Event History

Longpoint traces its origin back to the 2010 Mid Atlantic HEMA Gathering, a day-long regional get-together hosted by the newly formed Maryland Kunst des Fechtens. The idea was to start an annual event for the Virginia-Maryland-DC HEMA scene to come together and get to know one another; few did at that time, despite one of the highest densities of HEMA practitioners in the US. About 30 people came and attended classes or free-fenced for eight hours before heading home through the beginning of one of DC’s most infamous storms, Snowmageddon.

Following experiences at the joint HEMA Alliance and WMAC Houston International Open Gathering (later named Fechtschule America) and Germany’s Worldwide Open Championships, event organizer and founder Jake Norwood decided to take the Mid Atlantic HEMA Gathering in a new direction, rebranding it as Longpoint and adding in a longsword and dussack tournament. Approximately 45 fighters came from as far as Alaska, Candada, Texas, and Florida, starting Longpoint down its evolution from regional gathering to international tournament.

In 2012 Longpoint published the first edition of its unique "CQTC" competition rule set. The Longpoint Rules moved away from the dominant paradigm of the time, wherein all strikes against all targets were considered equal. Instead, each strike would be assessed for contact, quality of strike, value of the target struck, and the attacker’s active control of the opponent’s weapon in the moment of impact. Longpoint brought in veteran HEMA referee Mikael Widegren and added a sword and buckler tournament and ladies’ longsword competition to the lineup. This year also saw the first longsword cutting competition in North America, run by New York Historical Fencing Association’s Mike Edelson; its format would be imitated and extrapolated by almost every other major HEMA competition in the US over the next year. Both the new longsword rules and the cutting competition contributed to Longpoint’s success in hosting over 65 fighters from the US, Sweden, Canada, Russia, Germany, and elsewhere.

Having outgrown its venue at a county sports hall, in 2013 Longpoint moved to Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland. The move brought all classes, competitions, lodging, and even meals and recreation under one roof. Veteran event staffers Ben Michels and “Evil” Ben Jarashow moved from supporting positions to leadership roles in planning, organizing, and executing what was quickly becoming one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest HEMA events. 2013 was also a new height in organizational ambition with North America’s first open steel longsword competition, the first HEMA triathlon (steel longsword, grappling, and cutting), and the addition of a Polish-style saber tournament and Ringen im Grublein grappling tournament to the traditional synthetic longsword, ladies’ longsword, and sword and buckler competitions. The finals were broadcast via live stream and garnered approximately 5000 views in its first year on YouTube. The class schedules were restructured to provide more time and room for competitions, while emphasizing marquee instructors with three-four hour workshops: Ilkka Hartikainen (Finland), Mishaël Lopes Cardozo (Netherlands), Aaron Pynenberg (USA), and Jake Norwood (USA). 2013 was also the year that Longpoint truly became international with over 100 fighters from the US, Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Mexico, Finland, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.  

Longpoint 2014 outpaced its predecessors, and heralds continued growth as one of the world’s most important competitive HEMA events. Nearly 150 fighters from the US, Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Ireland, Denmark, and New Zealand participated in 14 competitions. Sword and buckler and saber were replaced with singlestick and steel messer; open Ringen (four weight classes) replaced Ringen im Grublein, and a paired technique competition and invitational German Fechtschule-style counted blows tournament were added to the lineup alongside three longsword tournaments, an improved cutting competition, and the Longpoint team award.  A lecture by Wiktenauer chief Mike Chidester was added to the instructor lineup, which included Axel Pettersson (Sweden), Lee Smith (Canada), Jess Finley, (USA), and Sean Hayes (USA). To fit it all in a half day was added to the schedule, bringing Longpoint to its current four day program of two and a half days of competitions and one day of workshops, classes, and dedicated open fencing areas. Longpoint garnered new media attention in 2014: web blogger Kristin Blumley published a 15-minute documentary as part of a series about Longpoint, and New York Times multimedia reporter Mac Bishop spent the weekend filming and interviewing fighters, crew, and spectators.

Whether it’s trailblazing new rule sets, pioneering modern cutting or technique competitions, breaking community records for tournament types and matches fought, premiering new equipment, or bringing the best fighters in the world under one roof to train, play, and compete, Longpoint has established a tradition of making history. Join us in 2015, and become part of it.

