Podcast Tag: tournaments

The Sword Guy Podcast

Listen in as Guy interviews a wide variety of interesting swordspeople and historians from around the world. Learn more about the practical, the tactical, the theoretical and the just plain awesome from a diverse group of voices.

Podcast Tag: tournaments

Jane Strange represented Team North America at the 2019 European games in Minsk, and she is a competition medallist at longsword in both open and women’s competitions. She is currently teaching and training at Edmonton Historical Martial Arts but is mainly focused on pursuing her degree in kinesiology. We talk about what kinesiology is and her approach to coaching psychology. Find out what way of training works best for improving someone’s ability with a […]
Xian Niles is a fencing instructor, martial artist and the founder of Spada, a recreational Bolognese fencing study group in maritime Canada. He’s also the founder of The Niles Fencing Academy in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In our conversation we talk about his move from representing Barbados in sport fencing to getting into HEMA in Canada. We also hear about how Xian switched from an engineering degree to theatre, and a very challenging job he […]
Janna Datahan was born and raised in the Philippines and is currently living in the United States. She’s a mother, a published poet, a fibre artist and an aesthetician. Janna discovered Historical European Martial Arts in late 2019 and found her way into the supportive arms of the sword community during the pandemic. She is an active tournament competitor and event organiser. She also hosts a podcast called Swords Against Humanity, a platform she […]
Robert (Bob) Brooks is one of the original generation of historical fencers, who began training with me in the Dawn Duellists’ Society in the early 90s. He founded the Hotspur School of Defence in 2003. So it’s turning 20 this year. He has been teaching primarily German historical martial arts and he has taught in over 30 countries on five continents. Bob is the author of the new book At Your Mercy: The Foundational […]
My guest today is Dario Alberto Magnani, better known as Mr. Thokk, who was a longtime scholar of the Italian single combat tradition from the late medieval/early Renaissance period, and a world renowned historical martial arts instructor and gear designer. As a swordsman, he specialises in northern Italian fencing from the early 15th to the 16th centuries, i.e., Fiore, Vadi and into the Bolognese. And he’s a successful competitor and sought after instructor. In […]
David Wagenfeld is a fencing coach, creator of the En Garde model for teaching fencing in schools, and the co-founder of Table Mountain Fencing and Historical European Martial Arts. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa and has been instrumental in creating the HEMA scene in the country. We talk about how he got into sport fencing, then coaching, then HEMA. He feels that coaching fencing is what he was born to do, but […]
In this episode, I welcome back Brittany Reeves, who is the head instructor of Mordhau Historical Combat in Mesa, Arizona. She is a seasoned instructor, having taught across Europe and North America with a specialisation in test cutting with sharp blades. She is of course most famous for her first appearance on this show in Episode 22. In our conversation we talk about the value of cutting with sharps, how the cutting tournament scene […]
There is a slightly different intro to this episode as Guy is in Kansas being medievally wrestled by Jessica Finley. Hear the noises here! Onto the interview: David Ito is a fire eater, an epee coach and former kendo player who plays with longswords now, based in Toronto, Canada. Of course, his main claim to fame, top of the resume, is he appeared on episode 25 of this show, back in December 2020. With […]
Jana Howson lives near Chicago and is a historical fencer, a Ph.D. candidate, mother and spouse, as well as being a Lutheran pastor. She started off with Taekwondo and Karate, and also fences in the SCA. We discuss how on earth Jana balances her time to fit it all in! Trying to do swords with babies and kids in tow can be tricky, so we talk about what can be done to make training […]
Mariana Lopez is a historical fencer, coach, artist and one of the founders of HEMA in Mexico, 16 years ago. She is also the co-founder of Esfinges, an international network of female historical fencers. In our conversation we talk about how the HEMA scene in Mexico differs from the U.S. or Europe, and what other countries might learn from the Mexican way of doing things. We also talk about Esfinges, and what it was […]