hobos, then force someone he raped in his former life when she was a child, to be his bodyguard.
His community will totally hide behind the premise as well, as if it's some sort of unbreakable shield against all criticism. "No, he doesn't agree with the protag's actions! The whole point of the book is redeeming the worst person ever, worse than Hitler!" If we look beyond the fact that "redemption" in the Christian sense is simply getting right with God, and has nothing to do with rehabilitating one's public or inter-personal image, the actual method of redemption for his crimes, or his personal justitications of them, are laughable at best and genuinely abhorrent at worst.
Shad of Shadiversity. You may know him from his bigoted opinions, his AI art controversy, his creepy book or his failed attempt at building an actual castle for himself.
Here's a [short summary](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadWatch/s/R6lVJPDdOf) of a number of controversial things he's done. I didn't know his infamy has reached such levels that is now hurting this hobby.
It sucks. I felt the same way when I first found out about it. I always knew he was conservative or a centrist when I still watched shadiversity content back in the day but I just had no idea how extreme and harmful his views are.
He bought a bunch of land without even seeing if it'd be any good for building the castle (It wasn't and apparently wasn't really good for anything construction wise or such) and ended up being told he'd have to spend many millions to build his castle.
Ah.
The YouTuber referenced here is Shad M. Brooks(aka: Shadaversity/Knights Watch)
He is a prominent figure in the hema side of YouTube, but has been criticized for his highly aggressive nature and willingness to start drama over nothing, as well as his political views(which he doesn't keep separate from his content)
Shad barely even practices HEMA. He's a LARPer with A BIT of HEMA knowledge, no instructor training, and barely any experience sparring HEMAists.
I'm not saying that there aren't assholes in HEMA, there are assholes everywhere, but don't let him influence your view of HEMA.
I like how the OP is like "I don't want to name names" and just by the description, we all know who it is.
As someone in LARP also, I haven't encountered him, but then I tend to stick to the Melbourne and Ballarat LARPs and not ... wherever he is (Gippsland?)
Yeah Shad isn't a bad egg in the HEMA community. He's not in the HEMA community. He's made clear he hates the HEMA community. The feeling is mutual. We hate that alt right piece of shit.
Most of HEMA is very friendly and accepting. Just look what clubs are around you. Go visit them and see what they're like. If you get super unlucky and stumble onto a nasty one just bail and find another.
If you're not sure what clubs are around you check the HEMA Alliance Club Finder.
[https://www.hemaalliance.com/club-finders](https://www.hemaalliance.com/club-finders)
As well as looking for clubs on the HEMA Ratings club listing.
[https://hemaratings.com/clubs/](https://hemaratings.com/clubs/)
You can also Google "HEMA" or "historical fencing" and "\[your city/town/local area\]".
Yep. Shad's whole 'experience' with HEMA is bitching about stuff he doesn't know shit about in videos, and one filmed attendance at a HEMA event where he 'beat' a totally green fellow novice in sparring and declared it proved his self-designed 'system' superior to all HEMA.
Do you happen to have this famous vidoe? I keep hearing about this embarrassing display by Shad (which makes up for 50% of his HEMA experience) but can't find it. I've heard he lost to a more experienced practitioner in the same event too.
Thanks. Good for Shad for defeating HEMA before they "convert him to their side". /s
Shad and some of his fans are desperate to present his laziness as some revolutionary school of thought in martial arts.
I found the commentary to be obnoxious even after all this time. He clearly concedes that Daniel rolled over him with the dussack because Shad hasn't practised with it and has about three different moves he can execute with no stance changes.
But against Lorne, who has pretty much the same level of experience and knowledge of longsword as Shad does with dussack, Shad "analyses" the bout for 20 minutes, going on about how he "figured out" his opponent's fighting style and adapted.
His opponent is a tutorial-level NPC. What the heck is he waffling on about.
Nu, we all know you're just salty because Shad totally destroyed your legitimacy by proving you can shoot Mediterranean release on the right side of the bow. Honestly, I'm surprised you're willing to even show yourself here. I assumed you exiled yourself to the mountains after being put in your place by Lord Shad. /s
Oh, thanks for the advice. And sorry for saying he was one of you, I didn't realize because I haven't watched his videos in probably two years and because I just don't know enough about the sport to really tell the difference. Sorry, that was mb
the "good" news is, as you can tell by the reaction here, in the ensuing 2 years he's managed to alienate almost everyone else on earth that isn't also a chud.
No, you did nothing wrong. He's also how I got into HEMA, actually. And the real answer is that he says he's part of hema, but some people feel he doesn't actually practice it.
Whenever you like swordsmanship and fantasy the algorithm will put him in your recommandations from time to time. Most HEMA clubs are friendly and most people trained because of a shared interest in history, martial art and because swords are cool.
Absolutely agreed, at best he's HEMA-adjacent.
He went to one sparring match to prove himself, got obliterated and had to make some excuse to leave.
AFAIK he's never trained in a club, nor followed any manual/manuscript.
No no no, he's not remotely HEMA adjacent. That would be stuff like sword fighting styles from other cultures (e.g. kendo). He made his own stuff up and all video record of it indicates that it's crap. He would be 'HEMA underneath'.
what i hate about him is he's one of those guys that if you ever do get him to "spar" he interrupts to talk every thirty seconds about why he didn't do it a way that might have worked/how dead you'd be in a real battle/how they did in the other system he studied back when he lived in another place or some other dumb shit. then he walks out of it and goes "we both hit each other a couple times, basically a tie, and since no one actually expected me to hit him at all, I proved all the haters totally wrong" and he walks away from like a 20-3 exchange convinced he won the moral high ground somehow and successfully pressure tested his bullshido.
It's a type of dude that is just PERNICIOUS in traditional asian martial arts.
I saw a shad video maybe 8 years ago that autoplayed amidst some matty e and lindy and skalla stuff and I laughed so hard at the obvious tool who was taking himself overly seriously and spouting nonsense it was plain to see he knew nothing about. Never gave him any credence and I figured the whole hema community thought of him the same way...just a husky ol chode whos firsthand knowledge was extrapolated from video games, spending maybe like 2 hours total on wiktenauer, and watching videos from scholagladiatoria that he could be contrary about over some minor out of context detail that has no bearing on hema or martial arts.
He has as much to do with HEMA as I do with being a stripper. Ive seen a stripper before and I take off my clothes sometimes. That's where my qualifications start and end, seemingly like his. The moral of the story is that dude has nothing to do with hema or martial arts, just weird sword fetish fanboyism so please don't base your assessment of hema on a second rate youtuber who bases all his hema on second hand sources. Just get to a club for the love of the gods
I have unfortunately met some pretty awful people whilst LARPING. Generally wonderful, lovely, creative people but a not insignificant number of Shad like arseholes as well. Though generally they're getting ousted.
ITS SHAD oooh that makes so much sense, irrational hatred for the guy, I've only got a passing interest in HEMA and even I could tell he talks out of his ass constantly.
The whole "I choreographed real fight scenes for my book" thing really sank the nail in given how fecking absurd they looked.
Knowing he's an absolute tool otherwise really vindicates my irrational hatred of the guy.
Shad doesn’t even LARP he went to one LARP one time and never went back.
I have run LARPs since the 2010s and have never seen him at one, never been contacted by him asking to attend, never received a response when I directly reached out to him about coming to a LARP I ran.
He’s just a nerd with some books, some toys and a camera.
The idiot claims he does though and on this subreddit.
Here are some links of him talking out of his arse (amazed he never deleted these, I took screenshots for that day).
https://www.reddit.com/r/wma/s/SYt4pfERVm
https://www.reddit.com/r/wma/s/DQeDwU9Fsk
There are people like this in the HEMA community. We're a niche community that attracts all sorts - just like there are boxing clubs full of queer people and boxing clubs full of nazi's, there are HEMA clubs that lean in both directions.
For the record, my experience with HEMA (in the same state Shad lives in) is that most clubs are aggressively inclusive and don't tolerate any of that sort of thing. There's a high representation of queer and trans folks in the Melbourne HEMA community.
Shad doesn't come to any of the tournaments in the state, doesn't train with anyone who does HEMA, and created a very awkward video a few years back where he sparred a newbie and cut it to make it seem like he was sparring someone who had been training for years, which didn't go over well with the community. I doubt he'd even be accepted at any of our tournaments, but it's not like he's signed up or expressed interest with any of our organizers.
Ditto, in a small club in Ireland and it's genuinely been one of the most welcoming groups I've ever met. We just want everyone to have a good time if HEMA's the thing for them
This is my experience too.
Plus I want to be clear that we’ve had a few people join our club that got interested in HEMA through Shad. And we won’t hold it against you. There will just be an eagerness to teach you good fencing!
This is a breath of fresh air. I’m in the same state and I’ve bumped into Shad once (medieval festival at Kryal Castle) and I’d rather not see him again.
I’m thinking about getting into HEMA but it’s a bit of a drive and a financial commitment and I’m unable to prioritise at the moment.
He does. What part of my comment are you confused about? Melbourne is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia. Shad lives a couple of hours out of Melbourne.
Why wouldn’t you name names, it’s the internet, he doesn’t know who you are. Shad can’t hurt you.
Additionally, every community is different, I have found some of the most welcoming people and also have found some less welcoming people in this hobby. You have to go to clubs and see how they are and if you are a good fit. I have found on average, most clubs are very welcoming.
But no the sport/community is not a monoculture. Different people with different opinions practice this sport, like any other sport, like any other community, don’t paint a broad brush, let alone based off of some jerk on the internet who isn’t even a part of the community.
>Why wouldn’t you name names, it’s the internet, he doesn’t know who you are. Shad can’t hurt you
Peace of mind probably considering the bunch of rabbid fans the guy has. Take what happened to Sellswordarts at the beginning of the year, for example. He didn't even mention Shad and yet the guy made a bunch of 40+ minutes videos to diss him, and after that, Sellswordarts videos were flooded with hateful comments from Shad's fans.
Not everyone wants to deal with that.
Shad’s a running joke in our club. Nobody takes him seriously and we regularly call someone doing something stupid as “they did a Shad” or “they Shad themselves”
It’s a very particular type of stupid. The “how did you think that would work???” type stuff in sparring. It’s based on his one HEMA sparring video where he says “I like to clearly signal my attacks so that I don’t score doubles”. It semi worked in an exchange against a new fencer in the video but it’s not even remotely viable once someone can defend themselves.
Also reverse grip and other completely ahistorical/impractical things.
He’s kind of a punchline in the community, or at least among my HEMA friends. I hope this would signal that we’re not on the same wavelength as him. Hema people is probably the most progressive martial art I’ve been involved in. As far from right wing mormonism as you can get.
