Ursa Major aspires to bring Historical Fencing and medieval combat to as many people as possible - and one of the ways we do that is by putting on public and private events! From birthdays and buck’s nights to school incursions and medieval shows - our members have brought phenomenal fighting and medieval mayhem to clients all over Perth.

Below is a sample of events we’ve hosted and attended, including all of our tournaments and public events. Our clients include:

• The Perth Knife Show
• York Medieval Fayre
• Perth Medieval Fayre
• St Mary’s Anglican Girls School
• Wesley College
• Christian Brothers College
• St Patrick's Anglican Church
• Rehoboth Christian College
• Helena College
• Dolphin Discovery Centre, Bunbury
• Numerous private clients

If you’re looking for something to add a little excitement to your events, get in touch!

Open tournaments force competitors to adapt to asymmetric weapon systems and tactics, pitting a variety of weapons against each other. In our open tournament, any edged weapon from European history is allowed, with a scoring structure that reflects their use. For example; a rapier scores full points for thrusts and slices, but less for cuts - while a messer scores full points for all attack types.

Check out the fight footage on our YouTube channel!

Sword tournaments at Ursa Major are a fast-paced and flashy affair. Our one-handed sword syllabus covers a variety of sources, including messer, arming sword, sabre, and sidesword - and our members make it show with a diversity of skill and fighting styles. This year’s tournament was dominated by David, Ben, and Toby - congrats to the winners! Check out some footage of the day here.

The Australian Knife Art Association runs knife shows across the country, giving bladesmiths, vendors, collectors, and others the opportunity to meet and learn more about knife art and bladesmithing. This year we were invited to attend and put on combat demonstrations for the attendees. Across the weekend we offered a safari of the various weapons and combat systems across medieval and renaissance Europe, a demonstration of historical and modern tournaments, and a whole lot of chaotic fight pits!

One weapon is cool, but you’ve got two hands, so why not have a weapon in each?! Our s & b tournament this year was a bit of a firecracker, with just as many buckler punches as sword strikes! (we do like getting in close here in WA). Congrats to Nick, Dan, and David, who dominated the day!

What’s better than a sword? A LONG sword! We had a field of formidable fighters this year, but Coby, Sam, and Knuckles prevailed. You can check out some fight footage from the day here.

The York Fayre is a yearly event for us and it’s a great day of fighting, archery, banter, and more fighting! This year on top of our normal combat demonstration, we gave the crowd a taste of what a real historical tournament would have been like, in comparison to a modern Historical Fencing tournament. If you haven’t made it to the York Fayre yet, you’re missing out!

One-handed swords are a fast and vicious weapon, and as varied as the competitors that wield them. Our one-handed sword tournament allows any European one-handed sword, from the knightly arming sword, to the brutal and efficient messer, and even the civilised and simple sabre (sorry Zorro, no rapiers). This year’s tournament was a cracker, with the podium stacked with Coby, Rob, and Sam. Congrats to all competitors!

The first War in the West held under our new colours, this one was a doozy! With over 30 fencers from around Australia, competing across 4 tournaments (including our (in)famous open tournament, there was something for everyone. Thanks to all that came along and took part, and well done to the winners! There’s a huge amount of fight footage on our YouTube channel, check it out here!

Dagger is a fast, vicious, and bloody weapon that takes no prisoners... sounds like a cracker of a time! We tried a ruleset that had fighters starting at arm’s reach and weapon sheathed in their belts - requiring a quick draw and nerves of steel. Troy, David, and Daniel dominated the day - well done fellas!

Swordplay and nerds seem to go hand in hand, and it’s no different for us! We dropped in on Genghiscon to give everyone a taste of what we do.

Drilling and sparring are only part of the equation - you need to apply your knowledge and stress-test your abilities too. To this end we hold tournaments at the end of each quarter that our members can take part in to test their mettle. Congratulations to Tom, Peter and Chris for your stellar performance on the day - check out some of the day's footage here.

Every year the town of York comes alive for the York Medieval Fayre. Performers and vendors of all kinds travel to the cozy town to take part in the revelry. Come along and see our fierce warriors engaged in combat with a variety of weapons, from longswords to harsh language!

Join us for four, 1 hour sessions delving into the work of Alfred Hutton's treatise on the Sabre, Cold Steel - as taught by Andrew Stewart. 

Workshops will run for one hour, starting at 7.30pm on July 17th, 19th, 24th and 26th.

Masks are available for loan, though you will need to bring your own Sabre, light gloves and some water. 

Our members gather to test their acquired skills gained over the last several months through our sword syllabus. Tournaments not only test your weapon skills but an array of other skill sets such as measure control, situational awareness, tactics, footwork and general fitness, just to name a few!

War is coming once more! The biggest and best HEMA event on the West Coast will be waged across 3 days and 3 tournaments; sword & buckler, rapier & longsword - details & registration here!

Jens Kleinau from ZORNHAU - historische Fechtkunst e.V. is touring Australia and is joining us in Perth for two days of Historical European Martial Arts!

Over the two days, Jens will cover longsword, messer, sword & buckler and dagger based on his extensive interpretation and research into Masters Hans Talhoffer, and Johannes Liechtenauer.

Tickets are $150 per person for both days - registration is open until July 1 and places are limited so get in quick! Register here!

It's our great pleasure to bring two of the most prolific and accomplished HEMA practitioners to Perth for the first time. Kristine Konsmo and Axel Pettersson will be joining us to spend two full days exploring longsword and sword & buckler - come along and learn from some of the best!

Check out the event here.

Festival of the Sword '17 is a four day Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) Convention. Fencers will have the option to compete in longsword, sword and rapier events as well as the 'Grand Duel' event on the Tuesday afternoon.
Seminars and workshops will be held across the 4 days from leading national and international HEMA instructors.

Aside from 3 days of competitions, Swordplay offers the chance to cross blades with some of the best swords people in Australia as well as HEMA workshops across the event.
This year Swordplay is hosted at an indoor venue for the first time! There will be medium and open categories for Rapier, Sword and Buckler, Longsword, and Sabre

View full event details here.

It's on again and this year the York Medieval Fayre is bigger than last year!
Come along and support this local community event with all proceeds going to charity.

House Darksun hosted their first national tournament in 2015 and we had so much fun we did it again in 2016! The event continues to grow and 2017 will bigger with more fencing than you can poke a longsword at!
Full event details, including registration and schedule are here.

 A man who needs no introduction within the HEMA community, House Darksun is excited to be hosting Keith Farrell – a senior instructor at the Academy of Historical Arts (Scotland) during the last week of August 2016.
Keith has authored Scottish Broadsword and British Singlestick and the AHA German Longsword Study Guide and is a regular contributor to the Encased in Steel online blog, publishing an anthology from the blog in 2015.

Between Aug 27-28th Keith will be taking an in depth look at the 5 words of Liechtenauer (aka ‘Bloody Good Fun with Longswords’) in Perth, WA. That’s 2 full days from this amazing teacher! Using a methodical approach to skill development combined with Keith’s knowledge of teaching models and theories has helped create healthy, stimulating learning environment for swift personal development at HEMA conventions around the globe. Keith has delivered workshops at Swordfish, Dreynevent, Iron Gate Exhibition, HEMAC conventions in Scotland, France and Italy, Fightcamp and TaurHEMAchia to name a few. This event is a must for any historical European martial artist.