For the Historical Fencing Training Camp we currently have the following confirmed instructors:
This list is incomplete, we are still looking for more exciting instructors – you can help by adding to it!
Jess Finley

Jess Finley has been studying the martial arts of medieval Germany for more than twenty years and is the head instructor at Ritterkunst Turhalle in Kansas, USA, where she teaches Medieval Wrestling, Longsword, and Armoured Fighting.
She will be teaching three major workshops at Sword Camp.
Understanding Hauptstücke: what are the 12 core principles of swordsmanship and how can you use them?
The Hauptstücke of Liechtenauer’s system are broad principles that apply not just in fencing, but also to any conflict that one might encounter. They are the concepts of sheltering and dislodging (leger and versetzen), pursuing and overrunning (nachreisen and uberlauffen), removing and exchanging (absetzen and durchwechseln), to pull back and to go through (zucken and durchlauffen), intercepting and suppressing the hands (abschneiden and hende drucken), and finally hanging on and winding around (hangen and winden).
These concepts arise in all manner of Medieval German martial arts, armed, armored, and unarmed, and while we will focus on the Blossfechten with the Longsword to understand these concepts, we will make connections to broader applications and implications. This class will answer the question “What should I be thinking about in the approach as I come to fence?” and “What should I think about when in the bind?”.
Ringen with and without swords: the most common wrestling techniques explored armed and unarmed:
In this workshop we will open with some basic skills necessary to stand-up jacketed wrestling, such as falling skills, secure throwing of training partners, and gripping basics. After that we will explore some of the more common wrestling techniques from the medieval German sources, and then their applications when we have swords or daggers in hand.
3 weapons 4 points: Liechtenauers Harnischfechten tactics and techniques:
Explore the martial art of Harnischfechten, the medieval German art of armored combat, through the lens of Johannes Liechtenauer’s zettel. This class delves into the key principles and tactics of fighting in full armor, focusing on the use of three primary weapons: the longsword, the spear, and the poleaxe. Learn how to apply 12 Hauptstücke in armored conditions, covering both offensive and defensive techniques.
More about Jess:
While Jess has experience teaching every weapon in the medieval German arsenal, she is perhaps best known for her knowledge of unarmed combat through her study of medieval German wrestling. She has published a book on the fifteenth century German Master Ott’s wrestling treatise under the title “Medieval Wrestling,”.
Jess has taught and competed internationally at events like the Western Martial Arts Workshop in Chicago, USA; Paddy Crean International Workshop in Banff, Canada; Swordfish in Gothenburg, Sweden; and Longpoint in Baltimore, USA and has taught intensives at various events and schools, as well as weekend private intensives at her home.
In addition to her scholarly work on medieval martial arts, Jess also researches medieval clothing construction and fabric armor, and has presented her findings at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, and has published an article in Medieval Clothing and Textiles (Boydell and Brewer) on her study of a 15th century quilted armor.
Mike Smallridge

Mike is club founder and instructor at the Auckland Longsword in New Zealand, with a focus on Liechtenauer Longsword, and Rapier according to Ghisliero.
He will be teaching a workshop on Rapier and Dagger according to:
Ghislier-uh-oh! This class will be a look at the rapier and dagger fencing of Federico Ghisliero, from his 1587 ‘Collection of Many Knightly Exercises’. Ghisliero was a Catholic artillery officer and knight who campaigned across Europe, hosted Galileo for dinner, corresponded with the Pope, and had the same fencing instructor as Capo Ferro. His system is gorgeously illustrated, and shows the influence of several fencing traditions, but really shines as an application of neo-Scholastic thinking to the problems of fencing. And it works.
More about Mike:
Two reasons to listen to Mike about historical fencing are his historical research, and his fencing ability. He’s been a historical fencer since 2009, with his first international competitions in Poland and Sweden. He has medals from Moscow, Paris and the British Isles and is rated in the top hundred fencers in six disciplines. From 2017, through the pandemic, his primary HEMA project was unpicking the Liechtenauer tradition from the re-enactorisms floating around which led to the Fencing by the Book podcast, and a book on the Lew gloss – The Fencing Art. The last few years he’s been hyper-fixating on Ghisliero’s rapier & dagger – a beautiful source sadly neglected until recently.
Kristian Guivarra

Kristian is the head instructor at Vanguard Swordsmanship Academy in Brisbane. He is a longtime competitive HEMA fencer and is currently ranked no 2 in the world for Longsword, no 7 for Rapier, and no 15 for Rapier & Dagger.
Kristian will be teaching three classes at Sword Camp:
Break out of the pool!
If you’ve been fencing for a while, and you can win some pool matches but still struggle to make it to elims, this is the class for you.
Rapier & Dagger what you really need to know:
The real fundamentals with this weapon combination, that no one talks about.
The Unnamed Longsword Class:
What will you learn in this mystery class – the secrets of the darkest art ? Come to Sword Camp and find out.
More about kristian:
Kristian has been active in combat sports since the 90’s when he competed in boxing, and took up sword fighting in 2013 achieving strong competitive results early on. In his fencing practice, he emphasises defence, distance management and movement. He is a very experienced teacher with years of experience teaching Latin dance professionally.
Daniel Pope

