Dearest fellow fencers,
this is the first instalment of the EHMS News! Since we’ve gotten feedback that social media isn’t ideal for staying up to date about current events and changes in how things operate, we’re trying out a more direct way of communicating. The contents of this post have also been sent to all members by email.
In this post, you’ll find:
- Information on marking your gear (Your name, in all your gear)
- The care and feeding of Bucket of Shame (We are photographing the contents every two-ish months, if your stuff is unnamed and in pics twice, it becomes club gear)
- A clarification about storing your gear at the salle (If you are inactive for multiple months, consider taking your stuff home)
- New stuff: Salle Contact People (We want you to be able to tell us how you feel about training)
- Feedback form (also: Summer party!)
- Salle updates (Changes and improvements to gear storage, mostly)
- Website updates (We need your help!)
- Upcoming events and competitions (Where are we going in the next couple of months)
- Bucket of Shame this week! (Check if your stuff is in here)
If you only read one thing, read this:
We are changing things around at the salle. Since we have a larger number of active people training than ever before, the gear storage area needs to be used better. We ask all of you who are storing your masks on the shelves in the middle of the gear area to please start storing them in your gear bags with the rest of your gear, so we can turn those shelves into more room for those gear bags.
A full set of gear fits quite easily in those white bags; if you have additional gear (multiple pairs of gloves, a second mask), we ask you to consider whether you need to store all of them at the salle. We understand that you might have to shuffle things around, this is not a “do it by next week” but a “we will be reorganising the gear storage during the summer, and this is a part of it”.
Also! We’ve got gear baskets for sale now at the salle, 15€ a piece! Ask a board member to sell you one if you need it.
Information on marking your gear (how and why)
The EHMS Board would like to remind everyone that marking your gear is in your best interest.
We ask all members to properly name all their gear, i.e., each weapon and piece of protective gear stored at the salle should have the name of the owner in an easy to find place. Loaner gear that belongs to EHMS will also soon have appropriate EHMS markings (work in progress, see blue squares on loaner jackets).
For marking your gear you are welcome to use the markers in the training hall, as well as the label maker. If you cannot find markers or the label maker is out of battery or paper, let someone know.
We understand that people might not like having markings displayed prominently on their gear for aesthetic reasons, so the markings don’t have to necessarily be written in an obvious place, but they should be relatively easy to find within a few seconds of searching.
The markings should be distinguishable enough not only for the owner, but written so that other members can also recognise who the owner is. For example, let’s say that a member has a sword with a blue and orange wrapping on the handle. That makes it distinguishable and recognisable by them, but if they forget it on the floor, others do not necessarily know who it belongs to. For that reason, initials, symbols, or colours alone are not enough to determine the owner of a piece of gear. Full first + last name is preferred, but as long as the name is identifiable there is no specific rule. Other types of markings can still of course be used for aesthetic / customisation reasons, or for the owner’s own convenience.
This is asked so that we avoid issues with lost / misplaced gear that have occurred in the past. Thanks for your cooperation.
The care and feeding of Bucket of Shame
Marking your gear is important because most people will, at least once in their fencing career, leave some of their stuff laying around after training. When that happens, most of the time that gear ends in the Bucket Of Shame. If you find a glove, a plastron, or another piece of gear laying around without markings clearly indicating it as club gear, and if no one currently nearby identifies it as theirs, feel free to put it in the bucket.
The point of the bucket is not, despite the name, to shame you. The first course of action when finding gear should be to ask whether someone is currently missing it. This is also why having your name clearly and identifiably on your gear makes the process easier for everyone. You can also return gear to the owner’s own gear storage sack if you are feeling courteous.
The bucket has now been moved from its previous spot next to the jacket rack. If you see a jacket on the floor next to the jacket rack, the correct place is to lift it on a hanger on the rack. Similarly, if you find gear on the floor near the gear storage bins, please make a quick check if you can identify the bin it should live in. This is also why marking your gear storage bin with the same name as your gear might save you from digging through the bucket of shame.