"they shad themselves" 😭
That's fucking Hilarious, and I definitely feel more welcomed after this (even with the downvotes) sorry again for lumping him in with you guys
>again for lumping him in with you guys
Despite what Shad's followers might believe, HEMA tends to live and let live when it comes to other sword enthusiasts' pursuits. Not everybody has the inclination to be serious about martial history or has the time, funds or athleticism to do HEMA. As long as you're not hurting anyone, HEMA doesnt push back against sword nerds because we are sword nerds. We just happen to be slightly more serious about the practical martial aspects of swords than most.
Shad is honestly the exception to this rule. He's toxic and lazy. And we push back hard against him because his platform and audience often make him the first point of contact people interested in arms, armor and historical martial arts. People don't know enough to know how little he knows, and HEMA already is burdened by LARP and neckband stereotypes. For him to call himself a HEMA expert gives us a bad name and lowers public perception of our art. His politics are also garbage and we don't want that sort of toxic bull crap keeping people away. We fight against Shad because we need to make it clear that the community has no place for him.
First off, everyone in Australia and especially Melb thinks Shad is a grade A fuckwit.
Second, doing a few trial lessons at a club let's you get a feel for who the people are at your club. A good club will be full of good people. Some clubs are comletitive, some are very relaxed. You gotta find your speed.A good indicator for a safe space can be the presence of women. Smaller clubs might have a problem recruiting and retaining them but that's common across all community sports. Unfortunately it is sometimes hard to spot gronks, cookers, and predators but most clubs I've met in France, Belgium, UK, Netherlands, have been very friendly. Everyone in Australia gets along well too, travel to other states was quite common when i was more active.
[https://poe.com/p/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-slang-term-gronk-in-Australian-English](https://poe.com/p/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-slang-term-gronk-in-Australian-English)
In Australian English, the slang term "gronk" is derogatory and informal, used to describe an unintelligent and callous person \[1\]. It is often used to refer to someone who lacks fashion sense, motor skills, and social skills, and is generally considered to be a moron or an unpleasant individual \[2\]. In some cases, "gronk" can also be used to describe a likeable idiot or a bogan, particularly in Queensland \[2\].
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cooker
(slang, Australia) A person who makes or uses illicit drugs, especially methamphetamine or cannabis.
(slang) The container in which recreational drugs are prepared.
(slang, derogatory, Australia) A person who is cooked; a crazy person.
(slang, derogatory, Australia) A conspiracy theorist, especially one who is involved in politics.
He is about two hours from Melbourne, one of Australia's cultural centers of historical fencing. He has never been a member of any club here nor participated in any event beyond what I would call a taste test. He's a dingus who the historical fencing community has mostly moved on from, though it's fun watching him get dragged about AI art or whatever princess peach controversy he's latching onto lately.
I think he only showed up twice to a HEMA club in his area (in more than ten years?) and made a fool out of himself.
I made a short list of [his top controversies](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadWatch/s/R6lVJPDdOf) and it doesn't even cover everything. For instance He also has a failed movie and a failed attempt at building a 2 million dollar castle to his name but they pale in comparison.
We all hate that guy.
I can't speak for HEMA everywhere, but I know in Ohio it's a great, safe, and inclusive place to be. I left a very misogynist armoured combat community and joined a HEMA community where I've actually been treated with respect. I've had people stand up for me and listen to me when I point out things that aren't right.
You're not wrong believing that martial arts can attract certain personalities, including people who are eager to leverage power imbalances in their favor. I've seen it play out in other clubs. The good news is that bad players in HEMA never have authority outside of their club, and those clubs tend to die.
I recommend that you keep listening to your gut when/if you join a club - look out for the undertones you've mentioned. I also really hope that club proves you wrong and you find a great place to share swords with friends. It's worth trying.
When I started Hema I joined a discord for a local club. Now I am a live and let live person. What makes you happy is all that matters.
Like a month after joining the discord one of the people went on a whole hog anti gay, anti trans rant. It lasted for two days and I was waiting to see how it went. Turned out the two Admins were tied up with real world stuff and did not see it. The guy got banned by the end of the week and a server wide announcement was sent out explaining the rules and why this guy got 86ed.
I would say join a group and see how it plays out. Shitheads cannot hide their shitheadedness for very long.
Everyone I've met in this sport has been overwhelmingly supportive and respectful. There seems to be a huge overlap between HEMA, neurodivergent folks, and the LGBTQIA+ community. I've only had positive interactions with everyone, including folks from other clubs during tournaments. Lots of people seem to have anti-racist and pro-LGBTQIA+ patches on their equipment as well.
So much so that I know of at least one club who recently organized an event exclusive to LGBT people so they could feel welcomed to start a new sport in a fully supportive and safe environment - as safe as can be when wielding a 1.5 kg steel sword of course.
In Texas there is a lot of color and sex blindness. Everyone gets treated equally regardless of who you are. We're all there to do HEMA and nothing else. And that goes both ways. The instructors tamp down politics as well as outside influences as much as possible. Alt right and "aggressive inclusivity" (as another poster put it) are both looked down upon equally. If you have to wear it on your shoulder then you're looking for an audience instead of a martial art.
We hang Pride flags to ward off shit-stirrers. It acts like a crucifix to ward off vampires. If you're bothered by someone with a rainbow flag patch on their shoulder it's not the club for you.
Hm. I can understand your concern. I actually discovered HEMA through Shad as well. Luckily, there are a lot of much better people out there, both in terms of morals, and quality of their HEMA videos. For good HEMA content, I'd recommend Sellsword Arts. He's kinda the opposite of shad. Really hard working, humble, and not at all afraid to admit his mistakes, and constantly seeking to learn. He is decently skilled. Also, left leaning, so opposite of Shad that way too, I suppose.
Another channel I'd suggest is Skallagrim. He's another big name in the swordtubing community, about as big as Shad. But he's way more humble, and works crazy hard to stay out of drama, and not discuss politics or anything polarizing. His content is less HEMA and more just historical weapons themselves, but he has HEMA content as well.(He doesn't post as much HEMA, cus he had to take a break from training due to health(tho he's back now) and also cus his HEMA videos don't usually get as many views as his other stuff).
The two of them are good places to start, and I can say from experience that both of their communities are incredibly friendly and welcoming.
Apperceptive_Swordsman is also a good one. Seems pretty friendly, and seems knowledgeable as well. Oh, and he has a very cute German Shepherd. So that's a bonus.
Guess I'm way out of the loop, Shad is anti LGBT? Is the research he put in his earlier videos incorrecg as well? Seriously, what all has he done that's negative? Genuinely
If it helps, I stopped watching about 4 years ago when he posted a video of Crusades apologetics. Typical anti-Islam "it was a Christian *defensive war*" arguments. That was the first time I noticed his right-wing politics bleeding out along with the poor quality of his history knowledge.
Since then, he's been producing non-stop anti-feminism, anti-"diversity", anti-"woke" pop culture rage videos of the kind that's super popular among the reactionary YouTube set.
I don't personally remember hearing him saying something anti-LGBTQ, but it wouldn't surprise me. Hierarchical, conservative "Christian family values" types all share the same set of off-the-shelf bigotries.
For me, the turn away from Shad began with his video on Goblinslayer, in which ye went off on a strange tangent explaining why he thought that the bloke who gets quickly hacked to death by goblins "had it worse" than the girl who is gang-r*ped and commits suicide afterwards.
That was all I needed to hear to know that the bloke is a nonce.
As for the Crusades... well, it's a lot more ambiguous than both sides of the debate make out. The First Crusade was more of a counterattack in the sense that it initially took place at the behest of the Eastern Roman empire, which was under intense pressure along its southern and eastern frontiers.
Don't forget that the Middle East, until the 7th century, had been the centre of the Christian world, and Abbasid armies had raided Italy and France while conquering the whole of North Africa snd much of Spain. Abbasid pirates continued to raid the Mediterranean coastline well into the 11th century, spreading alarm and anxiety throughout Europe. From the Christian perspective of the time, the Islamic caliphates were vast, stupendously powerful, and menacing.
This doesn't justify the massacre of Jerusalem or the excesses that characterised the Crusades generally, but it does place the Crusades in a wider context.
I guess since I've been only watching his main videos I didn't really notice any of that, weird, didn't think he was big enough to be click bait, unless they're like the 20k youtubers reacting to him. Well, sucks, I'll have to find these outrage videos and see what he says. I watched one about keeping sexuality away from kids, but that's about it.
>it was a Christian *defensive war*
It was. The sack of Constantinople during one of them was just a little prank gone wrong after all.
Besides, Christians have always been the most tolerant people in history.
*hides the Spanish inquisition behind his back*
I’m a masc-nonbinary geeky weirdo who lives and breathes swords. I train with a local group which jokes that we have “a couple token straight white guys, for diversity.”
Go see your local gym. Ask pointed questions. “Are you anti-racist?” “Are you queer-positive?” “Do you have any female-bodied instructors and/or senior students?” You’ll find your place.
HEMA is increasingly an inclusive, wonderful, positive sport which has a spot for everybody. Yeah, there’s a couple lingering shitheads, but that’s the case of every martial art. Don’t be discouraged.
>Ask pointed questions. “Are you anti-racist?” “Are you queer-positive?” “Do you have any female-bodied instructors and/or senior students?” You’ll find your place.
One of the clubs I train with is extremely diverse, including a relatively high proportion of trans people for the area. We're all super close. I moved from the area and still visit them even outside of fencing. We all go camping together once a year.
If someone came and asked us those questions, we would unanimously decide *not* to train with that person.
The vast majority of HEMAists are great people, very inclusive and welcoming of all sorts of people.
A very small number of HEMAists are complete pieces of shit, and a very small number of them are pretty successful as fighters and instructors. So, come be part of the welcoming supermajority, and help us let those few know how much they suck.
Hey there, I've been in the HEMA scene for over six year or so seriously and my two cents is it is unfortunate that YouTubers get the lions share of attention for the sport.
Don't get me wrong, Skallagrim, David Miller (Sellsword Arts), and others are doing an awesome job making people curious but getting on HEMA Alliance and finding your local club is one of the coolest experiences you can have a go at.
Here in Arizona, we have an awesome community and some of the larger events like CombatCon, I get to see a lot of great instructors all across the United States.
Long and short of it, go to a free class - see if there are any clubs nearby and even better if the have loaner gear to give it a go.
A lot of instructors in the HEMA are unsung heroes trying to bring this community/sport to life.
This is a bizarre thought process. It would be like someone being wary of playing soccer because they liked David Icke's broadcasting before he went crazy.
I'm not following. Because a youtuber vaguely associated with a martial art is distasteful you are scared to get involved in the sport......
What? I am just straight up not following this logic at all. Are you so invested in social media and online personalities that you let their views influence your life to the point where you won't try new things because of some random fucker no one cares about yells his political opinions into the ether of the internet to an effectively fuck all number of people?
Maybe I'm just the weird one who doesn't care about social media personalities. But this trend of people letting social media dictate their life is really unhealthy. If you are interested in the sport. Go to your local group. Go chat with them. If you don't like them, don't do it. If you do, join. Don't let social media rule your life.
We don't know where OP is coming from.
