My journey in the martial arts has been life-long. Over the past 40 + years, I have studied a wide variety of martial arts: Boxing, Wrestling, American Kempo, Goju-ryu, Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Filipino Kali/Eskrima/Arnis (Inosanto/Lacoste & LukayLukay), Wing Chun, White Eyebrow, Northern Mantis, Judo, Jiu-jitsu, Aiki-jitsu, Aikido, Silat, Muay Thai, Boxe Francaise Savate - just to name a few. I was taught early to cross-train and synthesize - something not very popular when I began training - and that has defined much of my martial arts career even before this became the typical approach in the modern, MMA era.
At the end of the day, my main focus has been on the family of arts that comprise Kempo and the martial arts of Southeast Asia for many years. I hold 4th Dan rankings in both American Kempo and Goshin-jitsu and instructor licensure from a variety of organizations. Since HEMA also involves scholarship, I think it might also be of interest to you that I am a Ph.D. in anthropology from our very own University of New Mexico (2007). Together, these qualifications and experiences give me a solid foundation for exploring HEMA at a level that would be difficult to match in most clubs you’ll encounter.
In 2018, I was first exposed to what is now the modern HEMA movement. HEMA (see my post What is HEMA) is a modern phenomenon, fueled by the growth of the internet and the dedication of a great many self-starters world-wide, all brought together around the study of late medieval and early modern manuscripts describing the martial arts of the time (~1300 to ~1700). Some practitioners are high-ranking instructors and practitioners in other arts and some are nearly 100% self-taught. My interest gravitated pretty immediately to the areas we’ll focus on initially within the Guild: Longsword and Sword & Buckler manuscripts in the German Language and spanning the 14th through the 16th century.
In particular, I focus on three sources: (1) the Kolner Fechtregln (~ 1500 -MS Best. 7020(W*)150, 2) the “Codex Guelf” (1591, Codex Guelf 83.4 August 8), and (3) the sword & buckler teachings of Master Andres Lignitzer (found as a section in various manuscripts between 15th and 16th Century). I approach these primarily through the perspective of “Common Fencing”, which will come to mean a lot to you as you’re exposed to the Guild. If you direct yourself to Wiktenauer (www.wiktenauer.com) you’ll be exposed to a wealth of historical manuscripts in digitized form, including transcriptions of the original language as well as translations. If you’re interested in the Kolner Fechtregln - I suggest you used Keith Farrell’s masterful translation found at https://www.keithfarrell.net/research/longsword-from-the-kolner-fechtbuch/.
It is worth noting that to round out my understanding of the materials, I frequently supplement from these additional sources: (1) the Pol Hausbuch (MS 3227a ~ 1400), (2) the Ringeck/Danzig/Lew nexus of manuscripts describing the fencing approach of the Grandmaster Johannes Leichtenauer (~ 1452-1550), 3) the large Messer treatise of Lekuchner (CgM 582 ~1482), (4) the longsword and sword and buckler sections of Paulus Hector Mair (~ 1545), and (4) the work of Joachim Meyer (Ms. Var 82, 1570). All of these may be easily found on Wiktenauer by searching the manuscript number or author name as appropriate.
Between 2018 and the present I’ve taken a number of helpful courses, engaged in way too much internet discussion, spent many hours drilling myself, and studied with a really great coach in both areas to get up to speed. In about 2022, I decided to shift my teaching emphasis into the world of HEMA and to semi-retire from teaching other arts. The start-up of the Guild is, then, simultaneously your beginning in HEMA and my beginning in teaching it. My plan is to focus on working with beginner Fencers.
I hold no special licensure in HEMA; no such thing really exists. Instead, my qualifications for coaching the group revolve around precisely what I describe above: a long background in many other martial arts, including several years on the materials we’ll work with, coupled with solid academic credentials that aid in researching the manuscript materials that form the basis of HEMA. Those are my offerings to the Guild. Think of me as a wizened elder brother you join in pursuing solid interpretative renditions of the techniques and strategic advice found in the manuscripts. If you treat me in that way, rather than as a Master from on-high dispensing truth, you’ll be in the right place to get the most out of working with me.
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