Once every two months, we will go through the bucket of shame, and photograph the contents. Those photos will be in these info emails. If the same gear is in the photos the next time, and it does not have a name on it, it will become club gear. If the gear is clearly named, we will make an effort to return it to its correct bin – and if we can’t find the bin, we will contact the owner. If you see your gear in the photos but can’t, for some reason, make it to the salle to retrieve it from the bucket, let us know. The point is not to get more loaner gear for the club, the point is to stop gear from floating in and out of the bucket for months on end.
A clarification about storing your gear at the salle
Related to the above. By paying the monthly or seasonal training fee you can also store your fencing equipment at the salle. The storage space is limited and is not meant for long-time passive storage – if you know you will be taking a longer break, you are expected to move your gear away to make space for active practitioners.
Here, too, properly marked gear and gear storage bin are your best measures to make sure your gear does not end up in the bucket of shame and then in club loaner gear.
New stuff: salle contact people!
We want you to tell us how you feel about the club! If you have feedback or/and questions about anything, or ideas about how to improve the club and the salle, please tell us! The board members are always open to hearing about this stuff (we’ll put a set of photos of us on the new info board once we get it on the wall, so it should be easy to recognize us!)
Of course, the feedback circle after training is a great place for feedback about specific training and training in general – but if you ever feel uncomfortable talking to a whole class of people about something, or if it feels like you want to talk to someone other than the instructor of the training, or if you just want to have a quick chat about something, we want to give you a chance for that.
Related to this, we are looking for volunteers that aren’t instructors, so we might hopefully always have contact people of multiple genders at the salle, a dedicated person to talk to if the need ever arises. For now, iita especially volunteers as a tribute – you can always tap her on the shoulder about anything.
Feedback form
We would also ask you to fill this questionnaire to give us an indication of how you’re currently feeling about EHMS! It also includes a spot for open feedback – in case there’s anything you’ve been wanting to let us know.
We are also thinking of having an EHMS Summer Party! A casual potluck style day – the form includes three dates we are considering, let us know which ones work for you!
Salle updates
Already done
- The loaner coat rack has been lowered by a few centimetres and more hangers have been added.
- The big cardboard box from the top of the Kallax shelves next to the entrance has been finally removed
We are also re-organizing the salle to make it more usable for all of us:
To be done
- As mentioned above, we’re hoping to get a corkboard up soon with a lot of the information you might need at training day to day – sparring rules, gear naming guidelines, board members, contact information.
- We are planning to replace the cabinet furniture
- We will get rid of the sofa
- We are looking into improving the loaner gear bins situation
- Etc…
Website updates
While the club is fond of many old things and historical artefacts, most of us can probably agree the club website does not need to be a museum piece. We’re working on fixing this. If you have relevant skills or passionate opinions (about website design, about squarespace vs wix vs just updating to the newest version of wordpress, about what information you would want on the website) and want to be involved, let us know! We are starting by updating the current site bit by bit, but are hoping to either rebuild or seriously refresh the whole thing.
It is our hope that this is not going to be done by just the board; we want to involve the club and people who are interested. There will be more information in these emails as we progress.
Upcoming Events and Competitions
- A number of people from EHMS will be judging and/or competing at Ahma Cub in Jyväskylä on the 20th of May! We’ve been led to believe there will be a livestream; the link to it will at least be distributed on Instagram if/when that happens, hopefully also the FB group. https://www.ahmajkl.fi/ahma-cub-2023/
- A number of EHMS fencers are also going to Holmgång in Stockholm on the 3rd of June! http://spiffaktning.se/index.php/holmgang-2023/
- We will have a spot at Ropecon and hopefully will be showing off HEMA and representing EHMS with a small program at Ropecon – VilleV and Miro will be soliciting volunteers for this when the time is nearer.
- Bothnia Open returns again this year on the 13th of August – a beginner-friendly low-threshold tournament in Pietarsaari, we had a great time last year and there will most likely be a bunch of us on a train there again this year, we might also rent cabins again. Spots still open! https://www.facebook.com/events/765031998369170/
Bucket of Shame in early May
Named / marked items in the Bucket
“VS”
“Marcell Berta”
“Gröhn”
See you at the salle!
EHMS Board
