FAQ

Membership & Dues

  • Lonin dues are $72 monthly. For that price, you receive unlimited access to all club classes and social events. We offer a two-week free trial to potential members. We run classes every day of the week, so there’s always something new to try!

  • Claim your free trial! Once you’ve registered with us, you can attend any classes you want during your trial. Most communication about classes happens via Slack - we’ll make sure you’re added there too. When your trial ends, you can register for a regular monthly membership and continue attending classes as often as you want. We want our club to be as accessible as possible, so please contact us if you have any questions about dues.

  • We recommend wearing athletic clothes you can move easily in. You’ll also want comfortable shoes with good footing that you can work out in. If you have dedicated gym shoes already, please bring them - dedicated indoor shoes help us protect our floor mats. Otherwise we can help you sanitize your street shoes. And don’t forget your water bottle! For everything else you’ll need, we have loaner gear to get you started.

  • Gear requirements vary by class, but in general we require wearing a fencing mask, protective gloves, and a gorget (throat guard) for any drill involving contact. For new students, we have loaners available, including swords. Talk to your coach or our Slack community about the best options for you as you build out your personal kit.

  • All our classes take place at our SoDo practice space in Seattle. If you’re visiting for a short time from another club or area, contact us about our drop-in rates - we’d love to have you visit. If we’re not in range for you, the greater SeaTac metro area is also home to Eastside Fechtverein in Issaquah, Snohomish Dueling Society in Snohomish, and in Tacoma, Grit City HEMA and Seven Swords Academy - we’ve got friends at all of them. For clubs outside our area, check out the HEMA Alliance club finder!

Culture & Community

  • Lonin League is an explicitly inclusive club: you are welcome here regardless of race, gender, or sexuality. Our Code of Conduct prohibits harassment of any sort. We strive to be a welcoming environment for groups that may have historically not felt at home in martial arts, and we have built large and active communities of women and LGBT+ members. We know it can be hard to trust if you’ve had poor experiences elsewhere, but we are committed to our values of inclusion and always working to be a safe place.

  • No experience necessary! We’re open to students of all athletic backgrounds: we’ve got people who come to us while actively doing other sports, people who haven’t played since high school, or people who never tried a sport at all. Our beginner-friendly classes contain students at all levels who will work together, from top-rated fighters to brand new faces. Your coaches can help you adapt drills to your level, whether that means slowing down so you can focus on the basics, or finding more challenges when you’ve mastered one skill.

  • Yes! We’re happy to work with students with disabilities. Chat with your coaches about any accommodations you need - they can help adapt drills and exercise for you. We also encourage all our students to recognize that martial arts can be physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding, and to take breaks when they need them. Our beginner-friendly classes are designed to accommodate a variety of skill and ability levels, so you won’t be alone.

  • While there’s always some risk of injury in any sport, we take safety very seriously. Our Code of Conduct gives a detailed breakdown of our safety expectations, but the short version is we always wear the appropriate protective gear, pay attention to our surroundings, and respect our training partners. Most importantly, you can choose the level of contact you’re comfortable with, including setting expectations at the start of a round and calling out any contact that exceeds that level so your partner can adjust.

Back to Basics

  • Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) is a community dedicated to studying surviving sources detailing historical combat systems from Europe, primarily sword-based. While many Eastern martial arts have a living lineage of teachers, HEMA does not, which means we get to be on the forefront reconstructing these arts. It’s a big and growing hobby, ranging from academics who translate and interpret manuscripts from as far back as far as the Medieval period, to competitive, sport-focused fencers who turn those interpretations into tournament medals. HEMA has room for many different interests and specialties, whether you’re a history nerd, an amateur athlete, or a fantasy fan who’s always wanted to live your best Aragorn life.

  • We’re not LARPers, re-enactors, or Olympic hopefuls (probably)! While all of these can be fun, and sometimes a good foundation for what we do in HEMA, we’re focused on learning from historical sources and figuring out how to practice their arts today, as closely as we can. Olympic fencing is probably the closest, since it did evolve from historical sources; but it’s more a sport than a martial art these days, with a complex set of rules and regulations and an explicit sporting focus, versus its historical origins as a combat system. HEMA is a bigger umbrella, with room for those who are less interested in the sport side as we try to reconstruct the now-dead systems that preceded.

  • Dozens of surviving sources exist, ranging from the Medieval period up through the Victorian era. The earliest sources concern swords and buckler and longsword, with later sources taking up rapier, broadsword, and other weapons. Lonin League has classes devoted to many different sources like Fiore’s longsword, Destreza’s rapier, and more. You can find most texts compiled on Wiktenauer with extensive research and context from others in the community.

  • Yes! HEMA is very decentralized, and many clubs host their own events each year, like Lonin League does with Swordsquatch. HEMA Scorecard has a good list of upcoming events, and more are being organized every year. Events usually feature tournaments, and many will also have classes led by visiting instructors. There’s no obligation to compete, but attending events can be a lot of fun and a great way to make new friends - and fight them!