American Military News by Gabriel Greschler - Mercury News April 16, 2023
It’s 1 p.m. on a recent Thursday in San Jose, and Steaphen Fick is intently watching two grown men swing unsharpened steel swords at each other.
One of them is apparently not striking the other with enough force. Fick interrupts.
“Don’t be afraid!” he says, like a character going into battle in “Lord of the Rings.”
Fick jabs a finger at the other man’s headgear and neck guard — called a gorget, French for “throat” — and turns to his opponent. “That’s what that’s for!”
The click-clacking of swords resumes.
Fick is no stranger to these swords. He started practicing Historical European martial arts (HEMA) more than three decades ago in his backyard in San Jose. Now, like the prodigal son so often mythologized in medieval art, he’s returning to the city after 14 years at various locations throughout Santa Clara County.
On March 4, Fick’s Davenriche European Martial Artes School had a grand opening in the city’s Japantown neighborhood; it expands his footprint to 14,244 square feet, a fourth the size of a football field. It’s a far cry from his first school in 2000, which was located in the back room of a packaging plant that smelled like onions and pineapple and was home to a family of bats.
“We’ve been working our tails off,” Fick says.
The enormous warehouse at 395 East Taylor Street is an emporium for the medieval-minded. A dragon figurine adorns the ceiling, European paintings and tapestries hang on the brick walls and there’s enough space to house an entire armory and library — plus a replica trebuchet catapult. At the foot of the stairs leading up to the school is a large suit of armor that Fick once wore in France at a reenactment of Henry V’s Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
“This is a very famous battle,” Fick says while his finger tinks against the armor’s metal. The Polish-made helmet is mild steel, which helps disperse the energy if something impacts it. There’s a two-inch dent on the left side of it above the eye hole where Fick got hit. “I was on the field with two squires fighting against the French. English longbowmen (were) shooting arrows over my head. It was a good time.”
More:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/04/this-swordfighting-school-promises-your-own-personal-game-of-thrones/My oldest son has competed in several HEMA long-sword tournaments over the years.