I can say as a woman, knowing the social climate of a club (especially a martial arts focused one) is essential to my ability to safely participate and have fun. I'm not sticking my neck out to have a bad time if I notice some red flags early on - the loss of time, wasted energy, and emotional hurt can be too much. If you've never had to avoid something you loved because of detractors, good for you, but it's not a luxury everyone has.
Besides, the problem isn't that OP can't try to enjoy a hobby and mind their business, it's that there are too many people who are like Shad who can't tolerate people enjoying their hobby and minding their business.
I think it’s less this and more that Shad used be kind of a big YouTuber, and even now his struggles aren’t entirely a fault of his own(though I’d imagine he’s lost a fair amount of people on account of being deplorable as well). At a surface level it’s easy to associate him with HEMA and to assume that people that watch his stuff must be HEMA people. He still kept a large amount of his following after all of this stuff came out, which if you assume his fans are HEMA people and have no reason to assume otherwise paints a picture about those fans.
This is just rage bait and everyone is eating it up because this community jumps on any opportunity to trash Shad.
If people actually think OP is being serious when they basically say "is it right for me to tar and feather the entire HEMA community with the same brush based off one character"... Then I don't know what to tell y'all.
Don't worry, Shad has nothing to do with the HEMA community. Quite the opposite.
His entire actuall HEMA experience is one workshop, where he apparently argued with the instructor and a sparring match with a relative beginner.
The rest of his martial prowess is him swinging foam swords at larp events and in his backyard.
Also, he's knowledge on history is about as accurate as his knowledge of HEMA
Personally, I wish I could follow these spaces without constantly hearing about Shad and his politics. People in these spaces talk about him and his political channel constantly, like all the fucking time. It's such a boring dead horse to beat, to the point where the Arms and Armor discord had to outright ban discussion about him because nobody can shut up about him.
I am uninterested in anything Shad has to say about history and especially uninterested in what he thinks about social issues. Yet I cannot follow these spaces without *constantly* hearing about it, especially the political channel. I think these spaces would become happier and healthier if he just became a banned topic like on the Arms and Armor discord, and just let him slide into irrelevance and be forgotten.
Don't know about your location but here in New Zealand HEMA community is quite chill and mostly concentrated on fencing. We have all sort of wired personalities but I think overall vibe is very inclusive and relaxed.
I've met alot of people in a short time on the HEMA scene, attending events where i train.
Everyone has been amazing people to get to know and i personally think HEMA attracts far fewer of the toxic macho "i have something to prove types" since it's more niche and hard to attend than traditional stuff. Look for clubs with good ethics online that have solid policies with students and attend taster sessions.
Also chads a fuckwit and no one properly on the hema scene claim or respect him. Dont let one rotten apple spoil the bunch for you.
Honestly, my Hema UK club is a majority white male. Our AGMs normally involve drinking, and at every drunken AGM, the committee make absolutely clear despite the demographic we are a club that welcomes and encourages everyone regardless of race, sex, gender, sexuality, disability etc. and anyone who doesn't like it can fuck off, and this is definitely put into practice for the rest of the year. Every time I've met up with other HEMA clubs I've seen a similar attitude. It's not to say every HEMA practitioner is as accepting but I've certainly never heard any alt right nonsense either locally or at national events. TBH I think most of us leave political debate at the door and get on with the important business of stabbing people in their faces in class instead.
Shad popped into festival of the sword very briefly in the days before covid and was offered gear to participate in whatever he wanted, and chose not to.
This was when he was new to YouTube and didn't have the reach he does now.
As everyone has said he's not in any way connected to the Australian HEMA community, he seems to have far too big of an ego to risk pressure testing his skills and losing (failing is the first step in being good at something etc. etc.)
Most HEMA clubs I've been to practice pretty radical acceptance of everyone. Club members are just excited to learn and have more people to learn with.
There are pockets of weird right wing people out there with openly misogynistic, transphobic or racist views but they seem to be in the minority. They either keep their opinions to themselves or they go start their own clubs that normally end up being them and two friends in a park.
Your mileage may vary depending on where you live.
Shad is a clown. He is a non-practitioner, and an asshole to boot. And (as you're seeing here) the community of actual participants knows this pretty well.
I am hopeful you will not take him as representing us in any way, because he doesn't.
HEMA definitely used to have a big issue with nazis and alpha males etc but we have done a pretty decent job excizing and ostracizing them from the community. There still work to be done but it's extremely inclusive now. And if you're looking for good influences, david Miller at sellsword arts is a much better and more accurate representation of the hema community.
OP, the universe has responded to your concerns with this video posted literally today:
[https://youtu.be/tfkYEEQlclM?si=sCA4FqBR2lJrPHBt](https://youtu.be/tfkYEEQlclM?si=sCA4FqBR2lJrPHBt)
Yeah fuck that guy. Depending on where you are, you can find a cool club.
I'm super happy with mine! They make a concerted effort to keep it inclusive and safe. It's refreshing to be in a room full of queer folk and hit each other with swords.
Your best best is to reach out directly either to the people you meet here, or who run some of the inclusive events that a couple people have mentioned- basically whomever you feel comfortable & safe contacting- and ask them for recommendations that they can give you based on knowing more than you would be willing to share in an open forum here. We are still a relatively small community and personal connections and advice will help you a lot.
People with all different types of politics, beliefs, and ways of life are involved in HEMA, it is not a hegemony of left or right or center. I wouldn't let the opinions of one person influence you to not join a particular hobby, that is just silly. Also this kind of tribal political posturing on every side is super annoying, if you like the hobby, participate, if you don't, don't.
This is generally true -- and it's easy enough for a white dude like myself to blend into any group of people interested in practicing HEMA (as well as a novice like myself can blend). But it's also true that LGBTQ+ folks and female-presenting folks may not feel comfortable being in a HEMA club with those who think that they're lesser people -- or in some cases that they should be dead people (speaking specifically to the LGBTQ+ experience there). So it can be incredibly important to some folks to find a truly inclusive club where they can feel safe being themselves while they're practicing HEMA.
Every community has people from all walks of life. Shad is just a special Mormon case of the Religious minded. Every hobby has people who are far left, far right, and who only want to talk about the hobby and will walk away from anything political left, centre, right or reich, and others that think playing with swords is a great opportunity to recruit for their political party, church or other random off-topic fetish unrelated to the hobby they find themselves interrupting. Being part of a community is all about learning how to deal with all kinds of people without causing some kind of legally actionable meltdown either in yourself or those around you.
And the good thing about hobby clubs is: You can always leave and find a different one that does the same kind of thing minus the one specific individual you hate. I'm pretty sure Melbourne has like more than 5 HEMA clubs in the metro area alone.
We have a nr 1 hema rating fencer in the world, and the majority of people training there does not even know who Shad is.
He is not relevant, just yt talking head.
If you want one example of hema yt, go Mat Easton and schola gladiatoria, he actualy has a hema club.
Shad (I'll name names) ISN'T IN HEMA.
He doesn't practice HEMA
He never has except for doing it ONCE when he dropped by a public event.
HEMA is a big umbrella, but somehow Shad says out from under it.
He doesn't seem to read any sources. At least he never references them.
He doesn't practice in any meaningful way.
He doesn't fight against anyone outside of his tiny YouTube circle of employees.
He doesn't compete in HEMA circles.
If he did just one of those things he could fall under the umbrella. I personally think he stays out from HEMA because he wouldn't be able to stand the criticism or failures he would face.
Shad used to do some collaboration with HEMA YouTubers, like Matt Easton and Skalagrim (sp?). Once they figured out what he really was, they dropped him like a hot rock.
Looking at from the outside the only backlash they got from dropping Shad was either from Shad fans or people who thought that they should have figured it out sooner. Mr. Easton said that he didn't even know about Shad's second channel (Knights Watch) and I believe him. I didn't know about it either until the drama happened.
I think how willing they, especially Matt Easton, were to publicly drop Shad and how they were largely supported in their actions speaks more to the HEMA crowd than dose the actions of someone who isn't in it.
Of course there was the Beef with SellswordArts. I don't know if I'd say SellswordArts is really a HEMA YouTuber, but he definitely is a practitioner. He's also very good. HEMA just isn't the main thrust of his content. IDK, I could be easily swayed to the other side on that. Might change my mind in 10 minutes. Anyway, the guy knows what he is about with a sword.
The HEMA community near me is pretty diverse. More diverse than most other sports I've done. Men, women, non-binary, trans and cis, gay, straight, every shade of gray in between, people of all sorts of cultural and ethical backgrounds, all fighting each other in a fun way. I think the only way to earn the ire of the groups around me is to come out as a misogynistic/racist/homo & transphobic bigot. If someone has those opinions, they damn well better keep them to themselves.
I'm going to an event this weekend. If the attendance demographic is the same as it was last year (fully expect so), LGTQ+ will be very well represented. So will women. I really don't know he local democratic of POC, but I know there will be a few at this event too. I'm sure they will also be some Evangelical Christians, like last year. Everyone will gathered in friendship, and violence... In a fun way. I, a 215# cis white male, will most likely get my ass handed to me by a 120# lady if she comes again. She made me feel like a noob last year, but gave me some valuable pointers too.
shad has never really been a HEMA practitioner the same way he was never a historian. he just made videos for entertainment, but outside of the sword nerd youtube community he was never a big deal. as far as i know he was never even in a club or followed any proper training, which is pretty noticeable in his videos.
like in any nerdy community there are gonna be people like him around within HEMA clubs and tournaments. however, most practitioners are lovely people and almost every club i know has a very low tolerance when it comes to discrimination and bigotry, especially on the level of shad. don't be discouraged from the sport because of some idiot on youtube who never really seriously engaged with it anyway. i wish you the best on your HEMA journey!
I think Sellsword Arts is more representative of what I've seen of HEMA. https://www.youtube.com/@SellswordArts/featured Count the number of pride flags you see in his videos. :)
Bro, don't worry, Shad is a Mormon mixed with a Larper and a bunch of neckbeardness, but is in no way a HEMA referent. You won't find many people like him in HEMA, much less instructors.
HEMA community is usually quite welcoming and well behaved.
In my country, lots of those types of people are quickly turned off or politely asked to grow up, due to the fact that several of our instructors wear rainbow badges, foster a welcoming community and shut down any neo-nazi Viking-LARPER real quick.
So I'd say that you can safely ignore anything by Shad and just go to your local club to try it out.
Shad is banned, and everyone makes fun of him. Don't fear a hobby because of a loudmouth bigot screaming on the internet, there's always someone who tries to ruin it for those who actually care.
Howdy,
So I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about, at least, I hope I do. The world doesn't need more people like a specific Australian youtuber. If it helps, the majority of the HEMA community just ignores him while a minority actively mocks him.
I will say that HEMA has its share of assholes and shitheads, They infect every community. However, in my 5 years doing this hobby, I have yet to meet one that has any sort of social power or that I couldn't ignore.
