Black Horns Cup 2026 crowns Polish HEMA League champions in Kórnik

Black Horns Cup 2026 turned Kórnik into a live benchmark for the European HEMA pecking order, with 155 fighters and 742 bouts spread across six divisions. In a tournament that the organizers describe as one of the highest ranked of its kind in Europe, the scale mattered as much as the medals.

The event ran June 12-14 near Poznań and served as the culmination of the Polish HEMA League. Friday added workshops from Konrad Kramarz, Aleksander Dynarek, and Miro Lahtela, along with a cutting competition using sharp weapons, while Saturday began at 9 a.m. The live finals were split across two streams: day 1 covered open longsword, open rapier & dagger, and women’s sabre, and day 2 carried open sabre, open sword & buckler, and women’s longsword. That structure gave every weapon class a place in the spotlight, instead of letting longsword dominate the weekend’s story.

The sharpest result came in open sabre, where Franciszek Wyrobek finished first ahead of Tomasz Pawliszewski, Karol Zakrzewski, Konrad Kramarz, and Antoni Olbrychski. Krakowska Szkoła Fechtunku put two fencers into the top four through Wyrobek and Kramarz, a strong signal in a division that had enough depth to make fifth place, not just the podium, a meaningful finish. For a finals stream carrying league implications, that kind of positioning matters: it shows which names can survive the pressure of the most visible bouts.

The wider fields made the tournament just as important for rankings watchers. HEMA Scorecard listed 65 fighters in open longsword, 47 in open rapier & dagger, 28 in open sword & buckler, 17 in women’s longsword, and 18 in women’s sabre. Those numbers explain why Black Horns Cup has become more than a single title event. It is a six-division stress test where a strong showing can move a fighter’s reputation across multiple weapons at once.

The event’s international weight was visible in the mix of clubs and countries represented, including EHMS, Schildwache Potsdam, Salle d’armes d'escrime ancienne, and multiple Polish schools. HEMA Ratings’ 2025 data also showed similarly heavy fields, with 71 in mixed & men’s steel longsword, 66 in mixed & men’s steel sabre, 47 in mixed & men’s steel rapier and dagger, and 41 in mixed & men’s steel sword and buckler. That continuity makes Black Horns Cup a recurring measuring stick, not a one-off spike.

With its 2018 start, finals broadcasts, workshops, and League finale status, Black Horns Cup has settled into the sort of event that can reset expectations for the entire 2026 circuit.