Everything you want to know about Hauke Swordplay Summit but were afraid to ask!
Ok, probably not everything and you're probably not afraid to ask.
The Hauke Swordplay Summit pledges to provide a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for all students of historical fencing and martial arts through focused practice and demonstration, with an emphasis on chivalric culture.
The Hauke Swordplay Summit began as a passion project of the Black Falcon School of Arms with a vision of bringing regional HEMA groups together to increase awareness of the English tradition of historical martial arts and allow other regional instructors to share their knowledge of other HEMA traditions.
In 2019, practitioners from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Wyoming, & Arizona gathered at The Abbey Events Complex in Cañon City, CO for a two-and-a-half day event of sharing knowledge culminating in the Tournoi du Faucon Noir armored deed (est. 2016). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hauke 2020 was canceled. In 2021 Hauke was conducted as a full summer of virtual classes with guest instructors from around the US and Europe. Hauke 2022 and 2023 were met with scheduling issues while attempting to secure a venue.
In 2024, Hauke made it's return at beautiful La Forêt in Black Forest, CO. A return symbolized but the choice of a phoenix for the shirt design from that year. Join us as we continue to grow Hauke Swordplay Summit!
When you attend the Hauke Swordplay Summit, you can expect a relaxed, focused atmosphere of HEMA camaraderie. Specific, interesting classes and lectures aimed towards helping to improve your understanding of HEMA share the daytime with our Deed of Arms—the Tournoi du Faucon Noir, in which participants work to recreate 15th century martial contests. The evening features free fencing in the fieldhouse, food and drink, and late-hour discussions between friends old and new.
Hosted by the Black Falcon School of Arms, the Summit is also your chance to get hands-on with the rarely-studied medieval English martial tradition contemporary with Fiore and Liechtenauer. Whether discussing the finer points of Burgundian pollaxe over brandy in the common room, grinding the burrs from your sword before the next bout of the Squires’ Deed, or comparing interpretations of the Grand Coupee, the Hauke Swordplay Summit aims to be your Rocky Mountain destination for a HEMA event where each letter of the acronym is equally important.
Nestled in the heart of Black Forest, surrounded by over 350 acres of majestic Ponderosa Pines, you’ll find the perfect rustic locale for Hauke Swordplay Summit. The property is home to two building on the National Register of Historic Places, Taylor Memorial Chapel & Ponderosa Lodge, and is worth exploring when you have some down-time during the event.
La Forêt had originally been a 500-acre summer estate of Alice Bemis Taylor, a philanthropist from an important Colorado Springs family. Mrs. Taylor held artist-in-residence programs on the estate she called La Forêt. The Taylor Memorial Chapel was built one year after the lodge as a memorial to her husband, Frederick Morgan Pike Taylor. Alice Taylor died in 1942 and the property was deeded to the Colorado Congregational Church by the Bemis Taylor Foundation.
In 2025, Hauke will be using the brand new Lapp Lodge, this new “home away from home” with 15 rooms will offer quality lodging for Hauke participants and the attached activity space will host some classes. Best of all, each bedroom will has its own bath and air-conditioning!
For more information on La Forêt, please visit their website at https://www.laforet.org
Please bring a valid ID with you for check-in. You are also required to sign a waiver, which can be completed at this link.
May 29 - June 1 2025 at La Forêt in Black Forest, Colorado! Brought to you by the Black Falcon School of Arms.
