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Stoccata School of Defence

Historical Martial Arts in NSW &Tasmania, Est 1998

  • Branches
    • Kids Classes
    • Baulkham Hills & Strathfield
    • Drummoyne & Rhodes
    • Epping
    • Faulconbridge
    • Gunning District Sword Fighters
    • Hobart
    • Launceston
    • Longford
    • Newcastle
    • Newtown
    • Sydney School of Arms
  • About
    • Inclusivity
    • Constitution
    • Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) & Western Martial Arts (WMA)
    • Our History
    • Kids Classes
    • Styles
    • Ranks
    • Provosts
    • Ushers
    • AWMAC
      • AWMAC 2020
  • Resources
    • Publications
    • Stoccata Courscant
    • Equipment
      • Weapons
      • Protective Equipment
  • Membership
    • Membership
    • Inclusivity
    • Constitution
    • Committee
    • Stoccata Fencing Standards
  • Blog
  • Contact

Welcome to the Stoccata School of Defence

NSW, Tasmania, & Qld Australia. Est. 1998

The Stoccata School of Defence is a modern school of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) (also called Western Martial Arts (WMA) or Historical European Swordsmanship (HES) or Historical Fencing (HF), that teaches systems of fencing described in texts written between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries.

These systems are taught as a martials arts, not as re-enactment, or theatrical stage-fighting (although many students do engage in these activities as well). However, given that no modern person will ever be in a real sword fight, our emphasis is on safety, control, competence, skill, and of course enjoyment.

We offer regular courses of instruction in a variety of different weapons and historical styles. Age requirements are different at our various branches however the minimum age is 12 for some classes, and 16 for the majority of our classes. See Branches for details of what we teach at each location, or Styles for a summary of the systems we teach.

Inclusivity

You can read our inclusivity statement here.
For information about which branches train on which day, please see the Branches tab above.

Branches

Find a school near you.

Stoccata runs schools in NSW and Tasmania.

Read more Branches

About

The Stoccata School of Defence was founded in 1998 by Stephen Hand, Andy Brew and Pete Radvan to teach historical fencing techniques.

Read more About

AWMAC

About AWMAC The Stoccata School of Defence hosts the Australasian Western Martial Arts Convention (AWMAC) on the Queen’s Birthday Weekend, and is the premier HEMA event in Sydney each year. Over the long weekend there will be workshops on everything from HEMA staples like longsword and rapier to more esoteric systems like back-hold wrestling and…

Read more AWMAC

Find Us On Facebook

Find Us On Facebook

Stoccata Blog

  • 5 Random Thoughts about HEMA 03/12/2022 4 December 2022
  • English Knife Fighting – The Alehouse Dagger 14 May 2017
  • Converting a Shinai Into a Spadone 14 May 2017
  • Making a Basket Hilted Shinai 14 May 2017
  • The Highland Cotun 14 May 2017
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