About Us
Founded in 2012, the Institute for Historical Arts (IHA) have been teaching European swordsmanship in Dundee for over a decade.
We operate as a non-profit club, where any money received is used to improve the club itself such as purchasing more equipment for our members to use (as well as to cover operating costs).
Our approach to HEMA is to teach and practice “true to history” technique as described in fencing manuals we study, while remaining martially effective as fencers in the modern context in which we practice.
Instructors
The people who teach our classes, and generally run the club
Mark Wilkie (Head Instructor & President)
The club’s founder and head instructor. Mark has a wealth of knowledge in German Longsword, British Singlestick, and many other systems, and is known to perform very well at tournaments local and distant.
James MacGilp (Instructor & Treasurer)
Starting as a student when the club was opened and stubbornly refusing to leave, James teaches all things Joachim Meyer (while being particularly interested in the dussack), as well as earlier Liechtenauer longsword. He also studies some Italian rapier treatises.
Academy of Historical Arts
We are proud to be a club affiliated with the Academy of Historical Arts (AHA)
As an affiliate club, our registered members are also members of the AHA which provides several benefits (including personal martial arts insurance)
Constitution & Policies
In this section you will find information and links to our club’s constitution and policies
Constitution
Our constitution describes our core activities, aims, and objectives as a club, as well as information on how the club is organised and how it would be dissolved if required.
[link to constitution PDF here]
Health & Safety
We adhere to Health & Safety practices as defined by the Academy of Historical Arts Health and Safety policy. This is required both for insurance purposes, and to ensure our activities can be carried out with minimal risk.
Data Protection
We are required to keep records of our members for several purposes, and only use this information as defined in our Data Protection policy.
We also occasionally capture photos and videos of our practice – the way in which this media is used is defined here too.
Equality & Diversity
We want our club to be a diverse and welcoming environment for all.
Our club is open to people from all walks of life, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.
Our instructors are willing, where health and safety permits, to modify activities as required to allow individuals to take part
The Institute for Historical Arts 