HEMA is still a small and close knit hobby, I would argue anyone who is interested in it is an outlier of some sort.

I don't have hard numbers, but my observation is that women who train as much as the men tend to do just as well. Men definitely seem to have more of a competitive instinct, seem to be prone to training more, and are generally more motivated to show up to practices, but that is a social discrepancy rather than a physical one.

I have indeed personally witnessed a smaller female fencer getting injured when going against a larger fencer during a tournament. in this case, the height and weight discrepancy was massive, where she was going up a guy who was 6 ft 7 and had the weight to match while she was around 5'3 and also had the weight to match. she scored a few points on him, but the male fencer landed a clean blow on her collarbone which seemed to have broken it. In this case, it was an extreme weight difference that led to the injury in my opinion.

That weight difference is not present in 99% of the bouts that I have fought and judged. male or female, a lighter and smaller fencer can take on and defeat a larger and taller fencer no problem as long as they have practiced that match up. the smaller fencer has a lower center of gravity and will generally have an advantage in grappling situations. they also have the advantage of being able to hit their opponent while being past their opponent's strike range. So long as they can close the distance, they can land the point.

And this is just height/weight difference. I have personally fenced men who are even shorter and lighter than a lot of the women that I have fenced. Given the same skill level, the men and women pose a similar challenge in my experience.

finally, a sword is a fucking sword. with the proper technique, it does not take much to inflict a mortal blow on an opponent. even then, tournaments have a standard for a quality hit and will not award points if a cut does not have sufficient force behind it. if you've ever held a longsword, or any other real sword, you'd know that cutting weapons can do a lot of damage just being swung under their own weight.

I can also tell you that, in a tournament setting with a medal on the line, nobody is holding back. I sure as hell don't, and I don't expect anyone to hold back on me.

all of this said, this is still assuming an unarmored fight. I do not participate in harnessfechten, buhurt, or any other armored combat sports, but I have witnessed several matches. In my inexperienced opinion, strength does indeed play a major factor in armored combat and I do believe there would be a visible discrepancy between men and women in that regard, similar to the discrepancy between men and women in combat sports like MMA.

HEMA is still a small and close knit hobby, I would argue anyone who is interested in it is an outlier of some sort.

I don't have hard numbers, but my observation is that women who train as much as the men tend to do just as well. Men definitely seem to have more of a competitive instinct, seem to be prone to training more, and are generally more motivated to show up to practices, but that is a social discrepancy rather than a physical one.

I have indeed personally witnessed a smaller female fencer getting injured when going against a larger fencer during a tournament. in this case, the height and weight discrepancy was massive, where she was going up a guy who was 6 ft 7 and had the weight to match while she was around 5'3 and also had the weight to match. she scored a few points on him, but the male fencer landed a clean blow on her collarbone which seemed to have broken it. In this case, it was an extreme weight difference that led to the injury in my opinion.

That weight difference is not present in 99% of the bouts that I have fought and judged. male or female, a lighter and smaller fencer can take on and defeat a larger and taller fencer no problem as long as they have practiced that match up. the smaller fencer has a lower center of gravity and will generally have an advantage in grappling situations. they also have the advantage of being able to hit their opponent while being past their opponent's strike range. So long as they can close the distance, they can land the point.

And this is just height/weight difference. I have personally fenced men who are even shorter and lighter than a lot of the women that I have fenced. Given the same skill level, the men and women pose a similar challenge in my experience.

finally, a sword is a fucking sword. with the proper technique, it does not take much to inflict a mortal blow on an opponent. even then, tournaments have a standard for a quality hit and will not award points if a cut does not have sufficient force behind it. if you've ever held a longsword, or any other real sword, you'd know that cutting weapons can do a lot of damage just being swung under their own weight.

I can also tell you that, in a tournament setting with a medal on the line, nobody is holding back. I sure as hell don't, and I don't expect anyone to hold back on me.

HEMA is still a small and close knit hobby, I would argue anyone who is interested in it is an outlier of some sort.

I don't have hard numbers, but my observation is that women who train as much as the men tend to do just as well. Men definitely seem to have more of a competitive instinct, seem to be prone to training more, and are generally more motivated to show up to practices, but that is a social discrepancy rather than a physical one.

I have indeed personally witnessed a smaller female fencer getting injured when going against a larger fencer during a tournament. in this case, the height and weight discrepancy was massive, where she was going up a guy who was 6 ft 7 and had the weight to match while she was around 5'3 and also had the weight to match. she scored a few points on him, but the male fencer landed a clean blow on her collarbone which seemed to have broken it. In this case, it was an extreme weight difference that led to the injury in my opinion.

That weight difference is not present in 99% of the bouts that I have fought and judged. male or female, a lighter and smaller fencer can take on and defeat a larger and taller fencer no problem as long as they have practiced that match up. the smaller fencer has a lower center of gravity and will generally have an advantage in grappling situations. they also have the advantage of being able to hit their opponent while being past their opponent's strike range. So long as they can close the distance, they can land the point.

And this is just height/weight difference. I have personally fenced men who are even shorter and lighter than a lot of the women that I have fenced. Given the same skill level, the men and women pose a similar challenge in my experience.

HEMA is still a small and close knit hobby, I would argue anyone who is interested in it is an outlier of some sort.

I don't have hard numbers, but my observation is that women who train as much as the men tend to do just as well. Men definitely seem to have more of a competitive instinct, seem to be prone to training more, and are generally more motivated to show up to practices, but that is a social discrepancy rather than a physical one.

I have indeed personally witnessed a smaller female fencer getting injured when going against a larger fencer during a tournament. in this case, the height and weight discrepancy was massive, where she was going up a guy who was 6 ft 7 and had the weight to match while she was around 5'3 and also had the weight to match. she scored a few points on him, but the male fencer landed a clean blow on her collarbone which seemed to have broken it. In this case, it was an extreme weight difference that led to the injury in my opinion.

That weight difference is not present in 99% of the bouts that I have fought and judged. male or female, a lighter and smaller fencer can take on and defeat a larger and taller fencer no problem as long as they have practiced that match up. the smaller fencer has a lower center of gravity and will generally have an advantage in grappling situations. they also have the advantage of being able to hit their opponent while being past their opponent's strike range. So long as they can close the distance, they can land the point.

And this is just weight difference. I have personally fenced men who are even shorter and lighter than a lot of the women that I have fenced. Given the same skill level, the men and women pose a similar challenge in my experience.

HEMA is still a small and close knit hobby, I would argue anyone who is interested in it is an outlier of some sort.

I don't have hard numbers, but my observation is that women who train as much as the men tend to do just as well. Men definitely seem to have more of a competitive instinct, seem to be prone to training more, and are generally more motivated to show up to practices, but that is a social discrepancy rather than a physical one.