Lord Baltimore's Challenge

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Maestro Puck Curtis

www.destreza.us

Puck Curtis began studying historical fencing in 1992 and researching Spanish swordplay in 1994. He is the co-founder of the Destreza Translation and Research Project and maintains the Theory and Practice section of its website. Currently living in Sacramento, California, he has been the primary historical fencing instructor for the Davis Fencing Academy, and currently teaches Destreza as a martial art. Puck received his classical Italian fencing certification as a Master at Arms through the San Jose Fencing Master’s program in 2008. He has been a member of the SCA’s Order of the White Scarf since 2001, and sits on the board of the Tattershall School of Defense.

Here's an earlier (2013) spotlight in an interview with Keith Cotter-Reilly: https://hemanews.com/2013/01/16/instructor-spotlight-puck-curtis/

Puck also teaches at the Sacramento Sword School: http://sacramentoswordschool.com/index.html

Justin Aucoin (he/him)

justinswordfit.com

Justin Aucoin (aka Remy) is the product of when a five-year-old boy who fell in love with Zorro and The Three Musketeers grows into a mostly functional adult. His life-long love of athletics and swashbuckling has led him down the road to practicing the art of historical fencing.

He’s the founder of Boston Academie d’Armes, a hybrid in-person/online fencing school for HEMA & SCA historical fencers, with a focus on French and Italian rapier, smallsword, and dueling saber. He puts an emphasis on good body mechanics and helping his fencers to improve their physical fitness, athletic ability, and fencing skill while operating within their current physical limitations.

As a competitor, Justin has won numerous rapier tournaments in the SCA -- both in singles and in group melee -- including Carolingia's Baronial Champion, East Kingdom Crown Champion, and named 6x to the Pennsic Champs team. He is 15th member of the East Kingdon’s Order of Defense, holds a Silver Broach and Maunche for his historical martial arts research, and a Silver Wheel and Silver Crescent for his coaching.

Outside of the SCA and the Academie, Justin teaches rapier at Athena School of Arms, has taught workshops at events such as Iron Gate Exhibition (IGX), and is a certified personal trainer through NASM. You can follow his historical martial arts research at https://justinswordfit.com/

On social media, you can find Justin under the moniker of theTavernKnight, a reference to one of Rafael Sabatini’s earlier adventure novels.

Guy Windsor (he/him)

swordschool.com

Consulting Swordsman Dr. Guy Windsor is acclaimed and respected both as a teacher and a pioneering researcher of medieval and renaissance martial arts. He began his professional historical martial arts career when he founded The School of European Swordsmanship in Helsinki, Finland in 2001.

Awarded a PhD by Edinburgh University for his seminal work recreating historical combat systems, Guy has written numerous books for historical martial artists, such as The Medieval Longsword: A Training Manual for , The Medieval Dagger, From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest, The Duellist’s Companion, The Swordsman’s Companion, The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts, The Rapier Workbook series, and The Armizare Workbook.

He has traveled the world as an in-demand teacher and lecturer, and even developed the card game Audatia – bringing the thrills of historic swordfighting to the modern gaming audience.

He has also created a huge range of online courses, covering medieval knightly combat, sword and buckler, rapier, remedial training, and even how to train alone.

Now, Guy splits his time between researching historical martial arts; writing books and creating online courses, teaching students all over the world; and working as a consulting expert for media and entertainment professionals. He runs the popular historical martial arts podcast The Sword Guy, interviewing historical martial artists and experts from a wide range of related disciplines.

You can find him and his work online at swordschool.com.

Tim Lyon (he/him)

Mr. Lyon has been fencing in one form or another for almost 50 years, since being introduced to strip fencing in college. After stumbling upon the works of George Silver in the late 70's, he began dabbling in historical systems, mostly while stick fighting in the SCA. The onset of better simulators and research of the Bolognese and Italian rapier schools helped him switch focus into more serious application of historical swordplay and he has studied under many of the past and current respected scholars of the art. Since being introduced to the teachings of Salvator Fabris 20 years ago by Tom Leoni, he has focused his study on the writings of Fabris and his followers, particularly on the practical application of the theories.

Mr. Lyon is a retired Technical Writer who has indulged in many expensive and dangerous hobbies including sailing and riding. These days, however, he mostly just indulges in fencing, travel, and an occasional single malt. He and his wife are planning to move to Alsace within the year.

David Biggs (he/him)

Tattershall DC on YouTube

David Biggs has been a rector (instructor) with the Tattershall School of Defense since 2005. As such he has taught seminars on Italian rapier (primarily Capo Ferro’s and Giganti’s manuals) and sidesword (primarily dall’Agocchie) throughout the United States and Canada. He has taught at a few WMAWs, several KWARs, in at least 20 states and one Canadian province, and has been the guest instructor at a few HEMA events over the past few years. He has studied and applied Capo Ferro’s system to tournament fighting since around 2001, and dall’Agocchie’s since 2003.

In the SCA, Master Aeron Harper wears the White Scarf of Ansteorra and was elevated to the Order of the Laurel in 2006 – primarily for his work interpreting and applying rapier and sidesword combat manuals. He was the premier Society Deputy A&S Minister for Historical Combat Studies, and wrote the society rules promoting the study of historical martial arts throughout all kingdoms. He was also involved in getting sidesword combat (C&T) approved in the SCA and wrote the rules that are still used in at least two kingdoms.

In his day job, David works in international science and technology policy, helping to create better relationships and collaboration around the world with super cool science-y things. David lives and teaches in the Washington DC metropolitan area.

Bumi Fong (he/him)

Bumi is a practicing physical trainer and therapist and a lifelong combat sport practitioner. For weapons, he primarily plays with the SCA and has achieved their highest award in rapier as a Master of Defense and in Amored Combat as a Knight. He is a frequent national competitor both within the SCA and in HEMA. He was the overall winner of the last Lord Baltimore's challenge in early 2022 which included combining tournament placement in single sword, side sword and sword dagger. In addition, he is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is an active practitioner and educator. This litany of competitive combat sports led Bumi down a road of education ultimately leading to a career focused on body conditioning for sport. This in turn fostered a client base primarily composed of those who want to focus on injury prevention/mobility and thus increase functional longevity in their chosen activities.

Wendy Colbert (she/her)

Wendy Colbert is a NASM certified personal trainer with specializations in Women‘s Fitness and Virtual Coaching. She emphasizes cross training to maintain a strong body and optimal functional fitness. From the time Wendy was a toddler, she has ridden horses and skied on hills and on water. She later took up running and cycling as an adult , preferring endurance over short distance speed on the road and trails.

Prior to becoming a certified personal trainer, Wendy had a long career in early childhood education in a system that promoted both intellectual and physical development. Her work encouraged her to study movement and the ability to demonstrate movement with precision. Following an early retirement, she pivoted to focus on personal training for all ages of clients. Improving balance, stability and flexibility is foundational to her work with the populations that she serves.

Wendy’s fencing career began in college where she lettered in olympic foil (the only weapon open to women at the time) while attending Brandeis University. She started SCA armored combat at that time, but when the opportunity to study rapier arose, Wendy’s long-term passion was born. In the SCA she has been recognized for her fencing in two regions, being a member of both the Meridien Order of the Blade and the White Scarf of Æthelmearc. In the SCA she was also inducted into the Order of the Pelican, in part for being instrumental in establishing fencing in the Kingdom of Meridies, and the Order of the Laurel for her work in the Fiber Arts.