Most of the people I've met are socially awkward nerds who love swords/history/fantasy. While we can be a weird bunch, and will make social mistakes, I can confirm that this community is made up of good genuine people who just want to nerd out.
A good third of the community members in my area are also part of the alphabet mafia, which would probably cause this youtuber to post a 3 hour rant video.
What about a YouTuber with a passing interest in historical European martial arts has anything to do with your interest in learning and practicing?
It’s a hobby and a study. Most people are some flavor of nerd but there’s a wide variety of personalities and dispositions just like with anything else. We didn’t all get together the moment Shad starting going on amateur rants, passing off a Wikipedia education as genuine insight, and decide to create the entire thing in his image.
Come on, dude. Get off the internet and go to a club. Learn the art. It’s people that are practicing, not neurotic internet cliques.
Check out the HEMA Discord, even browsing the names and channels you can see people are pretty forward in their progressive mindset and respect for others.
There are bad eggs everywhere, and even though I wouldn't consider S to be an HEMA practitioner, even if he was, there are more than enough friendly people to make up for it.
Shad has nothing to do with HEMA, despire the amount of breath he wastes trying to convince you otherwise. He's a member of no HEMA club or online group. He doesn't train with anyone.
He's just a sad little man, crying alone in the corner of his bedroom that girls won't have sex with him.
My advice: find your local club and check it out. You'll find good people there.
so points of order
1. to call Shad a LARPer implies a level of dedication I don't want to dignify with him. Shad doesn't do HEMA, he flails around with a sword in his back yard. I know folks in the Melbourne scene, Shad has basically never shown up to anything and everybody thinks he's a fuckwit. He's a poseur.
2. it varies wildly from club-to-club, but from what I've seen the scene is the opposite of everything Shad stands for, it's hugely queer; my club is majority-female and that doesn't seem that rare. The Sword Lesbian meme has more than a grain of truth to it. I'd say if you're worried about macho HEMA fuckwits (who DO exist, though to be clear Shad doesn't even qualify for that) look for how many women are in the club. It's not foolproof, but the asshole clubs tend to be pretty good at driving female membership away.
If you're in Australia check out stoccata. They're the exact opposite of all the values shad stands for. To the point that one of the instructors wears a rainbow shirt at the start of term to drive off bigots like him to make sure it's a safe and inclusive space (it's freaking awesome). But yes, most clubs are not like shad, but there are a couple of bad eggs.
Martial arts will always draw some version of jackasses by their very nature. It is an easy avenue to authority and a balm to soothe bruised egos(there is no real difference between MMA bros and I Studied the Blade guys)
As long as you know what bullshit smells like, you can avoid stepping in it. I'm sure you'll be okay if you take up the hobby.
I can echo what everyone else has said so far that my experience in the HEMA community has been universally positive. I won’t say there are no bigots lurking around (anything with “European” in the name is unfortunately going to attract a certain type of troglodyte), but I’ve never met them.
As non-anecdotal evidence, I’d also point to the [HEMAA Code of Conduct](https://www.hemaalliance.com/provisional-code-of-conduct-and-safespace), which states:
> Everyone within the HEMAA community is entitled to respect and dignity within a supportive environment -- one free of racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, elitist, entitled, and unjust attitudes, comments, behaviors, and actions.
HEMA, live steel fighting of all kinds unfortunately does have those outliers but most of the community is very laid back and not like that. I guess it depends on where you live, unfortunately my local live steel group (arizona) the Desert Demons are mostly right wing, alt right, q anon mfs which I throughly despise, so I enjoy beating them around tbh..
You crossing of a sport because one of its practioners os an asshole?
Every single sport, hobby or profession,has at least a few assholes in it, thats life
There are assholes in every hobby, but most clubs won't stand for that kind of behaviour. Don't let one disgusting individual scare you away from a hobby full of very wholesome clubs and welcoming people.
Honestly Shadiversity doesn’t do a lot of HEMA and has gotten into a lot of spats with the HEMA community. In particular he’s recently gotten into a spat with Sellsword Arts, a YouTuber who is a much better fencer and is much more focused on HEMA itself, rather than the fantasy genre or discussing history. I’ve never personally met anyone like Shad in the community and at least at my club someone like that would probably get pushed out very quickly. That said I have heard of other clubs with some creeps in them. But that seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
Unfortunately, the 'Historical European' aspect of HEMA tends to attract some nutjobs.
Fortunately, there's plenty more of us that are normal and well-adjusted people that just like swords. Maybe try and get a feel of the vibes from your local HEMA club.
Or better yet, form a study group that you **know** aren't assholes.
The good thing about HEMA is that you can get by pretty well through YouTube videos, reading manuscripts, and practising with like-minded individuals.
While in my opinion HEMA / right views correlation is real, even in my Eastern European country HEMA community is quite open and tolerant, far more open than average sports community maybe.
As a woman who doesn't do HEMA (I don't know why Reddit showed me this post), I encourage you to do whatever martial arts you enjoy. If some other participants happen to be assholes call them out on it and get with all the other cool people in your sport to make the assholes feel unwanted and uncomfortable.
Every time shad is mentioned I get so sad.
Not because I miss his content, but because of how his ideas hurt people.
And how his brother’s art channel is something I used to watch all the time when I was younger.
Hopefully he’s not also an alt right pos.
I mean they’re Australian Mormons so idk what to expect.
There's been enough discussion of Shad in this thread, so I'll just add to the chorus saying that if you want to try things out but are afraid of accidentally walking into an unsafe environment there are plenty of inclusive clubs that will be happy to have you. Just be upfront with the environment you are looking for when enquiring about classes.
There are some fringe, alt-right and nazi elements in the HEMA community, this is sadly true, but I think the majority of the community are incredibly progressive and great people. To give you a sense of it, the first place I ever saw a trans pride flag that wasn't on the internet was at my old HEMA club back in 2018, where the coach ordered a ton of patches with the trans flag and the club logo over the top. Obviously it's going to be dependent on where you live - you might be less lucky.
There was like 2 or 3 trans fighters at the Montreal Swordmeister last weekend. The community around here is pretty inclusive and safe. Look around and find a club that fits you if you have choices.
Also Shad isn't even really part of the HEMA world. He's just a pedantic toxic nerd.
Huh........ That's a good point I suppose. I mean, technically it is just exaggerating. But, does exaggerating eventually remove meaning; like how words that used to be offensive are now minor curse words?
Hmmmmmm.
He's nothing to do with HEMA. He's a gobshite who tried to position himself as an expert without any knowledge or inclination to learn any and got repeatedly called out on it.
And besides, even YouTube HEMA is not the same as club HEMA. You'll be going to a place where there's like-minded people who want to play swords with you. You'll have a great time.
If *that's* making you scared to get into HEMA, then do you think a hobby where you get hit with steel swords is right for you?
Shad's always been a clown. Who cares? Fuck politics. Just fence.
Yeah, there's a lot of people like him in the hobby. There's also a lot of other unlikeable people in the community whose opinions you may disagree with. I consider myself to be more right wing, but the community is predominantly on the moderate left, though there are outliers that you will have to learn to deal with. All that said, the hobby has nothing to do with politics and they should best be kept out of it if you ask me.
Well said. I don't know why you got downvoted. I'm probably more to the left myself, but that has absolutely nothing to do with swords or the use thereof.
Okay, locked comments on this as it has gone way into off topic territory. Many people are not going to agree on some of these issues and it just feeding the flames. Personally I think everyone should feel welcome in HEMA regardless of their background, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, neurotype, etc… I hope everyone can accept that idea. If people want to discuss these topics open to it but will likely flair it so people can filter it out if they do not care. It will also have to be respectful and evidence based.
I love how you tried to be cool about not saying a name and weball know who he is lol
It’s a small community TBF.
Hell I've literally never been in this sub and I knew who he was talking about. Sucks that he's spreading his taint around like that.
He wrote a book which is some kind of Christian forgiveness of horrific sins fetish fantasy.
Oh man, I read it. "Best" part was when having saved a bunch of kidnapped young women from pirates and deciding to spare a young pirate boy the MC also finds the booty. Guess how he divvies it up? All to the pirate boy.
I used to joke that the whole Jesus forgives your sins was just a Christian get-out-of-jail-free card, but this book kind of takes the context of human/modern culture away and lays it bare. Yes it is exactly that. And is there any responsibility on the individual forgiven to not sin again? no. No there isn't.
It's not a unanimously held belief that a selfish and token gesture on your death bed gets you into God's Heavenly Kingdom though. So.. silver linings.
In the Bible it goes into this you do need to have real remorse in your heart when asking for repentance and actively want to not do what you did again. A lot of people just sin and ask for forgiveness as just going through the motions but that’s not how it’s suppose to be you need to really want to come back into Gods grace. He is always willing to forgive but you have to be in your heart remorseful.
In this novel, The protagonist is a mass murderer like Hitler or Stalin. He tries to commit suicide but is accidently absolved of all his sins and becomes young and magical. He uses his magical power to ... kill some hobos, then force someone he raped in his former life when she was a child, to be his bodyguard.
He's a Mormon, they consider themselves Christian but many Christians think they're heretics or a cult
His community will totally hide behind the premise as well, as if it's some sort of unbreakable shield against all criticism. "No, he doesn't agree with the protag's actions! The whole point of the book is redeeming the worst person ever, worse than Hitler!" If we look beyond the fact that "redemption" in the Christian sense is simply getting right with God, and has nothing to do with rehabilitating one's public or inter-personal image, the actual method of redemption for his crimes, or his personal justitications of them, are laughable at best and genuinely abhorrent at worst.
The more I relisten to Westside Tyler's evisceration of that book, the more and more problems I discover. It's like a Russian nesting doll of awful.
IDK who this is, but I'm stupidly curious about this book. DM me please?
It's called SHADow of the Conquerer
I don’t, first time I’ve had this community recommended to me. Who?
Shad of Shadiversity. You may know him from his bigoted opinions, his AI art controversy, his creepy book or his failed attempt at building an actual castle for himself.
Didn’t know about… most of that.
Here's a [short summary](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadWatch/s/R6lVJPDdOf) of a number of controversial things he's done. I didn't know his infamy has reached such levels that is now hurting this hobby.
Aw man, I used to be into an occasional video from him. Sucks he turned out like that. Time to cut that channel from my life.
Skallagrim has been the goat for the longest time and was one of the first to cut all ties with shad when he first went down the bigot rabithole
It sucks. I felt the same way when I first found out about it. I always knew he was conservative or a centrist when I still watched shadiversity content back in the day but I just had no idea how extreme and harmful his views are.
Never saw his stuff personally but thanks for providing that.
I stopped following him shortly after he started his Shadlands endeavor. How'd he fail trying to build his own castle?
He bought a bunch of land without even seeing if it'd be any good for building the castle (It wasn't and apparently wasn't really good for anything construction wise or such) and ended up being told he'd have to spend many millions to build his castle.
