Sword school in Ames, Iowa

by CAROL USTINE
(Ames, Iowa, USA)

I live in Ames, Iowa and am a student of Iowa state university. I want to take sword fighting lessons and I was wondering if you could tell me which school is best near my place. It has always been my dream to sword fight and so your answer would help me take one step towards it.

Thank you!

Comments for Sword school in Ames, Iowa

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There are quite a few good options..
by: Paul

Hi Carol,

You didn't specify which type of sword fighting you are interested in taking lessons in. Generally speaking, sword schools in Japanese swordsmanship tend to be more common. There is a good one for this in Ames, Iowa that teaches Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu (quick drawing the sword) here - James Williams from the Bugei Trading company was a guest Sensei this year, and they have a good reputation as a serious school.

Shinkendo is another popular Japanese sword training school, there is/was one based at the Iowa university, there contact details are provided on the Shikendo website here

Depending on your interest, there is also a fencing academy in Iowa here - the principles learned can be expanded into Historical European Martial Arts.

Speaking of which, you can use the following map created by the ARMA (Association for Renaissance Martial Arts) to find HEMA groups in Iowa or anywhere else in the world actually. Their map can be found on their main site here

Hopefully this will be enough to point you in the right direction. Additional general info on sword fighting can also be found right here at SBG.

Enjoy the Journey!
Best wishes,
- Paul Southren

HEMA in Ankeny/Des Moines
by: Anonymous

Hi! I'm from the Central Iowa Historical Fencing Guild. We mostly do German longsword of the Lichtenaur tradition, Sigmund Ringeck specifically. We also dabble in I33 sword and buckler and saber, both Polish and British military (Angelo and Roworth). We meet Tuesdays and Saturdays near Ankeny. It's not too bad of a drive, and I know there are others in Ames that we've talked to before. We can help start a group for you in Ames, or you can join us with a half hour or so drive. Find us on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/Central-Iowa-Historical-Fencing-Guild-143572365691473/

Sorry I didn't see your post earlier, don't usually search our name for some reason. I hope I read the date right and this isn't years old. Anyhow.....you don't need anything but yourself to come out and get started! We have gear you can borrow until you're ready to get your own.

Sword fight school
by: Adam Pendragwn

Just thought I’d mention this: Most schools claiming to teach European Martial Arts or Medieval sword fighting (since you didn’t specify what kind of sword fighting) actually mean Renaissance period fencing, which comes from a number of small German books on the subject from the 16th century. What these schools teach is not actually how knights and other soldiers fought in the Middle Ages. You can find these books for sale which I’m sure would be a lot cheaper than enrolling in a class, and if you want to do something more akin to what Medieval soldiers did you can contact some clubs at Renaissance Fairs. Just thought I’d give you a heads up.

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