CLEVELAND — Lacey Eck is a nurse by day, but after being introduced to the sport by a friend, it's become something entirely different off the clock. Eck is a longsword fighter who practices Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) in her spare time. This includes guiding a group of Northeast Ohio women as they learn the art of longsword and give the sport its own renaissance.
At the Two Ravens Fencing School in Cleveland, every Friday night, Eck can be found preparing in her gambeson and making the rounds with the 10 other women, swords in hand.
The group calls itself Valkyrie. They meet weekly and train at HEMA. From footwork and holds to strikes and defenses, the women learn all about combat with the two-pound, double-edged blades.
“It's this fairy-tale weapon, the ones you see in all the movies,” Ek said. “It's a real thing. You can learn to fight with these hero swords, these Game of Throne swords, Lord of the Rings swords.”
The band has been around longer than Eck has been involved with the sport – but her quickly acquired passion for it led her to dive in and not only learn about the all-but-forgotten art, but start competing in it.
Eck and others travel the country, participating in longsword competitions. Eck even recently went international, traveling to Helsinki, Finland for a tournament.
“The tournament we just went to had 13 other countries,” Eck said. “I placed in the top eight among the women.”
The Longsword is showing an increase in numbers. Maybe it's because of movies and shows like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, as Eck mentions. Perhaps it's the popularity of fantasy books in the “Booktok” community of social media app TikTok, such as the “ACOTAR” series by Sarah J. Maas.
Whatever the cause of the explosion, Cleveland is right there in the mix with Team Valkyrie. A group that is open to anyone interested in learning and includes fighters as young as 16, such as Kathryn Dunn.
Dunn recently competed in a women's longsword competition and placed first. She, like Eck, has traveled the country showing off her fighter chops. She loves being around Valkyrie and proving that women can be tough too.
“You always see the guys who are like super machos, they're the ones who have it all. But coming here I see women constantly trying to improve themselves, show that they can fight and don't have to depend on others,” said Dan.
The group will continue to meet every Friday, learning a little more each day about HEMA. As they do, they also hope to grow in numbers and encourage others to try their hand at longsword – a sport they say is accessible to almost everyone.
“You don't have to be super strong to do it, you don't have to be fast. We can work with anybody. Everybody starts somewhere, so it's very accessible. Come on in,” Eck said.
To learn more about the Valkyrie, HEMA and other programs at Two Ravens Fencing School, Click here.
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