2014 Medalists

Longpoint Triathlon
Champion/Gold: Sean Franklin, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
Silver: Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA
Bronze: Bill Grandy, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA

Team Event
Winners: Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA (head coach: Bill Grandy)

Open Steel Longsword
Gold: Axel Pettersson, GHFS, Sweden
Silver: Ben Strickling, Triangle Sword Guild, USA
Bronze: Sean Franklin, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
Honorable Mention: Richard Marsden, Dustin Reagan, Casper Andersen, Myles Cupp, Marcus Lewis
Technical Award: Ben Floyd, Krieg School, USA

Women’s Steel Longsword
Gold: Kiana Shurkin, Maryland Kunst des Fechtens, USA
Silver: Katy Kramlich, Wisconsin Historical Fencing Association, USA
Bronze: Amanda Trail, Iron Crown KDF, USA
Technical Award: Amanda Trail, Iron Crown KDF, USA

Fechtschule Invitational/Counted Blows Steel Longsword
Gold: Carl Ryrberg, Orebro HEMA, Sweden
Silver: Ben Floyd, Krieg School, USA
Bronze: Kyle Griswold, Phoenix Society for Historical Swordsmanship, USA

Open Synthetic Longsword
Gold: Peter Brusseau, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
Silver: Tyler “TJ” Tolton, Sword Guild of York, USA
Bronze: Brian Ames, MASHS, USA
Technical Award: Paulo Negro, Maryland Kunst des Fechtens, USA

Open Steel Messer
Gold: Axel Pettersson, GHFS, Sweden
Silver: Sean Franklin, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
Bronze: Doug Bahnick, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA

Paired Technique Demonstration
Gold: Betsy Winslow & Josh Hawley, MEMAG, USA
Silver: Dustin Reagan & Casper Andersen, Redlands Fencing Center/Triangle Sword Guild, USA
Bronze: Steve Viani & Justin Apperson, NYHFA/Sword Class NYC

Single Stick
Gold: Lee Smith, Blood and Iron Martial Arts, Canada
Silver: Axel Pettersson, GHFS, Sweden
Bronze: Jake Norwood, Capital Kunst des Fechtens, USA

Longsword Cutting
Gold: Tristan Zukowski, New York Historical Fencing Association/Sword Class NYC, USA
Silver: Ben Hawkins, Academy of Historical Arts, Scotland
Bronze: Bill Grandy, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA

Ringen: Light Weight
Gold: Mikael Widegren, GHFS, Sweden
Silver: Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA
Bronze: Bill Grandy, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA

Ringen: Welterweight
Gold: Doug Bahnick, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
Silver: Casper Andersen, Triangle Sword Guild, USA
Bronze: Steven Hirsch, Athena School of Arms, USA

Ringen: Middle Weight
Gold: Jerry Toussaint, Wu Tan, Canada
Silver: Sam Street, Schwert am Schwert, USA
Bronze: Kevin Comer, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA

Ringen: Open/Heavyweight
Gold: Sean Franklin, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
Silver: Hank McLemore, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
Bronze: Keith Cotter Reilly, Atlanta Freifechter, USA

Complete 2014 statistics available here

2013 Medalists

Longpoint 2013 Triathlon (Steel Longsword + Cutting + Ringen im Grublein)
1st Sean Franklin, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
2nd Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA
3rd Tristán Żukowski, New York Historical Fencing Association, USA

Open Steel Longsword
1st Lee Smith, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
2nd Matias Parmala, EHMS, Finland
3rd Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA
4th Richard Marsden, Phoenix Historical Fencing Society, USA
5th Mishael Lopes Cardozo, AMEK, Netherlands
6th Matthew Iversen, Forte Swordplay, USA
7th Chris Ouellet, OMSG, Canada
8th McKenzie Ewing, Atlanta Freifechter, USA

Ladies Steel Longsword
1st Kiana Shurkin, Maryland KDF, USA
2nd Eliisa Keskinen, EHMS, Finland
3rd Julia Ström, GHFS, Sweden
4th Amanda Trail, Iron Crown KDF, USA

