CLEVELAND — Lacey Eck is a nurse by day, but after being introduced to the sport by a friend, she's become something entirely different off the clock. Eck is a longsword fighter, practicing historical European martial arts (HEMA) in her free time. That includes coaching a group of Northeast Ohio women as they learn the art of the longsword and give the sport its own renaissance.
Over at the Two Ravens Fencing School in Cleveland, on any given Friday evening, Eck can be found gearing up in her gambeson and making the rounds with the 10 other women with swords in hand.
The group calls themselves the Valkyrie. They meet each week and train in HEMA. From footwork and grip to strikes and defenses, the women learn all about fighting with the two-pound, double-edge blades.
"It’s that fairytale weapon, the ones you see in all the movies," Eck said. "It is a real thing. You can learn to fight with these hero swords, these Game of Throne Swords, Lord of the Rings swords."
The group has been around longer than Eck has been involved in the sport—but her quickly acquired passion for it saw her dive right in and not only learn about the all-but-forgotten art but begin competing in it.
Eck and others travel the country, participating in longsword competitions. Eck even recently went international, traveling to Helsinki, Finland, for a tournament.
"The tournament we just went to had 13 other countries," Eck said. "In women’s, I placed top eight."
Longsword is seeing a growth in numbers. Perhaps it's because of movies and shows like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, as Eck mentions. Perhaps it's the popularity of fantasy genre books within the social media app TikTok's "Booktok" community, like the "ACOTAR" series by Sarah J. Maas.
Whatever the cause of the surge, Cleveland is right there in the mix with the Valkyrie group. A group that is open to all who are interested in learning and includes fighters as young as 16, like Kathryn Dunn.
Dunn most recently competed in a women's longsword competition and placed first. She, like Eck, has traveled around the country showing off her fighting chops. She enjoys being around the Valkyrie and proving women can be tough, too.
"You always see the guys who are like the super macho ones, they’re the ones who have it all. But coming here I see women continuously trying to improve themselves, show that they can fight and they don’t need to depend on others," Dunn said.
The group will continue meeting each Friday, learning a little more each day about HEMA. As they do, they also hope to grow in numbers and encourage others to try their hand at longsword—a sport they say is accessible to nearly everyone.
"You don’t need to be super strong to do it, you don’t need to be fast. We can work with anybody. Everybody starts somewhere so it’s very accessible. Come on in," Eck said.
To learn more about the Valkyrie, HEMA and other programs at Two Ravens Fencing School, click here.
