While we will continue to update this page, most up to date information will be found in the Facebook event: HLO 2023. You can also follow us on instagram (@ehms_ry) and get the news slightly faster.
General information
EHMS will host the ninth Helsinki Longsword Open on the 27th and 28th of January 2023. This year we will be hosting a total of five competitions:
- Open Longsword
- Women’s Longsword
- Open Messer
- Open Sword + Buckler
- Cutting
When a competition is full, signing up will get you on the wait list.
More information can be found in the Facebook event: HLO 2023.
We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Finland. If you have any symptoms, please do not attend the event. We recommend all participants to be fully vaccinated.
All rules and gear requirements
The Sword & Buckler tournament will be conducted on a “Bring your own sword” basis. The bucklers are provided by the tournament organizers.
Swords for all of the other competitions will be provided by the tournament, including the swords used for cutting. You are not allowed to use your own weapons in any of the tournaments besides Sword and Buckler.
- Tournament Structure
- Open / Women’s Longsword
- Open Messer
- Open Sword + Buckler
- Equipment Requirements
- Longsword Cutting Rules
Date, time and schedule
Friday 27.1.
16:30 Doors open / Arrival
16:45 Welcome speech / rules
17:00 S&B pools 1, 2 (incl. gear check)
18:00 S&B pools 3, 4 (incl. gear check)
17:00 Cutting round 1
19:00 S&B pools 5, 6 (incl. gear check)
19:00 Cutting round 2
20:15 S&B elims
20:00 Cutting finals
21:15 Packing up and cleaning
Saturday 28.1.
08:00 Doors open / Arrival
08:45 Welcome speech / rules
09:00 OLS pools 1-4 (incl. gear check)
10:00 OLS pools 5-8 (incl. gear check)
11:00 OLS pools 9-12 (incl. gear check)
12:00 OLS pools 13-16 (incl. gear check)
13:00 Break
14:00 OLS Elims
15:30 WLS pools 1-4 (incl. gear check)
16:30 WLS elims
17:00 Messer pools 1-3 (incl. gear check)
18:00 Messer pools 4-6 (incl. gear check)
18:45 Messer elims
19:15 Setting up for finals
19:30 All finals
21:15 Medals / Awards ceremony
21:30 Packing up and cleaning
Afterparty at Bar Felt Bay (the same place as previous years)
Note that unlike originally annouced, Messer is NOT scheduled to overlap with Women’s Longsword.
Sunday 29.1.
Free sparring at EHMS salle.
Livestream
This year, we will be recording all rings on Friday, and livestreaming all rings all day on Saturday! The livestreams will be on the EHMS YouTube channel.
Venue info
The tournament will take place at Ruskeasuon liikuntapuisto. This is the same venue that has hosted the Helsinki Longsword Open the past several years. The address is Ratsastie 10, 00280 Helsinki. The venue can be reached by several bus lines (bus stop Tilkka) and the tram line 10. There is plenty of parking available. Parking is free, but restricted to 4 hours.
The venue café will be open during the tournament, and sells food, drinks, and quick snacks. The Tripla shopping mall, with many food options, is also only about 1km away.
Insurance
EHMS will not provide insurance for the event. We highly recommend getting a sports insurance that covers full contact martial arts in a competition setting. Note that Finland does not have a national HEMA association, which is something some insurers may ask about.
First aid
There will be first aid staff on site during the event.
Contact info
You can contact the organisers by email at hlo@ehms.fi or through the Facebook event page.
Payment and registration
Registration will open 14.10.2022 and stay open until 8.1.2023. Please register using the link at the bottom of this page!
The pricing of the event is as follows:
Open Longsword: 85 €
Women’s Longsword: 85 €
Messer tournament: 45 €
Sword + Buckler tournament: 35 €
Cutting tournament: 42€
Note that women can compete in both the Women’s and the Open Longsword tournament. If you compete in both Longsword tournaments, the price of the second tournament is 35 €. Open Messer will be scheduled to overlap with Women’s Longsword. It is possible to participate in both, but we cannot guarantee normal rest between matches.
We will send bills per email based on your registration.
The registration will not be considered confirmed until payment has been received! The bill will have a due date 14 days from the date it is sent. The bills will be sent in batches, so don’t worry if you don’t receive yours right away. Note that if you neglect to pay the bill within a month of issue, you will be dropped from the roster. Please contact us if you have questions regarding billing.
We will not issue refunds after 30.12.2022 without a good reason!
All participants must be at least 18 years old.
We welcome spectators to the event for free!
Accommodations at the EHMS salle
Like previous years, it is possible to sleep at the EHMS salle in Sörnäinen the nights between Friday-Saturday and Saturday-Sunday. More information here
Do note that on Sunday, there is free sparring at the salle from 12 onwards. We recommend getting your sleeping gear out of the way before then.
Questions? Contact us at hlo@ehms.fi or post a question on the Facebook event page.
Please view the data privacy statement in English or in Finnish.
T-shirt
We also have a kickass t-shirt that you can order during registration!
Information about registration
Registration is now open on Hemagon! Note that you need to create a Hemagon account to register.
There is no automatic confirmation email – you can see your registration through your Hemagon profile. After registration but before payment, it will show up as Submitted; after payment, it will show as Approved, at which point your registration will be public on Hemagon.