Today I had the enormous joy of learning an ancient and (at one point) nearly extinct form of #HEMA

Today I had the enormous joy of learning an ancient and (at one point) nearly extinct form of #HEMA - boiscín or #bataireacht (Irish stick-fighting with the shillelagh), in a workshop by specialist researcher & martial artist Maxime Chouinard.
Bataireacht is unique amongst surviving stick combat arts, and there are clues that it possibly represents a form of combat used throughout Europe as far back as Roman times, preserved by Irish and Bretons. In practice, it feels very similar to Dog Brother’s style of fighting, and also some of the street combat I’ve seen in Asia. Overall I had a lot of fun.