This page will get updated as new info comes in. In the meantime feel free to join the EHMS Discord and the Facebook event page! You can also follow us on instagram (@ehms_ry) and get the news slightly faster.
General information
EHMS will host the eleventh Helsinki Longsword Open on the 24th and 25th of January 2025. This year we will be hosting a total of six competitions:
- Open Longsword
- Women’s + Longsword
- Open Sabre
- Women’s + Sabre
- Open Rapier & Dagger (BYOS)
- Open Longsword Cutting
Registrations will open on September 24th. When a competition is full, signing up will get you on the wait list. There will be some priority spots saved for paid staff, top fencers (as per Hemaratings on the 24th of September) and internationals.
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.
The traditional socialising and sparring on the Sunday (26th of January) following the competitions will also take place at Ruskeasuon liikuntapuisto this year.
Rules and gear requirements
More info soon!
Schedule
Some preliminary things:
Friday, January 24th:
Competitions: All pools and elimination rounds for Open Sabre, Women’s+ Sabre, Open Rapier & Dagger, as well as the whole Cutting competition (including finals).
We are aiming to start the competitions at around 12:00.
Saturday, January 25th:
Competitions: The whole Open Longsword and Women’s+ Longsword (including finals), finals for Friday’s competitions except Cutting.
We will start at 08:00.
Sunday, January 26th:
Free sparring / socialising with swords, from 10:00 onwards. NOTE: this will also take place at Ruskeasuon liikuntapuisto.
Livestream
More info soon!
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(at)ehms.fi, through the Facebook event page or on the EHMS Discord channel.
Payment and registration
Registration will open 24.09.2024 and stay open until 31.12.2024, on Hemagon.
The pricing of the event is as follows:
Open Longsword: 80 €
Women’s + Longsword: 40 €
Open Sabre: 40 €
Women’s + Sabre: 20 €
Open Rapier & Dagger (BYOS): 40 €
Open Longsword Cutting: 40 €
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 31.12.2023 without a good reason!
All participants must be at least 18 years old.
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.
We welcome spectators to the event for free!
T-shirt and hoodie
We will also have kickass (technical, quickdry 100% polyester) T-shirts and (zip) hoodies that you can order during registration!
The cost will be 25 € for the T-shirt and 55 € for the hoodie. Both will be black, with the HLO25 logo (top of this page) on the front, on the left side, and the killer hare (pictured below) on the back.
Size chart below – “pituus” = length, “leveys” = width.