Sword School Wichita is a traditional Italian fencing school, focusing on Italian foil, spada (epee), and sabre fencing from the mid-19th century to the present. SSW is primarily a northern Italian school, descending from Maestro Ted Hootman, who was a student of Maestro Giorgio Santelli in the late 1940s and early 1950s and thus traces its heritage further back to Maestro Italo Santelli, who was a student of Maestri Salvatore Pecoraro and Carlo Pessina, who were students of Maestri Giuseppe Radaelli, Ferdinando Masiello and Masaniello Parise in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Maestri Masiello and Parise both have lineage back to Neapolitan fencing masters Giuseppe Rosaroll-Scorza and Pietro Grisetti (in the late 18th to early 19th century), which in turn leads SSW to its earliest interests, the fencing of the Neapolitan-Sicilian school from the late 17th to early 18th centuries, particularly that of Maestri Marcelli, Pallavicini, and Terracusa e Ventura, who wrote books covering sword alone and sword and dagger, as well as other secondary weapons.

Sword School Wichita’s instructor, Christopher A. Holzman, was a student of the late Ted Hootman for 17 years until his death in 2011, and received his certification as a fencing instructor in foil, epee, and sabre from the US Fencing Coaches Association in 1997.

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