Instructors
We are still developing our final roster of instructors, so please check back for updates!
Devon Boorman
Devon Boorman has been practicing Western martial arts for more than 20 years. He has won international competitions, taught workshops and seminars throughout the world on both the study and practice of historical techniques and on practical combat implementation, and has been actively involved in translation and interpretation projects of extant texts. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques. Devon is the co-founder and director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay in Vancouver, Canada, the largest centre of its kind in the world.
justin aucoin
Justin Aucoin (aka Remy in the SCA) is the product of when a five-year-old boy who fell in love with Zorro and The Three Musketeers grows into a mostly functional adult. His life-long love of athletics and swashbuckling has led him down the road to studying and practicing historical fencing. He is the founder and head coach of Boston Academie d’Armes.
For more than a decade, he has studied 17th Century Italian rapier fencing systems and its offshoots found in France and the German states, as well as classical fencing with the Italian saber and foil, dueling sword, and jagerstock/baton-a-deux bouts. You can follow his historical fencing research at Justinswordfit.com. His social media handle is @theTavernKnight.
Kendra brown
Kendra Brown is a librarian at a tech company, and does independent medieval manuscript research when she’s not at work. She started translating historical fencing sources in 2003 with the Higgins Armory Sword Guild, and currently is working on an updated translation of the Latin Fiore manuscript in collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Garber. They will probably publish the Latin Lew gloss someday, too.
Kendra keeps an irregular research blog called Darth Kendra Research, and her first peer-reviewed article will appear in Acta Periodica Duellatorum in 2024. She was a regular panelist on the Fencing by the Book podcast, and has also appeared in podcasts and video series including The Sword Guy, CKDF Plague Lectures, Cybersquatch, HEMA Discord Lecture Series, and Talhoffer and Tacos. She has presented at events including Iron Gate Exhibition, Swordsquatch, HEMAC Dijon, the Meyer Symposium, SoCal Swordfight, and CombatCon as well as academic conferences including the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Raymond J. Lord Symposium on Historical European Martial Arts, and the IFHEMA-MAM “Crossing Swords, Crossing Boundaries” symposium.
If words like “research disaster” and “very deep rabbit hole” excite you, you’ll get along great. Kendra also enjoys rondel dagger, polearms, and frequently longsword.
Christian Cameron
Christian Cameron is a novelist and historical writer and an independent researcher. He has written twenty-three novels and half a dozen articles in various journals, and lectured at the Royal Military College and National Army Museum in London (Chelsea). He is a military veteran who served in the first Gulf War, Somalia, and central Africa in the 90s. He has studied swordsmanship, both modern Olympic epee and foil and historical swordsmanship since age eleven, and now lives in Toronto with his wife Sarah and their child Beatrice, who is just starting small sword and Italian Longsword. Oh, yeah-he’s also Miles Cameron. 🙂
Dori Coblentz
Maestra Dori Coblentz, PhD, received her master-at-arms certification through the Sonoma State Fencing Masters Certificate Program. Her 2022 book, Fencing, Form, and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage: Artful Devices, is on the contributions of fencing theory and practice to Shakespeare and Jonson’s drama. Dori’s most recent fencing pedagogy work has been within the historical fencing movement, where she is particularly interested in curriculum development. She has published on this topic in a 2018 training manual, Fundamentals of Italian rapier: A Modern Manual for Teachers and Students of Historical Fencing, which she co-authored with David Coblentz. Along with David, she also runs the rapier program at the Atlanta Historical Fencing Academy.. She teaches weekend seminars and has taught classes at events such as Rapier in the Rockies, Riposte Harlem, the Southeast Renaissance Fencing Open (SERFO), and the Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium (VISS). She is also an organizer for Atlanta’s Rapier and Saber Pedagogy retreat (RASP), a long weekend coaching clinic designed to bring together communities of fencing practitioners and teachers.