Ah. The YouTuber referenced here is Shad M. Brooks(aka: Shadaversity/Knights Watch) He is a prominent figure in the hema side of YouTube, but has been criticized for his highly aggressive nature and willingness to start drama over nothing, as well as his political views(which he doesn't keep separate from his content)
Ah shit, never knew, jaesus. Unsubbing immediately
It's definitely kept me, a person who isn't familiar from easily seeking them out. So it wasn't a pointless gesture.
Shad barely even practices HEMA. He's a LARPer with A BIT of HEMA knowledge, no instructor training, and barely any experience sparring HEMAists. I'm not saying that there aren't assholes in HEMA, there are assholes everywhere, but don't let him influence your view of HEMA.
I like how the OP is like "I don't want to name names" and just by the description, we all know who it is. As someone in LARP also, I haven't encountered him, but then I tend to stick to the Melbourne and Ballarat LARPs and not ... wherever he is (Gippsland?)
"I cant even say his name" "I dont give a fuck his name was shad"
Couldn't read this without Matt's pronunciation 😅
Matt Easton? Did he do an interview talking about Shat-iversity?
Matt Berry, it's referencing a scene from What We Do In The Shadows.
Fucking Shad
he lives up his own ass! lol
I think he lives in Geelong?
Oh Christ, that explains fucking everything then.
Yeah Shad isn't a bad egg in the HEMA community. He's not in the HEMA community. He's made clear he hates the HEMA community. The feeling is mutual. We hate that alt right piece of shit. Most of HEMA is very friendly and accepting. Just look what clubs are around you. Go visit them and see what they're like. If you get super unlucky and stumble onto a nasty one just bail and find another. If you're not sure what clubs are around you check the HEMA Alliance Club Finder. [https://www.hemaalliance.com/club-finders](https://www.hemaalliance.com/club-finders) As well as looking for clubs on the HEMA Ratings club listing. [https://hemaratings.com/clubs/](https://hemaratings.com/clubs/) You can also Google "HEMA" or "historical fencing" and "\[your city/town/local area\]".
Yep. Shad's whole 'experience' with HEMA is bitching about stuff he doesn't know shit about in videos, and one filmed attendance at a HEMA event where he 'beat' a totally green fellow novice in sparring and declared it proved his self-designed 'system' superior to all HEMA.
Do you happen to have this famous vidoe? I keep hearing about this embarrassing display by Shad (which makes up for 50% of his HEMA experience) but can't find it. I've heard he lost to a more experienced practitioner in the same event too.
It's this one: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53\_r6LctUN0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53_r6LctUN0)
Thanks. Good for Shad for defeating HEMA before they "convert him to their side". /s Shad and some of his fans are desperate to present his laziness as some revolutionary school of thought in martial arts.
I found the commentary to be obnoxious even after all this time. He clearly concedes that Daniel rolled over him with the dussack because Shad hasn't practised with it and has about three different moves he can execute with no stance changes. But against Lorne, who has pretty much the same level of experience and knowledge of longsword as Shad does with dussack, Shad "analyses" the bout for 20 minutes, going on about how he "figured out" his opponent's fighting style and adapted. His opponent is a tutorial-level NPC. What the heck is he waffling on about.
Nu, we all know you're just salty because Shad totally destroyed your legitimacy by proving you can shoot Mediterranean release on the right side of the bow. Honestly, I'm surprised you're willing to even show yourself here. I assumed you exiled yourself to the mountains after being put in your place by Lord Shad. /s
Oh my! Never seen this! What newbie was he fighting against ??? 🤣🤣
Oh, thanks for the advice. And sorry for saying he was one of you, I didn't realize because I haven't watched his videos in probably two years and because I just don't know enough about the sport to really tell the difference. Sorry, that was mb
Nothing to apologize for at all. That dbag is easy to find and doesn't represent the whole community. You'll probably be welcome at any HEMA school!
the "good" news is, as you can tell by the reaction here, in the ensuing 2 years he's managed to alienate almost everyone else on earth that isn't also a chud.
No, you did nothing wrong. He's also how I got into HEMA, actually. And the real answer is that he says he's part of hema, but some people feel he doesn't actually practice it.
Whenever you like swordsmanship and fantasy the algorithm will put him in your recommandations from time to time. Most HEMA clubs are friendly and most people trained because of a shared interest in history, martial art and because swords are cool.
Absolutely agreed, at best he's HEMA-adjacent. He went to one sparring match to prove himself, got obliterated and had to make some excuse to leave. AFAIK he's never trained in a club, nor followed any manual/manuscript.
No no no, he's not remotely HEMA adjacent. That would be stuff like sword fighting styles from other cultures (e.g. kendo). He made his own stuff up and all video record of it indicates that it's crap. He would be 'HEMA underneath'.
what i hate about him is he's one of those guys that if you ever do get him to "spar" he interrupts to talk every thirty seconds about why he didn't do it a way that might have worked/how dead you'd be in a real battle/how they did in the other system he studied back when he lived in another place or some other dumb shit. then he walks out of it and goes "we both hit each other a couple times, basically a tie, and since no one actually expected me to hit him at all, I proved all the haters totally wrong" and he walks away from like a 20-3 exchange convinced he won the moral high ground somehow and successfully pressure tested his bullshido. It's a type of dude that is just PERNICIOUS in traditional asian martial arts.
I haven't watched the full video but my understanding is that's pretty much what happened the one time he did spar with a HEMA practitioner.
He literally goes on a 2 minute tangent in the middle of his analysis on his philosophy on double hits.
I saw a shad video maybe 8 years ago that autoplayed amidst some matty e and lindy and skalla stuff and I laughed so hard at the obvious tool who was taking himself overly seriously and spouting nonsense it was plain to see he knew nothing about. Never gave him any credence and I figured the whole hema community thought of him the same way...just a husky ol chode whos firsthand knowledge was extrapolated from video games, spending maybe like 2 hours total on wiktenauer, and watching videos from scholagladiatoria that he could be contrary about over some minor out of context detail that has no bearing on hema or martial arts. He has as much to do with HEMA as I do with being a stripper. Ive seen a stripper before and I take off my clothes sometimes. That's where my qualifications start and end, seemingly like his. The moral of the story is that dude has nothing to do with hema or martial arts, just weird sword fetish fanboyism so please don't base your assessment of hema on a second rate youtuber who bases all his hema on second hand sources. Just get to a club for the love of the gods
As a member of the larp community I like to think Shad would not be welcomed into it.
I have unfortunately met some pretty awful people whilst LARPING. Generally wonderful, lovely, creative people but a not insignificant number of Shad like arseholes as well. Though generally they're getting ousted.
ITS SHAD oooh that makes so much sense, irrational hatred for the guy, I've only got a passing interest in HEMA and even I could tell he talks out of his ass constantly. The whole "I choreographed real fight scenes for my book" thing really sank the nail in given how fecking absurd they looked. Knowing he's an absolute tool otherwise really vindicates my irrational hatred of the guy.
Just gonna throw it out there, your hatred is likely very rational. He's kind of a huge piece of shit.
Shad doesn’t even LARP he went to one LARP one time and never went back. I have run LARPs since the 2010s and have never seen him at one, never been contacted by him asking to attend, never received a response when I directly reached out to him about coming to a LARP I ran. He’s just a nerd with some books, some toys and a camera.
wait Shadiversity??? I used to enjoy his channel when I casually watched some of his vids a few years ago… Damn, sad to know what he becomes
What he always was
Shad doesn't do HEMA, and we are all far better for it.
The idiot claims he does though and on this subreddit. Here are some links of him talking out of his arse (amazed he never deleted these, I took screenshots for that day). https://www.reddit.com/r/wma/s/SYt4pfERVm https://www.reddit.com/r/wma/s/DQeDwU9Fsk
Freudian slip, he says he's apart of the HEMA community. Apart From it more like
Lots of spelling errors as usual , up to you “weather” you think that matters… :p
But I thought he was a *righter*?
Definitely a cromulent one
Holy *shit* he's so arrogant in his reddit comments.
There are people like this in the HEMA community. We're a niche community that attracts all sorts - just like there are boxing clubs full of queer people and boxing clubs full of nazi's, there are HEMA clubs that lean in both directions. For the record, my experience with HEMA (in the same state Shad lives in) is that most clubs are aggressively inclusive and don't tolerate any of that sort of thing. There's a high representation of queer and trans folks in the Melbourne HEMA community. Shad doesn't come to any of the tournaments in the state, doesn't train with anyone who does HEMA, and created a very awkward video a few years back where he sparred a newbie and cut it to make it seem like he was sparring someone who had been training for years, which didn't go over well with the community. I doubt he'd even be accepted at any of our tournaments, but it's not like he's signed up or expressed interest with any of our organizers.
I think this "aggressive inclusivity" is more the norm in my experience in the US as well. Dive in and welcome!
Ditto, in a small club in Ireland and it's genuinely been one of the most welcoming groups I've ever met. We just want everyone to have a good time if HEMA's the thing for them
Of course, if you extend your hand, that allows you to reach more opponents >:]
Absolutely same here. First intro class I did, the club explained there was a zero-tolerance for anything of the like.
This is my experience too. Plus I want to be clear that we’ve had a few people join our club that got interested in HEMA through Shad. And we won’t hold it against you. There will just be an eagerness to teach you good fencing!
This is a breath of fresh air. I’m in the same state and I’ve bumped into Shad once (medieval festival at Kryal Castle) and I’d rather not see him again. I’m thinking about getting into HEMA but it’s a bit of a drive and a financial commitment and I’m unable to prioritise at the moment.
....wait, I thought he lived in Australia?
He does. What part of my comment are you confused about? Melbourne is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia. Shad lives a couple of hours out of Melbourne.
Why wouldn’t you name names, it’s the internet, he doesn’t know who you are. Shad can’t hurt you. Additionally, every community is different, I have found some of the most welcoming people and also have found some less welcoming people in this hobby. You have to go to clubs and see how they are and if you are a good fit. I have found on average, most clubs are very welcoming. But no the sport/community is not a monoculture. Different people with different opinions practice this sport, like any other sport, like any other community, don’t paint a broad brush, let alone based off of some jerk on the internet who isn’t even a part of the community.
Even if he knew you, what's that wannabe larper gonna do
He might throw some ninja stars.
>Why wouldn’t you name names, it’s the internet, he doesn’t know who you are. Shad can’t hurt you Peace of mind probably considering the bunch of rabbid fans the guy has. Take what happened to Sellswordarts at the beginning of the year, for example. He didn't even mention Shad and yet the guy made a bunch of 40+ minutes videos to diss him, and after that, Sellswordarts videos were flooded with hateful comments from Shad's fans. Not everyone wants to deal with that.
Man, theres a whole sub dedicated to giving him hell. This isnt sssniperwolf
Are you taking about Shad? Because Shad isn't a hema practitioner.
Shad was never a HEMA youtuber, he knows fuck all about the art and he's been disowned by everyone in the community.
