events

21 11, 2016

Broadwater Bucklerthon – 19th November 2016

2016-11-21T01:18:10+00:00November 21st, 2016|Events, Sword & Buckler, Trophies|

This past weekend, practitioners of sword & buckler from across the country descended on Godalming for the latest in School of the Sword’s events:  the Broadwater Bucklerthon.

Bucklerthon is an informal nylon sword and buckler tournament aimed at people that have never made a quarter final in any weapon.  There was also a steel invitational tournament for those who’ve placed in tournaments already.  Winners were as follows:

Nylon

Gold – Kasten Harris
Silver – Adrian Faulkner
Bronze – Daniel Craig

Steel Invitational

Gold – Alexander Makarov
Silver – Peter Smallridge
Bronze – Matthew Crane 

Early feedback is that the event was considered by all to be a success and something we are likely to repeat next year.

 

28 10, 2016

Pre-Swordfish Bootcamp – 23rd October 2016

2016-10-28T11:03:32+00:00October 28th, 2016|Dagger, Events, Godalming, Rapier|

Swordfish is one of the premiere tournaments in the HEMA competition and is one that historically, the School of the Sword has done very well at.

This year we are sending eight of our students to Sweden for Swordfish, many for their first time.  On Sunday they gathered for a pre-tournament bootcamp.  The event was attended by senior instructor Phil Marshall and school founder Caroline Stewart who offered constructive advice and micro adjustments aimed at helping our team.

3 10, 2016

Broadwater Bucklerthon

2016-10-03T15:13:54+00:00October 3rd, 2016|Events, Godalming, Sword & Buckler|

 

One of the things School of the Sword is known for is our events.  The International Rapier Seminar that we hosted back in April was a massive success, and back in August we brought Ilkka Hartikainen on his first official visit to the UK for a packed sidesword workshop.

You might ask what we’ve got planned next? The answer is the Broadwater Bucklerthon, an informal sword and buckler tournament aimed at people that have never made a quarter final in any weapon.
It’ll take place on the 19th November at Broadwater School in Godalming (same location as our previous events) 13:00 – 17:00

If you’ve started to wonder what tournament fighting is like, if you’ve sparred with your clubmates and want to try fencing to a ruleset, competing against others, then this event is for you.

Only ten pounds gets you an exhilarating day of fun, fighting and the chance to win your first medal using synthetic weapons and Bucklers. There will also be a steel invitational tournament for those who’ve placed in tournaments already. The competition will be followed by a social dinner at a local pub, come and join us for a fantastic day.

Minimum kit: gloves, mask, gorget, chest protector, jacket, back of head
Recommended kit: knee, elbow, shin protection, groin guard

The tournament will run in a king of the hill format: winner stays on. Judges/scorekeepers will record who won and who lost each exchange to be totalled up at the end to see who goes through to compete in quarter finals.

There will be a maximum of 10 people to a pool. Fighting will last for 60 minutes or to 60 bouts – whichever comes first. Competitors will have numbers attached.

Scoring will be as follows (note this is much the same as the system used at the International Rapier Seminar recently)
clean hit = win,
double/afterblow = both lose and next pair on

The judge may ask fencers to confirm using an honour system. Each fencer will be allowed one protest if a score goes against them but good sportsmanship will be encouraged i.e. honesty about hits received


The judge will confide good technicality to the scorekeeper and the competitor with the most technical points will win a technical prize.

Register here, the cost of entry is £10 https://manager.dojoexpert.com/student/register.aspx?g=ac026bad-9056-4936-9ff1-94e2504e705b&j=

bucklerthonfront

2 09, 2016

Ilkka Hartikainen Seminar – 27th August 2016

2016-09-02T12:10:22+00:00September 2nd, 2016|Events|

One of the advantages of training with The School of the Sword is that we are large enough for it to be economically viable for us to fly in world-class instructors for day-long seminars.

