Sword fight convention strikes up crowd in Costa Mesa
By Mia Mejia 2 hrs ago
Multiple martial art forms were showcased at the Orange County Fair and Event Center. (Mia Mejia / Daily Titan)
Blades, swords, daggers and sabres swept Costa Mesa during SoCal Swordfight 2024, a Historical European Martial Arts tournament.
Hosted at the Orange County Fair and Events Center from Friday through Sunday, SoCal Swordfight remains the largest HEMA tournament in the world. The event held competitive matches in which contestants demonstrated historic fighting techniques and attempted to strike their opponents for points.
Competitions exhibited a variety of weaponry dating back to the 14th century, including longswords, rapiers, sabres and daggers. The event also introduced new weapons at the tournaments, such as the cinquedea dagger, which is an 18-inch dagger that originated in Italy.
SoCal Swordfight began in 2012 and was originally hosted in a Southern California elementary school before growing to its current magnitude.
The event now includes more activities than just competitions. Chris Ponzillo, managing director of SoCal Swordfight, works to provide new amenities and plan events that participants of diverse backgrounds can enjoy.
“If you don't want to fight, you can learn. If you don't want to come in and do classes, you can watch,” Ponzillo said. “We’re trying to have activities for everybody and that I think is where we’re different than we’ve ever been in the past.”
This year’s tournament featured an antique weapons showcase with items that were up to 8,000 years old, 110 hours of classes and vendors from across the United States.
Last year, Ponzillo was surprised to see 400 spectator tickets purchased and hopes to see that number continue to rise as the event grows in popularity.
“Some of our plans going into next year are again focused on how we make it more fun for spectators, how we make it a little bit more of an event for the community to come to,” Ponzillo said.
SoCal Swordfight also serves as a hub for the martial arts alliances and allows groups to explore different fighting styles, connect with other teams and represent their clubs.
The Cal State Fullerton Medieval Swordsmanship Club attended over the weekend with members participating in various competitions.
Nishan Jayasinghe, a second year computer science major at CSUF and club speaker for the Fullerton Medieval Swordsmanship Club, was grateful for the group to be represented and exposed to other organizations.
“It's wonderful meeting all the different people with all the different opinions. Seeing how other groups differ from ours, how ours differ from theirs,” Jayasinghe said. “There’s so much interesting cultural retinue to dissect in an event like this.”
Jayasinghe studies longsword techniques. However, he explained that the tournament is about much more than combat.
Studying the history of various fighting styles is an important aspect to participating and is often what attracts people to the sport. Members of the club study texts written by knights and work to master their techniques using modern safety equipment.
“I think it’s really engrossing and immersing to be able to sort of imagine people hundreds of years ago doing the exact same stuff we were doing, reading the same books that we are and coming to sort of similar motor conclusions about how to do things,” Jayasinghe said.
Robin John Price, a featured instructor, also emphasized the importance of history and connecting with one’s ancestry.
“A lot of people of European descent wonder ‘what did my ancestors do? what kind of martial art did they do?’” Price said. “You learn a lot of the traditions and cultural aspects of the different arts as you learn them.”
Price has attended SoCal Swordfight since its first meeting 12 years ago and believes everyone should try a martial art because of the self-confidence it can give.
As the event continues to evolve, directors take recommendations from participants to improve. Coordinators are already planning for next year, considering new martial arts styles and displays to include.
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