DOA HEMA

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DOA HEMA Duelists of Appalachia [DOA] HEMA operates as a nonprofit sports team in the greater Charleston area of WV with a focus on Italian Longsword, Rapier and Sabre.

Classes every Wednesday and Saturday, occasional events and tournaments. Come see about us!

10/07/2026

Class tonight at 6pm folks.

$2 at the door.

10/04/2026

Nice class today. Nice lil pow-wow after, too.

We're excited to see the club growing in the direction it's going in! A true team dynamic that we *thought* we could only hope for, but you guys are truly bringing it to life. We're in awe, really.

Dalla Spada team! 🤺

10/02/2026

Class on Saturday is at 1pm.
Wear comfy clothes!

McKinley Community Center
Saint Albans WV

09/29/2026

Hey guys we forgot to post about our Saturday class, our bad.
Next class is Wednesday!

Thanks Joe, for taking photos of class tonight, which also happens to be Alden's last night as an instructor for DOA HEM...
09/24/2026

Thanks Joe, for taking photos of class tonight, which also happens to be Alden's last night as an instructor for DOA HEMA.

When we set out to create a HEMA club in Charleston, never did we expect there to be such an interest, but man.. are we glad that we did.

Sure, HEMA looks and sounds cool, but there's actually a lot of behind-the-scenes studying involved and that's the part we expected would turn people away. Lots of hours scouring through swordfighting manuals that are older than the country we live in; practicing stances, moves, drills, guards, cuts, thrusts, footwork, etc.

But sure enough, we've found a large group of folks who were just as dedicated and passionate as we were to make this possible.

And as we move forward toward our future goals as a brand new 501c3 and have a bittersweet departure of one of our instructors, we know that it can only get more fun from here on out.

Dalla Spada, team! 🤺

So one of our instructors who's become a big part of the spirit of our team, Alden Olyniec, has accepted a new job which...
09/23/2026

So one of our instructors who's become a big part of the spirit of our team, Alden Olyniec, has accepted a new job which will be taking him to the West Coast.

While we're sad to lose his fun and cheerful presence, we know that wherever he goes, he'll bring laughter and a helluva fight!

We'll miss you buddy, hope you continue being valued wherever you go and we wish you all our best.

one of our team sent this to the discord a couple days ago; apparently we made the paper. we thought that was pretty coo...
09/20/2026

one of our team sent this to the discord a couple days ago; apparently we made the paper. we thought that was pretty cool.

Gnight everyone!

09/18/2026

We've been under the weather for the past few days after attending HurriCon, so we've not updated this page much but here's a synopsis:

We had a great time, got to teach some folks about HEMA, ate at food trucks, hosted two exhibition tournaments (longsword and rapier) and our creator Chris was the guest on a convention panel.

We love doing stuff like this and love meeting people who never realized swordfighting is an actual sport.

Gnight everyone and we'll see you Saturday!

The day has already gotten off to a nice start! Come by and see us today at HurriCon WVWe're at Valley Park in Hurricane...
09/12/2026

The day has already gotten off to a nice start!

Come by and see us today at HurriCon WV
We're at Valley Park in Hurricane, WV and we'll be there til 5pm. Same for tomorrow!

Address

Charleston, WV

Telephone

(304)4100799

Website

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