Castlerock Museum Annual Gala

Castlerock Museum is holding its annual Gala on Saturday, June 14th from 10am-8pm. There will be demos include combat and swordsmanship (include WHFA), blacksmithing, mail making, bow making, and more. Check the event page for more details.

New home for WHFA - Appleton!

WHFA Appleton will be movingto the newly annouced "Flashback Martial Arts" martial arts training center starting July 1st. Flashback Martial Arts will offer classes on HEMA, Ju-Jitsu, MMA, all under one roof!

WHFA - La Crosse seeks Winter facility

WHFA La Crosse currently seeking a facility to rent as a winter/rainy weather practice location. Please feel free to use the contact form if you know of a suitable space.

Great Success: Sword Camp for Kids!

Jeremiah's Sword Camp was fantastic! Great participation from all! A big thanks to Ben and Katy for their help. Also special tthanks to Liz for her PR help. Big success in the Milwaukee area. Just wait until you experience the wonder of "Knight!"

HEMA

Historical European Martial Arts

Arms & Armour Black Prince Sword

At WHFA we practice Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), which is a subset of what is referred to more broadly as Western Martial Arts (WMA). These arts are the armed and unarmed martial traditions of Europe of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance as recorded in the Fechtbücher. The Fechtbücher are martial art manuals written by great masters such as Johannes Liechtenauer, Hans Döbringer, Hans Talhoffer, Fiore dei Liberi, Johannes Lecküchner, Peter von Danzig, Sigmund Ringeck, Jud Lew, Paulus Kal, Peter Falkner, Paulus Hector Mair and Joachim Meÿer.

What We Study

HEMA is an expansive art including

  • Ringen (Unarmed Combat), Dagger
  • Blossfechten (Unarmored Longsword)
  • Harnischfechten (Armored Longsword)
  • Polearms: Staff, Spear, Poleaxe
  • Messer, Arming Sword and Buckler
  • Rapier and Smallsword
  • Practice cutting with sharps

Who We Are

Currently, we have four chapters

  • WHFA - Appleton, Wisconsin

    See classes posed on the Appleton page

  • WHFA - La Crosse, Wisconsin

    At our Hall (Galesville) or Myrick Park (La Crosse) depending on weather (contact us) Thursday 6:00-8:00 PM Sunday 6:00-8:00 PM

  • WHFA - West Bend, Wisconsin

    Sunday 2:00 PM

  • WHFA - Kenosha-Racine, Wisconsin

    Classes at US Taekwondo Academy downtown Kenosha Tuesday 8PM: Leckuchner Messer/Meyer Rapier Thursday 8PM: Meyer Quarterstaff/ Open Mat Sunday 12PM: Liechtenauer Longsword
  • Aaron Pynenberg

    Aaron Pynenberg
    Bio

    WHFA Principal Instructor
    Jeremiah Backhaus

    Jeremiah Backhaus
    Bio

    WHFA Provost & Instructor-At-Large
    Scott Hanson

    Scott Hanson

    La Crosse Chapter Leader
    James Reilly

    James Reilly
    Bio

    Kenosha-Racine Chapter Leader