SMEF Instructors
Johannes Liechtenauer:
"He who comports himself well, and breaks well, and finally breaks completely – and breaks apart [every technique] using the Three Wonders – he who uses Hängen and Winden well, and performs the eight Winden in the correct way – and by each Winden I mean the three Winden, which makes them four and twenty, counting them from both sides. "
Chairman and Chief Instructor
Our Chief Instructor, Maister Grade 3 and the main driving force behind the SMEF, is Chris Stride. He has practised the art of swordsmanship since the early 1990's and has dedicated a large part of his life to researching, understanding and teaching the system devised by the great medieval German fencing master Johannes Liechtenauer. Having started from humble beginnings, with no previous martial training and being entirely self-taught, Chris has gained a pure and in-depth understanding of what it is that Liechtenauer's system represents. Over the course of time he has come to realise that the system in itself is beautifully simple and yet comprehensive in the way it develops both the Martial and the Art, and how its application ..... read more
Vice Chairman and Senior Instructor
Our Vice Chairman and Senior Instructor, Adrian Boyd, first became interested in the various disciplines of Martial Arts in the year 2000. As a dedicated kickboxing practitioner, he was awarded the Black Belt 1st Dan by the Professional Kickboxing Association (P.K.A.) in 2003, along with an instructor qualification from the same body. In the same year Adrian was awarded Sports Coach UK certificates in good practice and child protection as well as coaching studies.
In addition to kickboxing, Adrian spent five years under the tutelage of an assistant instructor to Terry Barnett, practising Kali-JKD and integrated arts. He has recently begun practising the Bruneian martial art of Silat Suffian Bela Diri and Rapid Arnis, a UK derivative of Filipino martial systems....... read more
Oxfordshire Class Instructor
Our Oxfordshire class instructor, Neal Pratley, became interested in Martial Arts in his twenties, first starting with kickboxing before moving onto Wing Chun. After 2 years he decided to try Shaolin Kung Fu, attaining the level of Red Belt within two years before his instructor moved back to their country of origin.
In 2011 Neal was looking for another martial discipline to be involved with, and having an interest in history he decided that HEMA would be an avenue to explore. A quick look on the internet meant he found the SMEF to be his nearest HEMA school at that time and came along for a trial period. After attending a few lessons .... read more
Class Instructor
Our Class Instructor, Tomasz Lipinski, started attending SMEF classes in 2007 at the age of 11. His dedication, combined with an attentive and enthusiastic attitude towards lessons, meant that Tomasz reached a decent standard of practice quickly, finding the process of understanding martial principles and body mechanics relatively easy, progressing through Grades 1 to 3 and assisting in classes after only a few years.
Tomasz gained his IL1 qualification at 15 and became the youngest BFHS qualified instructor at that time, earning the respect from his assessors ..... read more