St. Petersburg on the Podium: Results of the 'Sword of the Northwest' Final

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For those seeing HEMA competitions for the first time, the event may resemble an elaborate form of historical reenactment — armor, historical terminology, centuries-old treatises as the basis for technique. In reality, it is a sports discipline with its own rules, judging system, and training process. Combat techniques are taken from historical sources. They are drilled in sparring sessions and regular training with real — though blunted — weapons, and the protective gear is designed for actual impact.

One of the people who helped shape the Russian approach to HEMA is Evgeny Strzhalkovsky, founder of the club “Bern.” He notes that many techniques used by athletes were drawn from treatises of the 13th–20th centuries. This method — first studying the sources, then testing them in practice — has become the foundation of athlete preparation in clubs in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities.

The tournament results clearly show how this approach influenced the level of training in the Northern Capital. St. Petersburg fencers took all podium places in the three main disciplines.

Longsword
Women:
— 1st place — Alena Tikhomirova (HEMA Team)
— 2nd place — Evgeniya Shumakova (HEMA Team)
— 3rd place — Valeria Shapkina (“Guild of Free Fencers”)

Men:
— 1st place — Timofey Matrosov (“Guild of Free Fencers”)
— 2nd place — Andrey Shilov (“Guild of Free Fencers”)
— 3rd place — Pavel Kolotygin (“Guild of Free Fencers”)

Dueling Sabre
Women:
— 1st place — Olga Antonova (“White Detachment”)

Men:
— 1st place — Andrey Muzurin (“CounterTime”)
All other podium positions in this discipline also went to athletes from St. Petersburg.

Renaissance Rapier

Men:
— 1st place — Sergey Solovyanov (“Guild”)
— 2nd place — Timofey Matrosov (“Guild”)
— 3rd place — Maksim Loginov (“Guild”)

Women:
— Anastasia Parkhacheva
— Yana Platonova
— Evgeniya Isaeva
(all representing St. Petersburg clubs)

Since 2025, HEMA has become part of the all-Russian tournament “Sword of Russia,” which formalized it as a fully recognized sports discipline rather than a niche within the reenactment community.

According to Evgeny Strzhalkovsky, interest in HEMA is driven by more than just the intensity of the fights:
“Here, technique is grounded in the sources. A person studies how fighters of earlier eras worked and tests it in sparring. That’s where development comes from — through constant verification of one’s ideas in practice.”

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