"Heroine's Journey": Self-Defence & Swordcraft Experience

A three-hour beginner-friendly workshop in Canterbury teaching unarmed self-defence, longsword and double-dagger techniques inspired by romantasy heroines.

Canterbury Medieval Combat runs this three-hour session aimed at readers of romantasy who want to try the skills their favourite heroines use. Participants begin with unarmed movement, clinch work and beginner-safe grappling, then progress to longsword guards, footwork, cuts and parries, and finish with paired double-dagger work. The afternoon builds to a 'Final Trial' — a solo choreographed sequence with an optional partnered duel, filmed and photographed to keep — plus a debrief on how fiction portrays combat. No experience or fitness level is required, groups are capped at 16, and training weapons are used throughout.