GEMAC – Grupo de Esgrima Medieval e Artes de Combate

GEMAC stands for Grupo de Esgrima Medieval e Artes de Combate, the Medieval Fencing and Combat Arts Group. It’s a club in Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia that studies and practises HEMA, short for Historical European Martial Arts. The club says it trains in a spirit of friendship and welcomes anyone who shares its interests.

HEMA is quite different from the Olympic fencing children see on television. GEMAC explains it as the study and practice of the fighting systems and weapon techniques that grew up in Europe between roughly the 11th and 19th centuries, rebuilt as faithfully as possible from surviving fencing manuals and combat books written between the 13th and 18th centuries. It combines a martial art, historical research and keeping a piece of European culture alive.

GEMAC works mainly with three weapons:

• espada e broquel, sword and buckler (a small round shield held in the fist)
• espada longa, the two-handed longsword of the late Middle Ages
• espada roupeira, the rapier, a longer, slimmer civilian sword of the 16th and 17th centuries

Its techniques come from historical masters’ books. GEMAC names Fiore dei Liberi, an Italian master whose illustrated manual dates from around 1400; Hans Talhoffer, a 15th-century German master; and Domingo Luís Godinho, whose 16th-century Arte da Esgrima was written in Portuguese. That last one is a good hook for a child learning Portuguese history.

For a history-loving teenager, the appeal is that each class is partly a puzzle. The drawings and text in these manuals are centuries old, and working out how a move really worked is part of the fun.

For the 2025/26 season, which was the latest published when we checked, GEMAC listed:

• Porto, at the university stadium (Estádio Universitário), in the CDUP sports pavilion: Mondays at 20:30 and Fridays at 20:00
• Gaia, at Rua da Palmeira 13: Mondays and Wednesdays, 20:30 to 22:00
• ICBAS, the University of Porto’s biomedical sciences institute: Thursdays, 20:00 to 22:00
• the Porto Military Museum: by appointment, for groups of at least eight

You can book a free first session. The club takes enquiries by phone or WhatsApp on +351 931 101 333 and through a form on its website, and there’s an online registration form for the season.

GEMAC doesn’t publish a minimum age, doesn’t mention youth classes, and all its sessions start at 20:00 or later and finish around 22:00. That makes it a teenager’s activity at best. Before booking a trial for anyone under 18, ring or message the club and ask:

• whether they accept under-18s, and from what age
• whether a parent needs to stay
• what protective gear is used, and whether the club lends it to beginners
• what to wear to the first session
• what the membership fee is

The club’s website doesn’t give prices, class structure or kit details, so these questions matter.

GEMAC is also involved in medieval combat, a separate full-contact sport. Fighters wear replica armour and use blunt replica weapons that must pass strict rules, in one-on-one bouts or team battles (called buhurt). The club describes it as a mix of martial arts and medieval re-enactment, and in February 2025 it was a founding member of APCOM, the Portuguese Medieval Combat Association. It’s worth knowing about, but it’s a hard-hitting adult sport and not a starting point for a teenager.

GEMAC organises the Meeting de Esgrima Medieval (MEM), a meeting of historical fencers; the 11th edition was on 21 February 2026. It also took part in a Galician-Portuguese gathering in 2026. These events can be a good way for a curious teenager and a parent to watch before committing.

For a younger child, Olympic-style fencing at Ginásio Clube Português in Lisbon starts at age 6. In the north, Ginásio Clube Vilacondense in Vila do Conde teaches archery to all ages. And for a day of castles and knights, Guimarães Castle and the Ducal Palace are an easy day trip from Porto.

What is HEMA?

Historical European Martial Arts: sword fighting and other combat techniques from Europe between roughly the 11th and 19th centuries, rebuilt from old fencing manuals.

Can children join GEMAC?

The club doesn’t say. It publishes no minimum age and its classes run late in the evening, so contact it before booking a trial for a teenager.

Is the first class free?

Yes. GEMAC offers a free first session by appointment.

Where does GEMAC train?

In Porto at the university stadium’s CDUP pavilion and at ICBAS, and in Gaia at Rua da Palmeira 13. Groups of eight or more can arrange sessions at the Porto Military Museum.

Is it the same as Olympic fencing?

No. Olympic fencing is a modern sport with foil, épée and sabre. HEMA recreates historical techniques with weapons such as the longsword, rapier and sword and buckler.