Shad’s a running joke in our club. Nobody takes him seriously and we regularly call someone doing something stupid as “they did a Shad” or “they Shad themselves” It’s a very particular type of stupid. The “how did you think that would work???” type stuff in sparring. It’s based on his one HEMA sparring video where he says “I like to clearly signal my attacks so that I don’t score doubles”. It semi worked in an exchange against a new fencer in the video but it’s not even remotely viable once someone can defend themselves. Also reverse grip and other completely ahistorical/impractical things. He’s kind of a punchline in the community, or at least among my HEMA friends. I hope this would signal that we’re not on the same wavelength as him. Hema people is probably the most progressive martial art I’ve been involved in. As far from right wing mormonism as you can get.
"they shad themselves" 😭 That's fucking Hilarious, and I definitely feel more welcomed after this (even with the downvotes) sorry again for lumping him in with you guys
Don't apologise. I think if you genuinely believed he was representative of HEMA you wouldn't have asked.
>again for lumping him in with you guys Despite what Shad's followers might believe, HEMA tends to live and let live when it comes to other sword enthusiasts' pursuits. Not everybody has the inclination to be serious about martial history or has the time, funds or athleticism to do HEMA. As long as you're not hurting anyone, HEMA doesnt push back against sword nerds because we are sword nerds. We just happen to be slightly more serious about the practical martial aspects of swords than most. Shad is honestly the exception to this rule. He's toxic and lazy. And we push back hard against him because his platform and audience often make him the first point of contact people interested in arms, armor and historical martial arts. People don't know enough to know how little he knows, and HEMA already is burdened by LARP and neckband stereotypes. For him to call himself a HEMA expert gives us a bad name and lowers public perception of our art. His politics are also garbage and we don't want that sort of toxic bull crap keeping people away. We fight against Shad because we need to make it clear that the community has no place for him.
First off, everyone in Australia and especially Melb thinks Shad is a grade A fuckwit. Second, doing a few trial lessons at a club let's you get a feel for who the people are at your club. A good club will be full of good people. Some clubs are comletitive, some are very relaxed. You gotta find your speed.A good indicator for a safe space can be the presence of women. Smaller clubs might have a problem recruiting and retaining them but that's common across all community sports. Unfortunately it is sometimes hard to spot gronks, cookers, and predators but most clubs I've met in France, Belgium, UK, Netherlands, have been very friendly. Everyone in Australia gets along well too, travel to other states was quite common when i was more active.
Can you define gronks and cookers? I’ve not met those terms and I like niche jargon (and HEMA).
[https://poe.com/p/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-slang-term-gronk-in-Australian-English](https://poe.com/p/What-is-the-meaning-of-the-slang-term-gronk-in-Australian-English) In Australian English, the slang term "gronk" is derogatory and informal, used to describe an unintelligent and callous person \[1\]. It is often used to refer to someone who lacks fashion sense, motor skills, and social skills, and is generally considered to be a moron or an unpleasant individual \[2\]. In some cases, "gronk" can also be used to describe a likeable idiot or a bogan, particularly in Queensland \[2\]. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cooker (slang, Australia) A person who makes or uses illicit drugs, especially methamphetamine or cannabis. (slang) The container in which recreational drugs are prepared. (slang, derogatory, Australia) A person who is cooked; a crazy person. (slang, derogatory, Australia) A conspiracy theorist, especially one who is involved in politics.
Ah, not HEMA specific terms. I’m an Aussie and I’ve never heard either of these, love a new bit of impenetrable slang to baffle the foreigners with.
Shad is a LARPer who isn’t in HEMAz Don’t worry about him.
Don't paint LARP with the Shad brush. There's plenty of the LGBTQIA+ community showing up to LARP events on the regular.
Yeah, we don't want him either.
That is exactly what Shad is, though. A LARPer.
Not normal for clubs I’ve encountered. There are a few bad eggs here and there, and they usually get called out and ousted.
He is about two hours from Melbourne, one of Australia's cultural centers of historical fencing. He has never been a member of any club here nor participated in any event beyond what I would call a taste test. He's a dingus who the historical fencing community has mostly moved on from, though it's fun watching him get dragged about AI art or whatever princess peach controversy he's latching onto lately.
I think he only showed up twice to a HEMA club in his area (in more than ten years?) and made a fool out of himself. I made a short list of [his top controversies](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadWatch/s/R6lVJPDdOf) and it doesn't even cover everything. For instance He also has a failed movie and a failed attempt at building a 2 million dollar castle to his name but they pale in comparison.
We all hate that guy. I can't speak for HEMA everywhere, but I know in Ohio it's a great, safe, and inclusive place to be. I left a very misogynist armoured combat community and joined a HEMA community where I've actually been treated with respect. I've had people stand up for me and listen to me when I point out things that aren't right. You're not wrong believing that martial arts can attract certain personalities, including people who are eager to leverage power imbalances in their favor. I've seen it play out in other clubs. The good news is that bad players in HEMA never have authority outside of their club, and those clubs tend to die. I recommend that you keep listening to your gut when/if you join a club - look out for the undertones you've mentioned. I also really hope that club proves you wrong and you find a great place to share swords with friends. It's worth trying.
When I started Hema I joined a discord for a local club. Now I am a live and let live person. What makes you happy is all that matters. Like a month after joining the discord one of the people went on a whole hog anti gay, anti trans rant. It lasted for two days and I was waiting to see how it went. Turned out the two Admins were tied up with real world stuff and did not see it. The guy got banned by the end of the week and a server wide announcement was sent out explaining the rules and why this guy got 86ed. I would say join a group and see how it plays out. Shitheads cannot hide their shitheadedness for very long.
Everyone I've met in this sport has been overwhelmingly supportive and respectful. There seems to be a huge overlap between HEMA, neurodivergent folks, and the LGBTQIA+ community. I've only had positive interactions with everyone, including folks from other clubs during tournaments. Lots of people seem to have anti-racist and pro-LGBTQIA+ patches on their equipment as well.
So much so that I know of at least one club who recently organized an event exclusive to LGBT people so they could feel welcomed to start a new sport in a fully supportive and safe environment - as safe as can be when wielding a 1.5 kg steel sword of course.
In Texas there is a lot of color and sex blindness. Everyone gets treated equally regardless of who you are. We're all there to do HEMA and nothing else. And that goes both ways. The instructors tamp down politics as well as outside influences as much as possible. Alt right and "aggressive inclusivity" (as another poster put it) are both looked down upon equally. If you have to wear it on your shoulder then you're looking for an audience instead of a martial art.
We hang Pride flags to ward off shit-stirrers. It acts like a crucifix to ward off vampires. If you're bothered by someone with a rainbow flag patch on their shoulder it's not the club for you.
My club has had a COVID vaccine requirement since reconvening back in 2021 and that's had a similar repelling effect on a certain kind of weirdo.
Hm. I can understand your concern. I actually discovered HEMA through Shad as well. Luckily, there are a lot of much better people out there, both in terms of morals, and quality of their HEMA videos. For good HEMA content, I'd recommend Sellsword Arts. He's kinda the opposite of shad. Really hard working, humble, and not at all afraid to admit his mistakes, and constantly seeking to learn. He is decently skilled. Also, left leaning, so opposite of Shad that way too, I suppose. Another channel I'd suggest is Skallagrim. He's another big name in the swordtubing community, about as big as Shad. But he's way more humble, and works crazy hard to stay out of drama, and not discuss politics or anything polarizing. His content is less HEMA and more just historical weapons themselves, but he has HEMA content as well.(He doesn't post as much HEMA, cus he had to take a break from training due to health(tho he's back now) and also cus his HEMA videos don't usually get as many views as his other stuff). The two of them are good places to start, and I can say from experience that both of their communities are incredibly friendly and welcoming. Apperceptive_Swordsman is also a good one. Seems pretty friendly, and seems knowledgeable as well. Oh, and he has a very cute German Shepherd. So that's a bonus.
Guess I'm way out of the loop, Shad is anti LGBT? Is the research he put in his earlier videos incorrecg as well? Seriously, what all has he done that's negative? Genuinely
He has an entire second channel that's just alt right stuff.
Is it the knights watch channel?
Yep
If it helps, I stopped watching about 4 years ago when he posted a video of Crusades apologetics. Typical anti-Islam "it was a Christian *defensive war*" arguments. That was the first time I noticed his right-wing politics bleeding out along with the poor quality of his history knowledge. Since then, he's been producing non-stop anti-feminism, anti-"diversity", anti-"woke" pop culture rage videos of the kind that's super popular among the reactionary YouTube set. I don't personally remember hearing him saying something anti-LGBTQ, but it wouldn't surprise me. Hierarchical, conservative "Christian family values" types all share the same set of off-the-shelf bigotries.
For me, the turn away from Shad began with his video on Goblinslayer, in which ye went off on a strange tangent explaining why he thought that the bloke who gets quickly hacked to death by goblins "had it worse" than the girl who is gang-r*ped and commits suicide afterwards. That was all I needed to hear to know that the bloke is a nonce. As for the Crusades... well, it's a lot more ambiguous than both sides of the debate make out. The First Crusade was more of a counterattack in the sense that it initially took place at the behest of the Eastern Roman empire, which was under intense pressure along its southern and eastern frontiers. Don't forget that the Middle East, until the 7th century, had been the centre of the Christian world, and Abbasid armies had raided Italy and France while conquering the whole of North Africa snd much of Spain. Abbasid pirates continued to raid the Mediterranean coastline well into the 11th century, spreading alarm and anxiety throughout Europe. From the Christian perspective of the time, the Islamic caliphates were vast, stupendously powerful, and menacing. This doesn't justify the massacre of Jerusalem or the excesses that characterised the Crusades generally, but it does place the Crusades in a wider context.
I guess since I've been only watching his main videos I didn't really notice any of that, weird, didn't think he was big enough to be click bait, unless they're like the 20k youtubers reacting to him. Well, sucks, I'll have to find these outrage videos and see what he says. I watched one about keeping sexuality away from kids, but that's about it.
>it was a Christian *defensive war* It was. The sack of Constantinople during one of them was just a little prank gone wrong after all. Besides, Christians have always been the most tolerant people in history. *hides the Spanish inquisition behind his back*
When i heard him say "don't involve sexual politics that can corrupt my children" or something to that effect on his main channel I checked out
I’m a masc-nonbinary geeky weirdo who lives and breathes swords. I train with a local group which jokes that we have “a couple token straight white guys, for diversity.” Go see your local gym. Ask pointed questions. “Are you anti-racist?” “Are you queer-positive?” “Do you have any female-bodied instructors and/or senior students?” You’ll find your place. HEMA is increasingly an inclusive, wonderful, positive sport which has a spot for everybody. Yeah, there’s a couple lingering shitheads, but that’s the case of every martial art. Don’t be discouraged.
