Gamification in HEMA Classes

The term "Gamification" essentially refers to turning a non-game task or situation into a game. It is used often as a learning tool, in an attempt to make the experience more fun, and therefore more memorable and easier to digest. I find some gamification can be very beneficial when teaching HEMA, particularly where your audience have a somewhat casual interest in learning HEMA (I do not mean that in a derogatory fashion - not everybody has to work towards competing at Swordfish).

This article is a collection of methods I use myself, or have seen others use, to gamify HEMA lessons.

A thrust from the bind using winden (photo by The IHA)

1. Penalty drills

A very effective way of making a fairly repetitive drill more entertaining is by applying a penalty if the student does not successfully perform the technique. A common situation in which I use this in is when working on the abzug. The drill is performed as usual, and should the student fail to keep themselves safe while withdrawing (their partner should be instructed to make some kind of attack to ensure they are), they will receive a penalty. I typically use exercises as a penalty, such as rotating between press ups, sit ups, and squats. 

It's important to keep the number of exercises low - 2 or 3 exercises gives the student something to avoid while performing the drill, but as many as 10 will take too much time out of practice (and possibly make the students too tired to perform the exercises properly).

This is best introduced after the students have had time to practice the technique more slowly - if the penalty is enforced from too early on, the students may struggle to learn the technique at all.

2. Competitive drills

This could be combined with the above, so either student may incur an penalty. It works well with dynamic exercises, since it requires either student to be capable of "winning". An example is when teaching slipping the leg as a defensive action, have both students stand within attacking distance of one another and fence without moving their back leg.

Another example could be a binding exercise, where the students have to attempt to strike or thrust their opponent without leaving the bind (for instance, using duplerien or winden).

3. Rule Driven Sparring 

Introducing some rules to free sparring can force students to try out techniques they usually wouldn't attempt. One example of this is to give a secret goal to each student (e.g. if your opponent's vorschlag is a cut at your leg, use uberlauffen), and have them fence until one of them achieves their goal (it's a good idea to also have a time limit in place in case neither of them do). 

Another example is the "Clapping Game", which not only encourages good technique, but improves the analytical skills of the students who are not currently fencing. This game has two students free sparring until one of them performs a technique that earns a consensus of applause from the spectators (usually by performing an arbitrarily nice piece of fencing - what earns the applause should depend on the fencer performing the technique). Whoever earns the applause should then join the spectators, and their opponent fences with the next student.

4. Franco-Belgian Tournament

While not exactly feasible during classes, the Franco-Belgian is a great example of gamification within HEMA, and it even has historical context! I have attended two tournaments of such style, both hosted by the IHA. 

It is a "king of the hill" style tournament, using chalked blades to show clearly where strikes land in an exchange. What makes it interesting is the limitation of target zones, the rules favouring the "king", and the inclusion of fines for breaking certain etiquette rules (for instance, fencers pay a fixed fine - e.g. 50p - if they don't shake hands at the start and end of their bout). At the two I have attended, the proceeds of the fines have all been donated to charity.

5. Melee games!

Perhaps the least directly educational option, but it certainly is a lot of fun! If you have the space and equipment to facilitate it, it can be a good way for your students to blow off some steam and try to keep themselves safe from multiple opponents. A simple example is a typical "free for all" where everybody has a set number of lives, and any hit removes a life. Adding teams and goals such as "capture the flag" can make things more interesting. 

One of my personal favourites is (using Spes foam swords) - the "Black Knight" game, where each of your four limbs counts as a life, and you stop using a limb once it has been struck. One legged fencing is exactly has difficult as it sounds.

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These methods may not always be the most efficient way to teach a class, but making the material more fun makes it more memorable for the student (and encourages them to come back next week).