Welcome
Sword School Wichita is a traditional Italian fencing school located in Wichita, KS.
We teach the three typical fencing weapons of foil, spada (épée) and sabre, as well as late 17th-19th century spada, and Radaellian sabre.
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Recent Updates and Announcements
As the development of a mounted program continues to progress, we're looking ahead a bit to eventual targeting exercises. Here, from the 1912 Italian cavalry regulations, we find a group of mounted targeting exercises for sabre and lance.
We will have a separate Thursday night beginner's class for the first time since the start of COVID this session. Intermediate class also has enough people enrolled to run as well. ![]()
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If you've been away from intermediate class for a while and want to get back in, this would be a good session to sign up, or even just drop in on an occasional Friday night. We'd love to have you. Friday evenings from 6:30-8pm at Edgemoor rec center.
My grandmaster, Giorgio Santelli (right), in a really neatly shot photograph from Nov. 1948.Maestro Giorgio Santelli (right) and his student, Dr. Tibor Nylas. From Nov. 1948.
Impromptu fencing practice tomorrow night, 6:30-9pm at the park tennis courts. All welcome who have their own equipment.
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More practice weaving cones on a trot today, as well as a second lesson on the canter. Our combined group is taking three weeks off from riding so Katie and I signed up for couples lessons for the those weeks to avoid having a long break. A very worthwhile 45 minutes of saddle time.
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Reading through the 2nd Volume of the Italian Cavalry Regulations of 1873, which contains the instructions for riding, from which the following quote is taken. I think it applies to both our endeavors of learning to ride at Wichita Riding Academy as well as the way we teach fencing and seek to spend the necessary time with each of our students to bring them along step by step, so that they arrive at a base level of competence before starting to bout. ![]()
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"....that the instructors abide by the norms that are summarized hereafter in brief: constantly following the progression; not passing to a new exercise until the preceding one has been well understood and performed; giving frequent rests; not expecting too much from each recruit, instead taking into account the intelligence and resilience of each, since rushing the instruction would delay its progress instead of accelerating it; to have the goal in sight of always teaching each recruit individually and not exercising several together than by exception or necessity; to ensure the correct execution of the movements that the recruit makes with the hands and legs for guiding the horse; to such end for the first times the instructor will accompany the recruit’s hands, and sometimes put a hand between the horse’s belly and the recruit’s leg; not to put the recruit in motion by himself if he has not already accomplished the correct balance on the ground and has not learned the principle movements of the hands and legs necessary for making the horse stop, turn, and advance, this is in order to prevent problems that could arise and that could delay that confidence in the horse that is so advantageous for him to acquire from the very first lessons."
Along with Tosa No Shugyo Dojo, we had our first lesson on the canter today. It was a small group and everyone did well. We all stayed up top and behind the ears.
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Just before getting ready to ride earlier today with Justified, who is a very tall boy and a great lesson horse. He was unbothered by the sabre and scabbard, even down off the walking hook. Slow and steady progress toward getting Radaellian sabre back in the saddle.
Reminder! Winter session Intermediate Class at Parks and Rec starts tonight at 6:30. Beginner class was cancelled due to lack of enrollment and having enough people to run the Intermediate without needing the beginner class.