YOUNGSTOWN — Would you like to fight people with swords?

Well, you should, Adam Severa, founder of Youngstown Historical Fencing, said.

Severa said if someone had told him seven years ago that he would spend a substantial amount of his free time teaching people to fight with swords like it’s the 14th century, he would’ve called that person a liar — there’s no way he would be doing something that cool.

But do it he does.

Youngstown Historical Fencing is a HEMA, or Historical European Martial Arts, club that studies individual combat techniques described in texts from the 14th to 16th centuries.

“It’s not a thing most people are familiar with,” Severa said. The group doesn’t do re-enactment, role-playing or theatrical combat, wear costumes, or fight with foam swords or bamboo sticks, he said.

What Youngstown Historical Fencing does is just that — historical swordfighting, done as accurately as possible, with some safety measures in place. The group practices a variety of styles with various weapons, from long swords and rapiers to daggers and wrestling systems — “a whole cornucopia of ways to kill people,” Severa joked.

FINDING FENCING

Severa, of New Middletown, became interested in historical martial arts in 2015 when looking for something to drive his fitness goals in the winter, after seeing two videos about a historical fencing group in Pittsburgh.

“I’m a child of the ’80s and ’90s. So, I grew up with ‘He Man’ and ‘Highlander’ and more fantasy novels and games than you can shake a stick at,” Severa said. “So swords have kind of always been, in an abstract, cool.”

Severa became involved at the Pittsburgh club, but could only practice once or twice per week due to the nearly three-hour round-trip drive. His friend suggested he start a group closer to home.

“At the time, I said, man, that seems like it’s going to be a lot of work,” Severa said. “And, spoiler alert: it was.”

Nevertheless, Severa eventually decided to take a stab at running a club and started Youngstown Historical Fencing, borrowing as much equipment as he could and practicing in Mill Creek Park with four or five students. As winter neared, the group moved into a gym.

The club, now with some 35 core members, recently celebrated its three-year “birthday bash” at Whispering Pines Castle in Rogers.

HONORING HISTORY

Youngstown Historical Fencing is not interested in fighting styles that have evolved — such as modern sport fencing, Severa said. The club is interested in the “dinosaurs” of fighting styles that “went extinct.”

“What we try to do is faithfully recreate the dinosaur with as little frog DNA in it as possible,” Severa said, referencing the film “Jurassic Park.” “Because, if you have frog DNA in your dinosaur, it’s not really a dinosaur anymore.”

Severa said historical fencers are lucky to have a “staggering” amount of documentation of historic fighting systems, typically in the form of descriptions and sometimes including drawings as well. Youngstown Historical Fencing focuses mostly on the German school of longsword fencing.

Still, with no living masters and the last active practitioner of these styles long dead, it’s hard to be 100 percent accurate, Severa said. Plus, with styles designed to kill, some practical safety measures must be taken.

“If we were trying to be completely accurate, the classes that we held would be over quickly, and would involve a substantial amount of cleanup, and the gym people would probably get mad at me,” Severa said.

So the club fights with blunted swords and wears protective equipment, even though the styles the members study are meant for unarmored combat.

FOR THE SWORDS

Swords are what draw people to the club. Whether it’s a little kid or a 70-year-old retiree, something special happens when you hand someone a steel sword, Severa said.

“There’s something symbolic. There’s something archaic. There’s something that most people have a connection with when they hold a sword that doesn’t happen when they hold a stick or a golf club,” Severa said.

People typically stay with the club because they become invested in the history — not something from “a galaxy far, far away,” or from a video game or TV show, but a real fighting form that was practiced for hundreds of years.

Of course, people also stay for the fitness and competitive aspects. Fencing is not a team sport — it’s one person and a weapon against another person and a weapon.

In any given year, Ohio has seven or eight large historical fencing tournaments and five or six smaller events, Severa said.

While there’s a fair amount of physical work to the sport, anyone could get off the couch and come learn to swing a sword — he or she just might be a little sore the next day, Severa said.

Youngstown Historical Fencing holds four-week introductory sessions for newcomers every six weeks; the next is slated for late July.

“Our intro classes are approached from the viewpoint that you don’t even know what a sword is. You’ve never seen one in your life,” Severa said.

Beginners do not need any equipment. Youngstown Historical Fencing charges on a per-class or per-session basis and has most of its sessions on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. Information is available at www.youngstownhf.com.

Ohio has a number of HEMA clubs in metropolitan areas, Severa said, and the clubs mingle for formal and informal gatherings.

“You end up with a lot of friends,” Severa said. “It’s like going to a big family reunion — but you get to fight everyone.”