Bringing historical martial arts to life!
How did people actually fight historically? What did their recreational fencing look like? The Stoccata School of Defence is the result of trying to answer that very question. Our founders were long term participants in reenactment societies, and had a drive to understand how our ancestors fought that could not be satisfied on the reenactment field.
The answer was found to be contained in surviving historical fencing sources written at the time when people where actually fighting for their lives or playing for sport. We discovered that sources provide clear and concise instructions for using said weapons, in straightforward and effective methods, far superior to anything being developed within the reenactor community.
Founded in 1998, we have decades of experience teaching historical fencing to students of a broad range of ages, gender, and athletic ability. All of our classes are built upon the surviving historical fencing manuals, using modern methods of coaching and modern safety equipment. We have coaches to cover many interests or time period, and our source material cover weapons used from the 13th Century all the way to living lineages of fencing.
Our primary focus is to teach these arts as they were meant to be used, as effective martial arts and engaging and fun methods of recreation (The latter is what these, like martial arts today were mostly used for). Whilst not the primary focus of our practice, skills developed can allow students to do well in HEMA tournaments as well as being useful for re-enactment combat, LARP fighting, or theatrical stage-fighting. Our emphasis is on safety, enjoyment, and skill.
The Stoccata School of Defence exists so that you can take your sword wielding dream from fantasy to reality!
What’s in a name?
From the beginning, our club modelled itself on the historical fencing guilds of Europe, particularly the London Masters of Defence of the 16th century. It was decided to name the school Stoccata after the Italian word for a straight or rising thrust, which is also a word used by George Silver, an English master to refer to that same Italian guard and technique.
The first formal night of training at Stoccata was in August 1998, with a class on Silver’s single basket hilted sword, followed by a class on Italian rapier according to Vincentio Saviolo. The number of systems, branches, and clubs in our organisation has only expanded from there.
Our Classes
Even though the material in each class will be different, they all follow the same general outline. Class will begin with a group warm up session, which will then be followed by drills and games, finishing with free-fencing sessions. Newer students will have the opportunity to work with experienced students as well as to explore their own ability to move. Our goal is to have a learning environment where every student feels safe and comfortable learning the material we teach.
Stoccata School of Defence 