Daniel is the head coach at Scholar Victoria, where he teaches Longsword, Sidesword, and 19th Century Sabre. He will be teaching two exciting classes at Sword Camp.
From Page to Practice: Deconstructing Plays in German Longsword:
Meyer’s longsword system is known for its long sequences of actions, leading some people to ask how we are meant to put these into practice for “real” fencing? In this interactive session the group will proactively deconstruct a sample play from Meyer’s longsword, then reconstruct it as a series of drills which we can actively use to develop our fencing skills, and apply in sparring and tournaments. As part of this process we will see how the foundational elements of fencing – timing, distance, and technique – are overlaid with tactical concepts to develop an effective system of fencing.
Beyond Parrying: Distance, Timing, & Technique in Sidesword:
Parrying is easy. Using parries to set up a follow on technique is much harder. In this workshop we will develop our understanding parries, working through a naive approach of stopping the sword, through to setting up a parrying situation create opportunities for riposte or counter attack. All of this is based on an understanding of distance and timing, and how these can be manipulated to best effect.
More about Dan:
With a training approach emphasising a union of modern pedagogy and historical foundations. His lessons unpack simple problem solving exercises in order to organically develop historical techniques and fencing motifs, based on the individual’s response to natural cues. He has applied this approach in group and individual lessons, as well as on YouTube where he breaks down techniques into brief deconstructive lessons for the broader community.
As an avid competitor Daniel has been annual highest ranked fencer on the Australian Historical Fencing League twice (2019, 2024), and achieved #1 in worldwide rankings in Sidesword in 2024, as well as holding a top 10 ranking in Longsword and Rapier, and top 20 in sabre. Daniel has also cross-trained extensively in other martial arts, including training to black-belt level in classical jujitsu and kenjutsu.
Cornelius Weber

Cornelius is the head instructor at the School of Arms and Armour., where he teaches armoured and unarmoured fencing with Poleaxe, Longsword, Dagger and Wrestling.
He will be teaching an introduction to the use of the pollaxe and fighting in armour (Harnischfecten) as described in “Le Jeu de la Hache” one of the main texts for the axe, as well as how to get started in Harnischfecten in a HEMA context with some demonstration bouts.
More about Cornelius:
Cornelius started mucking about with swords and armour at the start of the 90’s and has been obsessed ever since. Along the way Cornelius has fought and won tournaments, been a professional armourer, taught throughout Australia, presented school programs, gained a Dan grade in Kendo and founded the School of Arms and Armour. These days he divides his time between the School, coaching mountain bike skills, historical shooting, and getting people into armour.
What is a poleaxe?
The pollaxe was one of the most important knightly weapons of the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Usually between four and a half and seven feet in overall length, pole axes typically combined several different weapon dynamics into a single tool optimized for defeating armor during combat on foot. By the mid-15th century, European armor had developed into a very protective technology that made the wearer relatively safe from attack by weapons designed to cut and cleave. Combining a hammer head, hook and and thrusting spikes at the end, the pollaxe was the knightly weapon on the battlefield, the tournament lists, or on the dueling ground.
Monika Stankiewicz

Monika aka Momo! (she/her) started her historical fencing journey in 2016, has been teaching and coaching at AUSCA in Adelaide since 2019 and is mid-starting a new HEMA club in Adelaide. Her strength lies in building healthy cultures that attracts and addicts people to fencing. While she loves sabre-ing and longsword-ing, her current focus is Giganti’s rapier and side-arms.
She will be teaching three classes at Sword Camp.
Fencing Teachers Hate Her – One simple trick to winnings drills!
Calling all Fencers! Have you felt that you just can’t get the drill right? Have you ever felt unsatisfied with what you get out of your training drills? Then this class is for you.
An introduction to Giganti’s rapier and dagger (and what to do if you get cornered by a city guard):
Working from his 1606 and 1608 treatises we’ll cover the cornerstone techniques of Giganti’s Rapier and Dagger system, and his pragmatic advice for dealing with every-day venetian situations.
From Trick to Tournament – How to take a cool fencing thing you just learnt and work it into your fencing:
Have you ever seen an exciting fencing thing in a Tik Tok, a tournament, a class or (gasp) a manual? Have you then struggled to make it usable outside of that drill that perfectly enables you to pull it off? Then this class is for you.
Emerald Hendry

Emerald is the facilitator at the Old Sword Club in Sydney, with a focus on Victorian British sabre, epee and dagger.
They will be leading two classes at Sword Camp:
Learning bowie knife through games:
Come and have a knife time playing some cutting edge dagger training games. This workshop will cover the fundamentals of Victorian dagger fencing including basic attacks, defences, and core tactics. Lessons will be taught through interactive drills which revolve around learning through problem solving and developing good reactions to unscripted actions.
Distance and timing games for sabre and broadsword:
Distance and timing are one of the most fundamental skills of broadsword fencing. This workshop will run participants through a series of swords games designed to develop a stronger sense of distance and timing. Come along and join in the fun.
More about Emerald:
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.
Emerald’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. Emerald is always happy to fence or talk about swords and history, so feel free to hit them up between workshops.
When fencing Emerald’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.
Gindi Wauchope

Gindi teaches fencing professionally, and practices Northern Italian and Iberian fencing from Fiore to Rada with a focus on Rapier, Sidesword (& Buckler), & Two Handed Sword.
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, helping everyone to grow towards meeting their HEMA goals. Any ‘spare time’ he has is spent translating 16th century Italian texts, reading fiction, and connecting with his family.