Puck Curtis
Puck Curtis began studying historical fencing in 1992 and researching Spanish swordplay in 1994. He is the cofounder of the Destreza Translation and Research Project and the primary author of From the Page to the Practice – Fundamentals of Spanish Swordplay. Currently living in Folsom, California, he has taught historical fencing for over 20 years with a special focus on the Spanish traditions. He tested and received his certification as a Master at Arms before a traditional board of fencing masters with the San Jose Fencing Master’s program in 2008 and has expanded the tradition by examining a number of instructors, provosts, and fencing masters. In addition, he has presented seminars at major HEMA events, fought in numerous public exhibitions, and has served as a guest examiner for schools certifying historical fencing instructors. His current project is uniting the rigorous training and pedagogy of the classical Italian school with the theory and practice of the Spanish True School to preserve the tradition, develop new leadership, and share the art with today’s western martial arts community.
Bill Ernoehazy
Dr. Bill Ernoehazy, emergency physician, Naval veteran, and swordsman, has been studying swordsmanship since the age of 16, first from his Hungarian father, and then from Dr. William O’Brien of the Letterman Army Medical Center salle. He began to pursue research in the historical European fighting arts in the 1990s, and was the author of the first article to be presented in the groundbreaking Western Martial Arts Illustrated journal. He is honored to teach the Fechtkunst under the auspices of Christian Tobler.
Josh Furrate
Josh Furrate has been playing with swords in earnest since early 2016 and he hasn’t stopped. In fact, he has simply pursued more methods of sword fighting whether it’s longsword (clothing optional), smallsword, Meyer’s Rappier, Messer, Sword & Buckler, or cutting; you can be sure that Josh has done it, seen it, and has insight on it. He brings this vibrant enthusiasm to all he does, but it shines brightest when he is teaching. He has also been instrumental in facilitating various weapon events throughout North America. In addition to teaching at the sword club, Josh has been an instructor at Schwertkampf Mexico, PHO, IGX, SoCal Sword Fight, HEMAC Dijon & various other events where he shared his extensive knowledge of KdF longsword. Though instructing is a heavy focus, he is no stranger to competition and in 2018 it showed. He has competed and medaled at various events but the most important is his Honorable Conduct award at Icebreaker 2019.
Ralf Gutzeit
kurt Holtfreter
Kurt Holtfreter has been studying Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) with the Triangle Sword Guild (TSG) in Raleigh North Carolina since 2017. He has a background in Kendo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. He is currently TSG’s head instructor for the Armizare curriculum as well as a lead instructor for their Kunst des Fechten program. Kurt travels to other HEMA schools to broaden perspectives through collaborative training, sparring, and consultation in order to bring home fresh ideas to share with TSG. .
Kurt’s passion lies in understanding the mindset of the combat professional of the 14th Century. He uses his experience from his time in the Marine Corps to craft training experiences focusing on being the person of arms and replicating immediate actions seen with Fiore’s dei Liberi’s Armizare manuscripts. He extends this perspective into the practice with sharp arms and establishes cutting ‘ranges’ where practitioners not only get to practice their strike patterns with dagger, sword, lance, and ax, but they also get to experience multiple target engagements, weapon transitions, and activating arms from the scabbard. Kurt runs the YouTube channel Holtfreter Lab’s where he showcases his research and shares his interpretations on Armizare. He has also published the book My Mind of Fight which is his thoughts, observations, and considerations for the Kunst des Fechten systems on Amazon.
Charles Lin
Charles Lin is an instructor at Capital Kunst des Fechtens in Washington, DC. He studies Liechtenauer’s Kunst des Fechtens as well as other late medieval German fencing sources. In addition, he uses historical and archaeological research to inform his studies into the context and practice of fencing and military sources of the late fifteenth century.
