School of European Swordsmanship

About the School

Mission Statement

The practice of historical martial arts is good for mind, body and soul. The mind is improved through concentration and the development of theoretical understanding. The body through healthy and varied exercise. The soul through the constant striving for perfect form, the intellectual and moral honesty the Art demands, and through the depth of personal interaction that fencing with your peers creates.

The practice requires:
1) Techniques accurately recreated from the sources (which also requires in-depth knowledge of their historical context)
2) A complete and thoroughly consistent theory of their application
3) A system for developing the requisite technical skills (technical drills)
4) A system for developing the ability to apply the theory (tactical drills)
5) Supporting training such as joint-strengthening exercises, so that the techniques may be done without injury.
6) A safe environment for training.

The School exists to:

1) Provide high quality instruction in Historical European Martial Arts
2) Provide professional training for teachers of the Art
3) Provide a safe, friendly and appropriate environment for practising the Art
4) Promote the Art as a safe, fun, healthy, rewarding activity.
5) Conduct cutting-edge research in the historical sources, and create workable training systems from that research.
6) Provide high-quality equipment to practitioners.

History

The School of European Swordsmanship, Helsinki was founded in March 2001 by Guy Windsor. The school's first lessons took place in the Olympic Stadium and the Töölö primary school. The first demonstration lesson was attended by more than seventy people, and the first beginner's course started with more than twenty people, many of whom are still with the school. In June 2001 the school found its own salle in Jakomäki.

Initially, classes took place three times a week. At first the longsword was the only weapon taught, but rapier was added to the curriculum after five months. Weekend courses gave students the opportunity to become familiar with other weapons as well. The second year saw the school growing steadily. The number of students more than doubled and the number of classes was increased accordingly.

The first branch of the school outside Helsinki opened in Linköping in 2002, and the first branch within Finland opened in Tampere in January 2003 under the aegis of Tomi Försti, Provost. The third year saw an enormous increase in the number of students, who organised themselves into a rekisterointi yhdistys (Suomen Historiallisen Miekkailun Seura Ry) and the training schedule in Helsinki was expanded to accommodate regular training on six days a week. All training fees and equipment sales are now handled by the association (Ry).

Formal beginner's courses also started during the third year and have proven very popular. In October 2003 the school opened two more branches, one in Turku (lead by Miika Vanhapiha) and one in Lappeenranta (lead by Mikko Hänninen). In the same year, The Swordsman's Companion was published, which lead directly to the school's association with PHEMAS of Singapore in August 2005; two hardy souls (Greg Galistan and Chris Blakey) spent a month sleeping on our concrete floor and training 6 hours per day. Since then, Guy Windsor, Provost Topi Mikkola, and Ilkka Hartikainen have made the return trip and taught seminars there; further seminars in Singapore are also scheduled.

In March 2006, the fifth branch of the school in Finland opened in Jyväskylä, lead by Jukka Salmi.

Guy Windsor's second book, The Duellist's Companion was published in November 2006.

In summer 2007 the school moved to a larger space in the same building.

Since its inception it has been part of the school's policy to learn as much as possible from other instructors and researchers. To this end, the school regularly hosts seminars by visiting instructors in western martial arts, and occasional demonstrations and seminars by instructors in the asian arts. The first visiting instructor was Gareth Hunt, from the Dawn Duellist's Society, who came in July 2001. Since then we have held an average of 4 seminars per year, featuring guest instructors from as far afield as Italy, America and Australia. Our own instructor also teaches regularly in Finland, Sweden, Singapore and at the major international events in the historical swordsmanship calendar, including WMAW and ISMAC.