Kristofer Stanson

Stockholms Stigmän was founded in 2006 by a handful of grofwa swin who wanted to fight with their comrades, without having to join the ranks of obedient disciples of an all-knowing master, pay expensive money for the right to prove themselves worthy of wearing a belt with a finer color, or anything else that distracts from the game itself.

Stigman means highwayman or outlaw, but we are gentle and law-abiding, and not at all just men. The name refers to the original Stigmännen's rebellion against stifling organizations, rigid structures and greedy teachers, to put it dramatically. (The Swedish HEMA Association and a number of HEMA associations around Sweden are run non-profit and in good democratic order. We are fond of them, but have so far chosen not to organize ourselves.)

All Stigmännen are equal , but some Stigmännen are more equal than others. We practice a kind of "dictatorship of the loud", where leaders who think they have good ideas oppress the more quiet ones. To enforce a change, you strap on a cowbell and set off in a new direction, hoping that someone will follow.