You’ve probably seen Ilkka Hartikainen’s incredible videos on Marozzo.com and we were very pleased when he agreed to come to the UK to teach our students some Bolognese single sidesword.  Knowing how popular this seminar would be we opened up a limited number of spaces to people from other schools, only for the event to fill incredibly quickly.

The day was a massive success.  Starting with some warm up exercises and moving into footwork, Ilkka had the students building up drills into multiple intention attacks.  Students came away buzzing and excited to put what they had learnt into use.

17 08, 2016

The School of Sword Returns From Fightcamp With Medal Haul

2016-08-17T08:49:12+00:00August 17th, 2016|Events, Rapier, Sword & Buckler, Trophies|

This past weekend, The School of the Sword ‘invaded’ Fightcamp.  With over 20 members in attendance we created our very own tent city within the campsite and partook in a wide variety of workshops, classes and tournaments.

We came away with good memories, a few lost ones, new friendships, a few aches and pains, and five medals.

Sasha took gold in  single rapier and bronze in both the Assault at Arms and longsword. Pim took silver in single rapier whilst Jay received silver in the  Eggleton Cup.  We also had a number of students make it out of the pools in a variety of disciplines.

Thanks to those we competed against for providing such brilliant competition and congratulations to all winners.

Some photos by Richard Hughes and Christophe Loyce.

18 07, 2016

School of The Sword Bring Home Seven Medals From Astolat

2016-07-18T11:10:24+00:00July 18th, 2016|Rapier, Sword & Buckler, Trophies|

It’s been a great weekend for our fencers competing in the Astolat HEMA Open these past couple of days culminating in the school bringing home seven medals against stiff competition.

Congratulations to the following:

  • Piermarco Terminiello – Rapier & Dagger Gold
  • Matthew Crane – Rapier & Dagger Bronze
  • Maria Makarova – Women’s Sword & Buckler Gold, Women’s Sabre Bronze
  • Alexander Makarov – Sidesword & Buckler Gold, Arming Sword & Buckler Silver
  • Jay Maxwell – Sidesword & Buckler Bronze

Also an honourable mention to Chris Hartley who narrowly missed out on a medal after losing to Jay in the Sidesword & Buckler finals.

Everyone (whether they came away with medals or not) had a great weekend and hope that the event will become a regular addition to the tournament calendar.

14 06, 2016

Grappling Workshop – 12th June 2016

2016-06-19T16:42:41+00:00June 14th, 2016|Events, Godalming|

The School of the Sword played host to a special seminar on grappling this past Sunday.  Guest instructor, Peter Smallridge, gave members from School of the Sword and other surrounding HEMA schools a quick introduction to the basics of grappling.

After a hot, sweaty session, we broke into free sparring for the rest of the afternoon.

13 06, 2016

Have-A-Go Day – 12th June 2016

2016-06-18T12:50:43+00:00June 13th, 2016|Events, Godalming|

The School of the Sword held it’s first “have a go day” last Sunday, and had a great turn out.

People who attended took advantage of the doughnuts and coffee, got to hold swords, learn techniques and have fun with swordplay. It was a great success and we plan to hold more of these open days in the future.

Pictures by Sarah Wells

3 06, 2016

School of the Sword Takes Silver At May Melee

2016-06-05T23:00:52+00:00June 3rd, 2016|Events, Sword & Buckler, Trophies|

A number of our students attended the May Melee in Bath at the weekend.  With a mix of sparring, classes and two mixed weapon competitions the event has seen a growth in popularity.

We’re pleased that our very own Jay Maxwell managed to take silver in the Steel Open competition.  By all accounts it was a fun weekend and even those who returned without any medals said they had a brilliant time.

31 05, 2016

Winchester Interclub Sparring Day – 21st May 2016

2016-05-31T19:38:28+00:00May 31st, 2016|Events|

On 21st May Winchester freestyle martial arts hosted an interclub sparring day, featuring members from the School of the Sword, KDF Bournemouth and Portsmouth British Martial arts club.

It was a great day with nylon and steel, lessons and sparring, and a host of different weapons. There was a very friendly atmosphere and everyone learned something new. We look forward to attending future events.

Go to Top