Loreen Mattis
Loreen Mattis is the Education Program Administrator for Chivalry Today Education Program and one of the head coaches for its Western Martial Arts program, San Diego Longsword. She began her practice in 2017 and has extensively studied the fighting arts while continually focusing on the growth of her own practice and that of her students. Her weapons of choice are the longsword and spear in both armored and unarmored combat. As a professional high school educator, Loreen uses her teaching background to develop lesson plans for these fighting arts that are accessible to a wide variety of HEMA practitioners and their various learning styles. Her goal is to create a studio culture that is culturally responsive, supportive, and inviting to all students interested in collaborating in pursuit of friendship and mastery of Western Martial Arts.
Eric Myers
Eric was certified as a Master at Arms in classical Italian fencing by the San Jose State University Fencing Masters Program in 2008, and is a cofounder of the Sacramento Sword School. He teaches classical and historical fencing, as well as fencing pedagogy through various channels including the Sonoma State University Fencing Masters Certificate Program. He has worked to expand the geographical reaches of the program through private students, both in person and through remote learning.
Maestro Myers began fencing in 1984, and researching Historical European Martial Arts in 1997. Since 2005 his historical research has focused on the martial arts of Spain and Portugal, and in 2010 he co-authored (with Steve Hick) a monograph and translation of the 17th century “Memorial of the Practice of the Montante” by Diogo Gomes de Figueyredo. Since then, he has continued his research and translation activities, and has co-authored or collaborated several books on Iberian fencing. He has taught from these and other works at several large, international WMA events.
John O’Meara
John O’Meara studied modern foil and epee at McGill University, and as an actor trained in stage combat and choreography with the New York Fight Ensemble. His love of history, swords and the mystique of the duel all came together when he joined the Chicago Swordplay Guild, where he has headed and developed the Renaissance fencing curriculum since 2001. He is the Guild’s first Provost-at-Arms, a rank he earned through his long years of teaching and curriculum development, examinations as well as a public display at arms in February of 2016. He teaches regularly at WMAW and taught at VISS 2019.
James Reilly
James Reilly began his study of martial arts in his early teens. His first focus was on western boxing, later moving on to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. At 20 years of age, he joined the Armed Forces where he achieved the rating of Navy Chief after just 5 years of service. He began his study of historical swordsmanship in 2009, after stumbling across the highly acclaimed documentary “Reclaiming the Blade.” He joined the HEMA Alliance as an individual member in 2011.
James is the Principal Instructor of the Goliath Historical Fencing Academy. He is a student and teacher of the tradition of Kunst Des Fechtens founded by Johannes Lichtenauer. He has taught private seminars and at major historical fencing events across the United States and Internationally, and holds the Fechter rank by the MFFG in Longsword, dussack, dagger, wrestling and rapier.
Christian Henry Tobler
Christian Henry Tobler has been a longtime student of swordsmanship, especially as it applies to the pursuit of the chivalric ideals. A passionate advocate of the medieval Liechtenauer School, his work in translating and interpreting Sigmund Ringeck’s commentary in 2001’s Secrets of Medieval German Martial Arts firmly established him as an important contributor to the growing community of Western martial artists. With over seven books, two training DVDs and numerous articles to his credit, he remains at the forefront of bringing the study of medieval Fechtbücher to life.
Mr. Tobler lives in the United States, in rural Oxford, Connecticut, with his wife Maureen Chalmers, where he teaches a weekly class on Medieval German combat, surrounded by far too many books and pieces of arms and armour for the size house that they live in.
Davis Vader
Davis Vader started training with the Chicago Swordplay Guild in 2006 upon learning of the existence of historical fencing manuals and the communities studying them. In 2017 he was among the second pair of students from the organization to attain the rank of Free Scholar of Armizare and in 2022 among the inaugural group to attain the Scholar of Bolognese Arms rank. Having taught at the CSG, some of its sister schools, and online classes, he is thrilled to be on the WMAW roster again. Considering himself a lifelong learner, his own focus has become armored and unarmored Armizare and Bolognese fencing, both with a special love and emphasis on polearms. When not doing martial arts, his next favorite form of exercise is trail running. Despite his surname, his outside interests do not involve lightsabers even if they are elegant weapons for a more civilized age.