Instructors

One of our founding members and Military Sabre instructor, as well as an assistant instructor at the Academy of Historical Fencing, Rui Ferreira actively researches British military swordsmanship of the Napoleonic period: with three complete translations, he has been contributing to the community by making some of the lesser known Portuguese content from the 19th century accessible. Rui is also fond of Italian Rapier having studied and teaching actively in the club, following Capo Ferro's treatise.

One of our founding members, he was always a great enthusiast of Longsword. This, in turn, led him to the study of Joachim Meyer’s writings, and to later become a teacher of the weapon and the system inside the group. 

A founding member, Michael started his martial arts journey with Jogo do Pau. A history lover since childhood, he soon became interested in HEMA. He keeps fond memories of the informal practice sessions in parks with his friend Rui and strongly believes that the strong suit of this art is the free exchange of ideas with book and sword in hand. He has been training with GAGSchola since he moved to Geneva where he teaches grappling and Dagger fighting according to the Italian master Fiore dei Liberi. He has been present at several international events and workshops organized in Switzerland where he had the opportunity to learn from renowned instructors. He is also interested in late-sixteenth century Sidesword according to the Italians Giacomo di Grassi and Vincentio Saviolo. Despite not training with us on a regular basis, we consider his work extremely valuable to the growth of the group and deserving of the rank.

Beginning his path in martial arts at the age of 9, he rarely stopped experimenting and learning new systems. Inevitably he started his path in the Historical European Martial Arts with the Military Saber and Longsword in the group Espada Negra and developed over time a special taste for the Sidesword that became his main focus of study, dedicating himself to Bologna's tradition with works of 16th century's masters such as Antonio Manciolino and Achille Marozzo, among others.