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Medieval Martial Arts

Medieval Martial Arts training covers both unarmed combat and weapons.

Unlike the portrayal of medieval swordsmanship in most modern films, medieval swordsmanship was a sophisticated martial art in its own right and was just as evolved as any other martial art.

We study medieval martial arts in order to portray them accurately at public displays as well as to allow our students to take part in actual historical sword fighting tournaments.

Training is run in association with the Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy – a fully equipped and modern martial arts training facility in the Upper Hutt CBD.

The training teaches correct period techniques that are illustrated and described in surviving period manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries.

We offer training in two systems of Medieval European combat:

• Tower Manuscript 1.33 (a German document dated c. 1300 which covers sword and small shield fighting).
• Flos Duellatorum, written by the Italian sword master Fiore in the early 15th century. This material covers unarmed combat, medieval wrestling, dagger, spear, long sword and poll ax.

Training in both systems are linked together by a 4 stage training system:

• Stage 1: Fiore unarmed and Dagger Techniques
• Stage 2: 1.33 Sword and Buckler
• Stage 3: Fiore unarmoured combat with long sword
• Stage 4: Fiore armoured combat with long sword or pollaxe

The main difference between unarmoured and armoured combat is that in unarmoured combat wooden weapons are used for sparring while blunt metal weapons are used in the armoured combat.