How it all began...


Attention: this is my first attempt at writing a blog, so please bear with me :o)

In September of 2010, while on a visit to San Francisco, I happened to come across Steaphen Fick's homepage: swordfightingschool.com  and instantly knew that this was something I wanted to try out. Like so many having always been fascinated by knights since early childhood, this was an opportunity not to miss. It was instantly clear to me that Steaphen was a true lifestyler, and that this was not just another hobby on the side. I remember that I called him up imediately after coming across his homepage and by chance there was a weekend course only a few days for later which I signed up.

I drove down from San Francisco to Santa Clara and found the school. It was not easy to miss, a full armour was standing on display in the big dooropening! Other suits of armour were standing along one wall but I was surprised to find these armours somewhat more gritty and dented from your usual museum display. To me, it felt like history was virtually taking a leap out from the past and standing alive in front of me, here and now. It impressed me deeply.

Over the course of the weekend I took my first steps into swordfighting and foot combat - here after the teachings of the grand master Fiore dei Liberi and his book from 1409. In due course also learning the difference from war combat and the "sports" or tournament combat that evolved from it. Many myths were torn down.

Needless to say, I was sucked into this amazing world instantly and not only learning about fighting techniques and the gear but also about the history and ways of life in medieval times. And boy, was there many a surprise!

Sometimes, you just know that a project you may start out on is for you, that something deeply  buried within you is suddenly surfacing. This is how it felt to me, just as it has with diving, parasailing and motorcycling, there really was no doubt.

Since then it has been an interesting path with ups and downs but never boring.

After arriving home to Sweden after the course in Santa Clara, I ventured out to find other likeminded souls in the area. Not an easy task as it would prove. And of course, I would also like to see if I could find someone, who could make me some decent piece of kit! After doing some online research a name kept popping up all the time: Per Lillund Jensen. Especially the museums were all in awe about his meticulousness and preciscion down to the gramme of the piece he was replicating.

I knew Per was Danish and had lived not far away from me in Copenhagen at some point, but now he seemed to have gone underground. However, I managed to find his email adress and wrote to him. I had the most wonderful and exciting (long!) letter back from him and shortly after met up with him and his lovely wife. As it turned out, they live almost down the road from me, only 45 minutes away, having moved from Denmark to Sweden at the same time I did. We talked passionately about armour the rest of the day and I even got to try on a few pieces: