Making seated longsword work, with Ella Rose

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-216-making-seated-longsword-work-with-ella-rose

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Ella Rose has been practicing historical martial arts since 2017. In 2023 she founded Black Cat Historical Fencing with co-founder Shane Scallin, where she teaches dagger, rapier and beginner longsword classes. She has competed across the US and internationally, and she has won medals in multiple weapon categories. Ella is the lead tournament organizer of Iron Gate Exhibition, Benedict's Big Day, and Long Tail.

Ella has worked in many minority-focused spaces, both within historical martial arts and in her career as an illustrator. Having dealt with chronic illness and disability her entire martial arts career, she led the creation of BCHF's seated fencing practice, one of the first of its kind. And in 2025 she organized the first seated longsword tournament, and she aims to continue pushing the HEMA community further towards inclusion for all athletes.

In our conversation we talk about dealing with chronic illness, especially within HEMA, and the adaptations that Ella makes to her training and recovery time.

This is a useful conversation for anyone involved in running a club, or thinking of starting one, because we talk about what to charge students, and the ethos that will help make your club inclusive and welcoming. We talk about the adaptations salles should make so they become places where people can hang out and still be part of the community, even if they are not actively taking part in a session.

Most clubs are not going to be equipped with disability accommodations already in place, so we discuss how coaches can support students with different needs, and what a club can do to actively show that people with disabilities are welcome.

We also hear about the fascinating process of adapting historical martial arts to seated fencing: how to adapt the system, how to create suitable seats and where to position people, and how a seated fencer can fence against someone standing up.

 

Links of Interest

BCHF Website: https://www.blackcathistoricalfencing.com/

BCHF Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackcathistoricalfencing/

 

Ella’s art website: https://www.icecubesanddragonfire.com/

Ella’s art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icecubesanddragonfire/?hl=en

To see the graphic novel mentioned: https://markosia.com/2025/08/18/emily-corn-vol-2-part-1-finding-the-light-out-now/

 

IGX 2026 Ruleset, which include the most up to date seated fencing rules Ella has written: https://irongateexhibition.com/tournaments-spring/

 

Utah Fencing Federation: https://www.utahfencingfoundation.org/

 

For photos from Long Tail 2026, including photos of their seated longsword tournament see https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-216-making-seated-longsword-work-with-ella-rose