Synthetic Longsword
1st Jeff Tsay, Forte Swordplay, USA
2nd Myles Cupp, Kron, USA
3rd Peter Brusseau, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
4th Dave White, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada

Military Saber
1st Sam Street, Schwert am Schwert, USA
2nd Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA
3rd Douglas Bahnick, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
4th Kristian Ruokonen, EHMS, Finland

Sword & Buckler
1st Sam Street, Schwert am Schwert, USA
2nd Douglas Bahnick, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
3rd Jesse Tucker, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
4th Dan Stuart, Maryland KDF, USA

Ringen im Grublein
Lightweight
1st Douglas Bahnick, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
2nd Kris “Peaches” Schmidt, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
3rd Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA

Heavyweight
1st Sean Franklin, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
2nd Charles Murdock, Grünberg Freifechter, USA
3rd Christan Trosclair, System d’Armes, USA

Cutting:
1st Tristán Żukowski, New York Historical Fencing Association, USA
2nd Sean Franklin, Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada
3rd Daniel Stuart, Maryland KDF, USA

Team Competition
1st Blood & Iron Martial Arts, Canada

Complete 2013 Statistics available here.

2012 Medalists

Open Longsword
1st Ben Michels, MKDF, USA
2nd Jonathan Scott, MKDF/MFFG, USA
3rd Jeremy Steflik, WSTR, USA

Ladies Longsword
1st Susanna Pyatkovskaya, Kunstbrüder, USA
2nd Jess Finley, Selohaar Fechtschule, USA
3rd Kiana Shurkin, MKDF, USA

Sword & Buckler
1st Sam Street, Schwert am Schwert, USA
2nd Peter Brusseau, VAF, USA
3rd Eric Wiggins, Ordo Procinctus, USA

Dussack
1st Glenn Hendrick, Krieg School, USA
2nd Jonathan Gordon, VAF, USA
3rd Richard Marsden, Phoenix Society for Historical Swordsmanship, USA

Cutting
1st Tristán Żukowski, NYHFA, USA
2nd Ben Hawkins, Academy of Historical Arts, Scotland
3rd Steven Hirsch, Kunstbrüder, USA

Complete 2012 results here.

2011 Medalists

Open Longsword
1st Scott Brown, Schwert am Schwert, USA
2nt Jay Vail, MFFG, USA
3rd Ben Floyd, Krieg School, USA

Dussack
1st Lee Smith, Blood and Iron Martial Arts, CAN
2nd David Rowe, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA

2015 Medalists

Longpoint Triathlon
Champion/Gold: Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA
Silver: 
Bronze: Bill Grandy, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA

Team Event
Winners: Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA (head coach: Bill Grandy)

Open Steel Longsword
Gold: Dustin Reagan, Redlands Fencing Center, USA
Silver: Ben Strickling, Triangle Sword Guild, USA
Bronze: Axel Pettersson, GHFS, Sweden
Honorable Mention: TBP

Women’s Steel Longsword
Gold: Katy Kramlich, Wisconsin Historical Fencing Association, USA
Silver: Kiana Shurkin, Maryland Kunst des Fechtens, USA
Bronze: Eliisa Keskinen, EHMS, Finland

Rapier and Dagger
Gold: Axel Petterson, GHFS, Sweden
Silver: Kristine Konsmo, Free Duellists, Norway
Bronze: Kristofer Stanson, Stiegman, Sweden

Sword and Buckler
Gold: Axel Pettersson, GHFS, Sweden
Silver: Bill Grandy, Virginia Academy of Fencing, USA
Bronze: Kristian Ruokonen, EHMS, Finland

Rookie Training Tournament
Gold: Travis Mayott, MKDF, USA
Silver:
Bronze: 

Paired Technique Demonstration
Gold: 
Silver: 
Bronze: 

Longsword Cutting
Gold: 
Silver: 
Bronze: 

Ringen: Light Weight
Gold: 
Silver: 
Bronze: 

Ringen: Welterweight
Gold: 
Silver: 
Bronze: 

Ringen: Middle Weight
Gold: 
Silver: 
Bronze: 

Ringen: Open/Heavyweight
Gold: 
Silver: 
Bronze: 

Complete 2015 statistics available here