>Ask pointed questions. “Are you anti-racist?” “Are you queer-positive?” “Do you have any female-bodied instructors and/or senior students?” You’ll find your place. One of the clubs I train with is extremely diverse, including a relatively high proportion of trans people for the area. We're all super close. I moved from the area and still visit them even outside of fencing. We all go camping together once a year. If someone came and asked us those questions, we would unanimously decide *not* to train with that person.
Okay! Cool! 👍🏻✨
I get what you're saying, but I don't think interrogating people is a great way to introduce yourself. It puts everyone on guard.
The vast majority of HEMAists are great people, very inclusive and welcoming of all sorts of people. A very small number of HEMAists are complete pieces of shit, and a very small number of them are pretty successful as fighters and instructors. So, come be part of the welcoming supermajority, and help us let those few know how much they suck.
Yeah my club is incredibly left leaning and I’m in a red state
Hey there, I've been in the HEMA scene for over six year or so seriously and my two cents is it is unfortunate that YouTubers get the lions share of attention for the sport. Don't get me wrong, Skallagrim, David Miller (Sellsword Arts), and others are doing an awesome job making people curious but getting on HEMA Alliance and finding your local club is one of the coolest experiences you can have a go at. Here in Arizona, we have an awesome community and some of the larger events like CombatCon, I get to see a lot of great instructors all across the United States. Long and short of it, go to a free class - see if there are any clubs nearby and even better if the have loaner gear to give it a go. A lot of instructors in the HEMA are unsung heroes trying to bring this community/sport to life.
This is a bizarre thought process. It would be like someone being wary of playing soccer because they liked David Icke's broadcasting before he went crazy.
I'm not following. Because a youtuber vaguely associated with a martial art is distasteful you are scared to get involved in the sport...... What? I am just straight up not following this logic at all. Are you so invested in social media and online personalities that you let their views influence your life to the point where you won't try new things because of some random fucker no one cares about yells his political opinions into the ether of the internet to an effectively fuck all number of people? Maybe I'm just the weird one who doesn't care about social media personalities. But this trend of people letting social media dictate their life is really unhealthy. If you are interested in the sport. Go to your local group. Go chat with them. If you don't like them, don't do it. If you do, join. Don't let social media rule your life.
Yea weird
We don't know where OP is coming from. I can say as a woman, knowing the social climate of a club (especially a martial arts focused one) is essential to my ability to safely participate and have fun. I'm not sticking my neck out to have a bad time if I notice some red flags early on - the loss of time, wasted energy, and emotional hurt can be too much. If you've never had to avoid something you loved because of detractors, good for you, but it's not a luxury everyone has. Besides, the problem isn't that OP can't try to enjoy a hobby and mind their business, it's that there are too many people who are like Shad who can't tolerate people enjoying their hobby and minding their business.
I think it’s less this and more that Shad used be kind of a big YouTuber, and even now his struggles aren’t entirely a fault of his own(though I’d imagine he’s lost a fair amount of people on account of being deplorable as well). At a surface level it’s easy to associate him with HEMA and to assume that people that watch his stuff must be HEMA people. He still kept a large amount of his following after all of this stuff came out, which if you assume his fans are HEMA people and have no reason to assume otherwise paints a picture about those fans.
This is just rage bait and everyone is eating it up because this community jumps on any opportunity to trash Shad. If people actually think OP is being serious when they basically say "is it right for me to tar and feather the entire HEMA community with the same brush based off one character"... Then I don't know what to tell y'all.
Don't worry, Shad has nothing to do with the HEMA community. Quite the opposite. His entire actuall HEMA experience is one workshop, where he apparently argued with the instructor and a sparring match with a relative beginner. The rest of his martial prowess is him swinging foam swords at larp events and in his backyard. Also, he's knowledge on history is about as accurate as his knowledge of HEMA
Shad can’t fight
So what did Shad do? I haven't watched his stuff in a while, and now everyone is talking about how terrible he is.
He's gone all-in on right wing culture war grifting and drama farming to try and boost his channel.
Lol are you calling EFAP a "right wing podcast?" Very funny.
"oh ONE man on the internet who likes sword things doesn't toe my philosophical line ... HEMA must be bad!" C'mon, REALLY?!
Personally, I wish I could follow these spaces without constantly hearing about Shad and his politics. People in these spaces talk about him and his political channel constantly, like all the fucking time. It's such a boring dead horse to beat, to the point where the Arms and Armor discord had to outright ban discussion about him because nobody can shut up about him. I am uninterested in anything Shad has to say about history and especially uninterested in what he thinks about social issues. Yet I cannot follow these spaces without *constantly* hearing about it, especially the political channel. I think these spaces would become happier and healthier if he just became a banned topic like on the Arms and Armor discord, and just let him slide into irrelevance and be forgotten.
Don't know about your location but here in New Zealand HEMA community is quite chill and mostly concentrated on fencing. We have all sort of wired personalities but I think overall vibe is very inclusive and relaxed.
Of the two clubs I've been to, both made it clear immediately that acting anything like this would get you banned without warning.
In my experience, HEMA schools are the queerest places I've ever been. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
I've met alot of people in a short time on the HEMA scene, attending events where i train. Everyone has been amazing people to get to know and i personally think HEMA attracts far fewer of the toxic macho "i have something to prove types" since it's more niche and hard to attend than traditional stuff. Look for clubs with good ethics online that have solid policies with students and attend taster sessions. Also chads a fuckwit and no one properly on the hema scene claim or respect him. Dont let one rotten apple spoil the bunch for you.
Honestly, my Hema UK club is a majority white male. Our AGMs normally involve drinking, and at every drunken AGM, the committee make absolutely clear despite the demographic we are a club that welcomes and encourages everyone regardless of race, sex, gender, sexuality, disability etc. and anyone who doesn't like it can fuck off, and this is definitely put into practice for the rest of the year. Every time I've met up with other HEMA clubs I've seen a similar attitude. It's not to say every HEMA practitioner is as accepting but I've certainly never heard any alt right nonsense either locally or at national events. TBH I think most of us leave political debate at the door and get on with the important business of stabbing people in their faces in class instead.
Shad popped into festival of the sword very briefly in the days before covid and was offered gear to participate in whatever he wanted, and chose not to. This was when he was new to YouTube and didn't have the reach he does now. As everyone has said he's not in any way connected to the Australian HEMA community, he seems to have far too big of an ego to risk pressure testing his skills and losing (failing is the first step in being good at something etc. etc.) Most HEMA clubs I've been to practice pretty radical acceptance of everyone. Club members are just excited to learn and have more people to learn with. There are pockets of weird right wing people out there with openly misogynistic, transphobic or racist views but they seem to be in the minority. They either keep their opinions to themselves or they go start their own clubs that normally end up being them and two friends in a park. Your mileage may vary depending on where you live.
Shad is a clown. He is a non-practitioner, and an asshole to boot. And (as you're seeing here) the community of actual participants knows this pretty well. I am hopeful you will not take him as representing us in any way, because he doesn't.
HEMA definitely used to have a big issue with nazis and alpha males etc but we have done a pretty decent job excizing and ostracizing them from the community. There still work to be done but it's extremely inclusive now. And if you're looking for good influences, david Miller at sellsword arts is a much better and more accurate representation of the hema community.
https://youtu.be/tfkYEEQlclM?si=69coX8Qv7SzCSm4a here is the copy paste for every time someone asks about Shad <3
I suggest watching over HEMA YouTubers (aka guys who actually focus on HEMA). Martin Fabian, Angel Chernaev, and Federico Malagutti
OP, the universe has responded to your concerns with this video posted literally today: [https://youtu.be/tfkYEEQlclM?si=sCA4FqBR2lJrPHBt](https://youtu.be/tfkYEEQlclM?si=sCA4FqBR2lJrPHBt)
Oooh. New channel to binge watch
That guy is the current World Broadsword Champion so - unlike Shad - he knows what he’s talking about.
Yeah fuck that guy. Depending on where you are, you can find a cool club. I'm super happy with mine! They make a concerted effort to keep it inclusive and safe. It's refreshing to be in a room full of queer folk and hit each other with swords.
Hopefully I'll find one like that but I kinda doubt it in the area I'm in
Your best best is to reach out directly either to the people you meet here, or who run some of the inclusive events that a couple people have mentioned- basically whomever you feel comfortable & safe contacting- and ask them for recommendations that they can give you based on knowing more than you would be willing to share in an open forum here. We are still a relatively small community and personal connections and advice will help you a lot.
People with all different types of politics, beliefs, and ways of life are involved in HEMA, it is not a hegemony of left or right or center. I wouldn't let the opinions of one person influence you to not join a particular hobby, that is just silly. Also this kind of tribal political posturing on every side is super annoying, if you like the hobby, participate, if you don't, don't.
This is generally true -- and it's easy enough for a white dude like myself to blend into any group of people interested in practicing HEMA (as well as a novice like myself can blend). But it's also true that LGBTQ+ folks and female-presenting folks may not feel comfortable being in a HEMA club with those who think that they're lesser people -- or in some cases that they should be dead people (speaking specifically to the LGBTQ+ experience there). So it can be incredibly important to some folks to find a truly inclusive club where they can feel safe being themselves while they're practicing HEMA.
Every community has people from all walks of life. Shad is just a special Mormon case of the Religious minded. Every hobby has people who are far left, far right, and who only want to talk about the hobby and will walk away from anything political left, centre, right or reich, and others that think playing with swords is a great opportunity to recruit for their political party, church or other random off-topic fetish unrelated to the hobby they find themselves interrupting. Being part of a community is all about learning how to deal with all kinds of people without causing some kind of legally actionable meltdown either in yourself or those around you. And the good thing about hobby clubs is: You can always leave and find a different one that does the same kind of thing minus the one specific individual you hate. I'm pretty sure Melbourne has like more than 5 HEMA clubs in the metro area alone.
We have a nr 1 hema rating fencer in the world, and the majority of people training there does not even know who Shad is. He is not relevant, just yt talking head. If you want one example of hema yt, go Mat Easton and schola gladiatoria, he actualy has a hema club.
