Interview with Ars Gladii Founder Josh Little: Adventures of Historical Fencing in the Midwest, Part II

Josh Little began sword fighting when his high school physics teacher introduced LARP to him, which led Little to try out the Society for Creative Anachronism and Olympic Fencing. Later, in the late 1990s, he found historical fight manuscripts and never looked back. Around the same time, Little established his Ars Gladii, teaching a myriad … Continue reading Interview with Ars Gladii Founder Josh Little: Adventures of Historical Fencing in the Midwest, Part II

Interview with Ars Gladii Founder Josh Little: Adventures of Historical Fencing in the Midwest, Part I

Josh Little began sword fighting when his high school physics teacher introduced LARP to him, which led Little to try out the Society for Creative Anachronism and Olympic Fencing. Later, in the late 1990s, he found historical fight manuscripts and never looked back. Around the same time, Little established his Ars Gladii, teaching a myriad … Continue reading Interview with Ars Gladii Founder Josh Little: Adventures of Historical Fencing in the Midwest, Part I

Interview with Baer Swords School Baer Kenneys: Between Martial and Sport

Baer Kenney began his fencing career in high school with Olympic Fencing. That changed to LARPing with his children, then Society for Creative Anachronism, Association of Renaissance Martial Arts, and then Historical European Martial Arts. In that time, he has trained karate, taekwondo, and hapkido, and established his school, Baer Swords School of Western Martial … Continue reading Interview with Baer Swords School Baer Kenneys: Between Martial and Sport

Interview with Austin Historical Weapons Guild Founder Anthony Buonomo: Historical Fencing in Texas, Part II

Anthony Buonomo explored the Eastern martial arts before finding historical fencing, though he was always interested in swords and the like. When he moved to Austin, Texas in 2012, he finally found a group and began teaching historical fencing after nine months of training, drawing on his previous martial arts training. This experience soon led … Continue reading Interview with Austin Historical Weapons Guild Founder Anthony Buonomo: Historical Fencing in Texas, Part II

Interview with Austin Historical Weapons Guild Founder Anthony Buonomo: Historical Fencing in Texas, Part I

Anthony Buonomo explored the Eastern martial arts before finding historical fencing, though he was always interested in swords and the like. When he moved to Austin, Texas in 2012, he finally found a group and began teaching historical fencing after nine months of training, drawing on his previous martial arts training. This experience soon led … Continue reading Interview with Austin Historical Weapons Guild Founder Anthony Buonomo: Historical Fencing in Texas, Part I

Interview with Heartland HEMA Founder Mike Roth: HEMA, Tournaments, and Sportsification

Mike Roth always enjoyed playing with swords, even as a child. He quickly joined a fencing class while in college and wanted more. Roth soon found Mark Wickersham at Five Rings Fencing in 2013 and has not stopped fencing single sword since then. About five years later, Roth established his Heartland HEMA and has placed … Continue reading Interview with Heartland HEMA Founder Mike Roth: HEMA, Tournaments, and Sportsification

Reflecting on The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe

Anglo, Sydney. The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe. New Haven. Yale University Press. 2000. Finally! After two years of reading, I finally finished reading Sydney Anglo’s The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe! I can say for certain, it was a deep and detailed book cataloguing and comparing fight books or manuals from the medieval period … Continue reading Reflecting on The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe

Interview with Retired HEMAist Michael Edelson: HEMA in the Northeast, Part II

Michael Edelson began studying Yagyu Shinkage-ryu in the early 1990s and happened onto historical fencing by chance. From there, he bought himself a fight book, gathered some friends together, and started figuring out what the historical sources said to do. In 2005, Edelson established his New York Historical Fencing Association. Becoming friends with influential personality … Continue reading Interview with Retired HEMAist Michael Edelson: HEMA in the Northeast, Part II

Interview with HMA Instructor and Researcher Guy Windsor: Growth of the Movement in Europe

When Guy Windsor enrolled in University in 1992, he quickly joined every martial arts club that was available. Soon, he found that fencing was his calling, but not the modern sport. In 1994, he co-founded the Dawn Duellists' Society to explore historical fencing. That exploration has led him to author numerous books, create a swordfighting … Continue reading Interview with HMA Instructor and Researcher Guy Windsor: Growth of the Movement in Europe

Interview with MKDF Lead Instructor Jess Rozek: The East Coast Growth of HEMA, Part II

Jess Rozek just could not find what she wanted to do. She had tried a class or two of various martial arts, but they were not for her. Not until she watched Reclaiming the Blade in 2011, where it connected with her interests with fantasy and science fiction. From there, she found HEMA and Grunberg … Continue reading Interview with MKDF Lead Instructor Jess Rozek: The East Coast Growth of HEMA, Part II