Black Boar Swordsmanship School

Tickets available through the website

A timely arrival at the top of the reading list, written by . One of our favourite fencers, the Chevalier d’Eon, has a whole chapter

Fencing equipment was not just used for protection in weapon arts- the French used it for practicing chausson, a form of savate, and the Germans for rutzkunst, a form of pugilism.

Lovely example of a cased smallsword from a museum in Porto

Earlybird tickets available- see our website. Instructor announcements coming soon!

Macaronis, Fops and Dandies are very different things, but often the terms get used interchangeably. Macaronis were those who adopted Continental fashions and exaggerated them; this included sword wearing and practice. Fops were those who affected behaviours of indolence and incompetence as an exaggeration of Continental aristocracy, so wore swords but feigned a lack of ability to use them. Dandies rejected both of these attitudes and developed simplified but sophisticated fashions and behaviours based on Classical ideals of Masculine competence and did away with sword wearing altogether.

Booking is now open for the 2026 Smallsword Symposium! Join us for another amazing event on 2nd to 4th October in Scotland's beautiful capital city, Edinburgh.🤺

An action packed weekend featuring workshops, free play duelling, fun games and evening socials, the symposium is the perfect place to meet and cross blades with the international fencing community. 🙂

Tickets cost £150 per participant, and we're running an early bird promotion too! 🐦 Book your space before 31st August to get £25 off the ticket price - just enter the following discount code at the checkout:

26SSEB

For more details about the event, including our online store for booking and payment, visit our website linked above. ☝️

We hope you can make it along for another incredible smallsword celebration, now in it's 17th year!

For as long as there is combat there will be spears, which are essentially two-handed smallswords

“The swordpoint is a reality that makes all fantasy disappear” This first edition of the translation of de Bazancourt’s “Secrets of the Sword” is the latest addition to our library; one worth reading regularly to keep fencing practice grounded

Last weekend was our invitational residential event- a chance to freeplay, socialise, learn and indulge in massive breakfasts!