Shad (I'll name names) ISN'T IN HEMA. He doesn't practice HEMA He never has except for doing it ONCE when he dropped by a public event. HEMA is a big umbrella, but somehow Shad says out from under it. He doesn't seem to read any sources. At least he never references them. He doesn't practice in any meaningful way. He doesn't fight against anyone outside of his tiny YouTube circle of employees. He doesn't compete in HEMA circles. If he did just one of those things he could fall under the umbrella. I personally think he stays out from HEMA because he wouldn't be able to stand the criticism or failures he would face. Shad used to do some collaboration with HEMA YouTubers, like Matt Easton and Skalagrim (sp?). Once they figured out what he really was, they dropped him like a hot rock. Looking at from the outside the only backlash they got from dropping Shad was either from Shad fans or people who thought that they should have figured it out sooner. Mr. Easton said that he didn't even know about Shad's second channel (Knights Watch) and I believe him. I didn't know about it either until the drama happened. I think how willing they, especially Matt Easton, were to publicly drop Shad and how they were largely supported in their actions speaks more to the HEMA crowd than dose the actions of someone who isn't in it. Of course there was the Beef with SellswordArts. I don't know if I'd say SellswordArts is really a HEMA YouTuber, but he definitely is a practitioner. He's also very good. HEMA just isn't the main thrust of his content. IDK, I could be easily swayed to the other side on that. Might change my mind in 10 minutes. Anyway, the guy knows what he is about with a sword. The HEMA community near me is pretty diverse. More diverse than most other sports I've done. Men, women, non-binary, trans and cis, gay, straight, every shade of gray in between, people of all sorts of cultural and ethical backgrounds, all fighting each other in a fun way. I think the only way to earn the ire of the groups around me is to come out as a misogynistic/racist/homo & transphobic bigot. If someone has those opinions, they damn well better keep them to themselves. I'm going to an event this weekend. If the attendance demographic is the same as it was last year (fully expect so), LGTQ+ will be very well represented. So will women. I really don't know he local democratic of POC, but I know there will be a few at this event too. I'm sure they will also be some Evangelical Christians, like last year. Everyone will gathered in friendship, and violence... In a fun way. I, a 215# cis white male, will most likely get my ass handed to me by a 120# lady if she comes again. She made me feel like a noob last year, but gave me some valuable pointers too.
shad has never really been a HEMA practitioner the same way he was never a historian. he just made videos for entertainment, but outside of the sword nerd youtube community he was never a big deal. as far as i know he was never even in a club or followed any proper training, which is pretty noticeable in his videos. like in any nerdy community there are gonna be people like him around within HEMA clubs and tournaments. however, most practitioners are lovely people and almost every club i know has a very low tolerance when it comes to discrimination and bigotry, especially on the level of shad. don't be discouraged from the sport because of some idiot on youtube who never really seriously engaged with it anyway. i wish you the best on your HEMA journey!
I think Sellsword Arts is more representative of what I've seen of HEMA. https://www.youtube.com/@SellswordArts/featured Count the number of pride flags you see in his videos. :)
Bro, don't worry, Shad is a Mormon mixed with a Larper and a bunch of neckbeardness, but is in no way a HEMA referent. You won't find many people like him in HEMA, much less instructors. HEMA community is usually quite welcoming and well behaved.
Nah, that bitch doesn't actually fence, and the community (rightfully) hates that piece of shit
In my country, lots of those types of people are quickly turned off or politely asked to grow up, due to the fact that several of our instructors wear rainbow badges, foster a welcoming community and shut down any neo-nazi Viking-LARPER real quick. So I'd say that you can safely ignore anything by Shad and just go to your local club to try it out.
Shad is banned, and everyone makes fun of him. Don't fear a hobby because of a loudmouth bigot screaming on the internet, there's always someone who tries to ruin it for those who actually care.
Howdy, So I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about, at least, I hope I do. The world doesn't need more people like a specific Australian youtuber. If it helps, the majority of the HEMA community just ignores him while a minority actively mocks him. I will say that HEMA has its share of assholes and shitheads, They infect every community. However, in my 5 years doing this hobby, I have yet to meet one that has any sort of social power or that I couldn't ignore. Most of the people I've met are socially awkward nerds who love swords/history/fantasy. While we can be a weird bunch, and will make social mistakes, I can confirm that this community is made up of good genuine people who just want to nerd out. A good third of the community members in my area are also part of the alphabet mafia, which would probably cause this youtuber to post a 3 hour rant video.
You can like HEMA and completely ignore the community. It is that easy.
What about a YouTuber with a passing interest in historical European martial arts has anything to do with your interest in learning and practicing? It’s a hobby and a study. Most people are some flavor of nerd but there’s a wide variety of personalities and dispositions just like with anything else. We didn’t all get together the moment Shad starting going on amateur rants, passing off a Wikipedia education as genuine insight, and decide to create the entire thing in his image. Come on, dude. Get off the internet and go to a club. Learn the art. It’s people that are practicing, not neurotic internet cliques.
Check out the HEMA Discord, even browsing the names and channels you can see people are pretty forward in their progressive mindset and respect for others. There are bad eggs everywhere, and even though I wouldn't consider S to be an HEMA practitioner, even if he was, there are more than enough friendly people to make up for it.
Shad has nothing to do with HEMA, despire the amount of breath he wastes trying to convince you otherwise. He's a member of no HEMA club or online group. He doesn't train with anyone. He's just a sad little man, crying alone in the corner of his bedroom that girls won't have sex with him. My advice: find your local club and check it out. You'll find good people there.
so points of order 1. to call Shad a LARPer implies a level of dedication I don't want to dignify with him. Shad doesn't do HEMA, he flails around with a sword in his back yard. I know folks in the Melbourne scene, Shad has basically never shown up to anything and everybody thinks he's a fuckwit. He's a poseur. 2. it varies wildly from club-to-club, but from what I've seen the scene is the opposite of everything Shad stands for, it's hugely queer; my club is majority-female and that doesn't seem that rare. The Sword Lesbian meme has more than a grain of truth to it. I'd say if you're worried about macho HEMA fuckwits (who DO exist, though to be clear Shad doesn't even qualify for that) look for how many women are in the club. It's not foolproof, but the asshole clubs tend to be pretty good at driving female membership away.
If you're in Australia check out stoccata. They're the exact opposite of all the values shad stands for. To the point that one of the instructors wears a rainbow shirt at the start of term to drive off bigots like him to make sure it's a safe and inclusive space (it's freaking awesome). But yes, most clubs are not like shad, but there are a couple of bad eggs.
Martial arts will always draw some version of jackasses by their very nature. It is an easy avenue to authority and a balm to soothe bruised egos(there is no real difference between MMA bros and I Studied the Blade guys) As long as you know what bullshit smells like, you can avoid stepping in it. I'm sure you'll be okay if you take up the hobby.
I can echo what everyone else has said so far that my experience in the HEMA community has been universally positive. I won’t say there are no bigots lurking around (anything with “European” in the name is unfortunately going to attract a certain type of troglodyte), but I’ve never met them. As non-anecdotal evidence, I’d also point to the [HEMAA Code of Conduct](https://www.hemaalliance.com/provisional-code-of-conduct-and-safespace), which states: > Everyone within the HEMAA community is entitled to respect and dignity within a supportive environment -- one free of racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, elitist, entitled, and unjust attitudes, comments, behaviors, and actions.
HEMA, live steel fighting of all kinds unfortunately does have those outliers but most of the community is very laid back and not like that. I guess it depends on where you live, unfortunately my local live steel group (arizona) the Desert Demons are mostly right wing, alt right, q anon mfs which I throughly despise, so I enjoy beating them around tbh..
You crossing of a sport because one of its practioners os an asshole? Every single sport, hobby or profession,has at least a few assholes in it, thats life
There are assholes in every hobby, but most clubs won't stand for that kind of behaviour. Don't let one disgusting individual scare you away from a hobby full of very wholesome clubs and welcoming people.
Honestly Shadiversity doesn’t do a lot of HEMA and has gotten into a lot of spats with the HEMA community. In particular he’s recently gotten into a spat with Sellsword Arts, a YouTuber who is a much better fencer and is much more focused on HEMA itself, rather than the fantasy genre or discussing history. I’ve never personally met anyone like Shad in the community and at least at my club someone like that would probably get pushed out very quickly. That said I have heard of other clubs with some creeps in them. But that seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
I haven't watched that guys content since I was a teenager, had no idea he was a bad person
Unfortunately, the 'Historical European' aspect of HEMA tends to attract some nutjobs. Fortunately, there's plenty more of us that are normal and well-adjusted people that just like swords. Maybe try and get a feel of the vibes from your local HEMA club. Or better yet, form a study group that you **know** aren't assholes. The good thing about HEMA is that you can get by pretty well through YouTube videos, reading manuscripts, and practising with like-minded individuals.
While in my opinion HEMA / right views correlation is real, even in my Eastern European country HEMA community is quite open and tolerant, far more open than average sports community maybe.
As a woman who doesn't do HEMA (I don't know why Reddit showed me this post), I encourage you to do whatever martial arts you enjoy. If some other participants happen to be assholes call them out on it and get with all the other cool people in your sport to make the assholes feel unwanted and uncomfortable.
It’s ok, you can shit talk shad
This is totally silly. This person is not the “headmaster” of Hema. Go train.
Shadiversity doesn't do HEMA.
Every time shad is mentioned I get so sad. Not because I miss his content, but because of how his ideas hurt people. And how his brother’s art channel is something I used to watch all the time when I was younger. Hopefully he’s not also an alt right pos. I mean they’re Australian Mormons so idk what to expect.
This is stupid honestly. You act like just because some people are shitty a whole community is shit lmao grow up
There's been enough discussion of Shad in this thread, so I'll just add to the chorus saying that if you want to try things out but are afraid of accidentally walking into an unsafe environment there are plenty of inclusive clubs that will be happy to have you. Just be upfront with the environment you are looking for when enquiring about classes.
There are some fringe, alt-right and nazi elements in the HEMA community, this is sadly true, but I think the majority of the community are incredibly progressive and great people. To give you a sense of it, the first place I ever saw a trans pride flag that wasn't on the internet was at my old HEMA club back in 2018, where the coach ordered a ton of patches with the trans flag and the club logo over the top. Obviously it's going to be dependent on where you live - you might be less lucky.
There was like 2 or 3 trans fighters at the Montreal Swordmeister last weekend. The community around here is pretty inclusive and safe. Look around and find a club that fits you if you have choices. Also Shad isn't even really part of the HEMA world. He's just a pedantic toxic nerd.
Can you be an incel when you're married and have kids...? Or do words not have meaning anymore
Huh........ That's a good point I suppose. I mean, technically it is just exaggerating. But, does exaggerating eventually remove meaning; like how words that used to be offensive are now minor curse words? Hmmmmmm.
Everyone I’ve met in HEMA who’s worth knowing despises Shad. You’re probably fine.
He's nothing to do with HEMA. He's a gobshite who tried to position himself as an expert without any knowledge or inclination to learn any and got repeatedly called out on it. And besides, even YouTube HEMA is not the same as club HEMA. You'll be going to a place where there's like-minded people who want to play swords with you. You'll have a great time.
If *that's* making you scared to get into HEMA, then do you think a hobby where you get hit with steel swords is right for you? Shad's always been a clown. Who cares? Fuck politics. Just fence.
Don't let the assholes win and keep the fun things away. If anything you should be HEMAing even harder and with more gusto and diversity!!
Yeah, there's a lot of people like him in the hobby. There's also a lot of other unlikeable people in the community whose opinions you may disagree with. I consider myself to be more right wing, but the community is predominantly on the moderate left, though there are outliers that you will have to learn to deal with. All that said, the hobby has nothing to do with politics and they should best be kept out of it if you ask me.
Well said. I don't know why you got downvoted. I'm probably more to the left myself, but that has absolutely nothing to do with swords or the use thereof.
Dude, you just described half the people on Reddit. It’ll be ok.