The instructors for the Historical Fencing Training Camp are:
Dan Arnold
Dan has been actively training and competing in HEMA for over a decade as well as having trained in modern fencing. Dan loves all kinds of martial arts, he holds a Black belt in Jissen Budo and a Purple belt in Brazillian Jujitsu, which he teaches professionally.
He is a successful tournament fencer with over 100 recorded tournament match victories and several 1st, 2nd and 3rd placings throughout his career. He believes in a strategic principles based approach to fencing, and that technique arises from correctly applied principles.
Dan’s main areas of interest are Longsword, Sabre, Grappling, Dagger and Foil.
Tm Green
Tim Green (pronouns: they/them) is an enthusiastic scholar of Victorian British fencing, with a strong focus on sabre, epee and dagger. Their passion for historical swordplay started while studying history at Macquarie University in 2004, with their degree culminating in writing an honours thesis on the cultural context of Alfred Hutton’s works.
When fencing Tim’s main focus are British sabre/cutlass systems of the 1880s and 1890s based on the works of R.G Allanson-Winn, Alfred Hutton, John Musgrave-Waite, and others, along with early epee fencing according to Jules Jacob, Alfred Hutton, and the 1877 French Military Fencing Manual, and Victorian Era knife fighting according to Alfred Hutton.
Tim’s lessons focus on using gamification, active learning principles, and constraints based coaching. Workshops revolve around using problem solving to enrich techniques or develop new skills for sword fighting, and encourage active participation from fencers.
Tim is always happy to fence or talk about swords and history, so feel free to hit them up between workshops.
Geraud Lemenager
Meet Geraud, one of the 3 instructors of HEMA at Sword Fighter Gold Coast
who has expertise in various weapons including sword and companion, sword and buckler, rapier, and spear.
At the age of 8, Geraud began his fencing journey in France by learning Olympic fencing. He then proceeded to explore Japanese fencing before ultimately finding his true passion in HEMA.
Geraud emphasizes the importance of proper form, footwork, and fluid movement in his teaching style. His passion for the art of historical swordsmanship is infectious and he is eager to share his knowledge with fellow enthusiasts at the upcoming bootcamp.
Nelson McGuigan
Nelson is a coach-competitor focusing on Liechtenaurian Longsword, Radaellian Sabre, and Fabrisian Rapier.
In 2022 he became the only fencer ever to place in the top 8 at every ranked Australian competition in a calendar year.
Nelson is known for delivering training that is as fun as it is challenging, and a tactics-driven approach to fencing that is cerebral, assertive, and a little playful.
In his athletes he endeavours to cultivate fencing derived purely from historical sources that brings them genuine use and reward.
Outside of fencing, he dabbles in various martial arts, primarily Judo, Australian Jiu-Jitsu, and Boxing.
Mark Holgate
Mark is a professional HEMA instructor and head of Adelaide Sword Academy. His major interests are in 16th and early 17th century fencing, especially Joachim Meyer’s works. He is a successful tournament fencer across multiple weapon forms, and has instructed throughout Australia and the US. Mark’s passion is for the embodiment and mastery of the Art at a grass roots level – master to student, and peer to peer.
Woody Craig
Woody Craig is well known for promoting Salvatore Fabris’ Rapier system in Australia. He is also an exceptionally fierce and well-rounded fencer with most other weapon systems, winning the 2018 AP Mixed Weapons Challenge amongst many other tournaments, particularly in Rapier, and Longsword.
Woody has shared his passion for fencing across the country, having been invited to teach workshops in Brisbane, Adelaide and Festival of the Sword. He taught Rapier & Longsword classes at the School of Historical fencing from 2017 – 2020 and currently teaches a private group of local up and coming fencers. Woody is passionate about reading the whole text and feels keenly that most fencing problems would be solved by reading Fabris.
Daniel Pope
Daniel is head coach at Scholar Victoria, where he teaches 15th/16th century longsword and sidesword (Liechtenauer/Meyer) and 19th century sabre. He is an avid competitive fencer with more than a decade of experience, having retained a top 20 international longsword rating since 2017, and has also cross-trained extensively in other martial arts, including training to black-belt level in classical jujitsu and Japanese sword arts.
Daniel’s approach to training emphasises a union of modern pedagogy and historical texts. By using lessons as problem solving activities with fixed objectives and constraints, the student is able to arrive at the historical techniques and motifs of fencing organically as they respond naturally to environmental cues.
Daniel applies this approach to his own training, as well as to in-person classes and via YouTube where he breaks down techniques into brief deconstructive lessons for the broader community.
Gindi Wauchope
Gindi has fenced his whole life and has taught fencing professionally since 2015. He specialises in Northern Italian fencing from Fiore to Alfieri, and is particularly focused on Rapier, Sidesword (& Buckler), & Two Handed Sword. He also practices and teaches a variety of other things including: Longsword, Iberian fencing, Spadone, Medieval wrestling, Dagger, Sabre, Smallsword, and Partisan.
Gindi is known for his attention to detail, systematic technical orientation, and welcoming approach. In his teaching practice he actively works to foster an inclusive and diverse teaching environment, to help everyone to grow towards meeting their HEMA goals. When he isn’t fencing or teaching fencing he’s usually translating 16th century Italian fencing texts, reading fiction, or spending time with his family.