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March 7th: Big Gay Sword Day

Join us for an inclusive and community celebration where we open up the swordfighting school to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and it's allies. This is an all day event where there will be lessons for the guests and we will also have vendors showing off their wares and offering their products to the guests of the BGSD.

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To find out more about this event, please visit HERE

                                    

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: FREE

March 8th: Indian Club Use and Practice Workshop

This class will examine how Indian clubs can mimic the movements of swordplay and prepare the body for sword-based martial arts, and how the movements found in Chinese swordsmanship can benefit from this practice.

 

Learning to swing a single Indian club will allow us to transfer that dexterity and mobility to the dao, the single-handed Chinese saber. John will walk you through introductory movements with both the club and the saber and show how the skills learned with one transfer back and forth between tools, allowing you to build skill with both tools.

 

John will then show how to swing two clubs simultaneously, synchronous and asynchronous, and show how building this skill set can prepare us to use the dao and tengpai (saber and shield) together in combat and even give us some insight into how double weapons can be used.

 

You won't want to miss this fusion of martial arts and physical culture!

 

John’s Bio

With an eclectic martial arts career spanning two decades, John Partika's dedication to training has brought him to the doors of many systems, from the empty hand and weapon arts of Southern China to the blade arts of Japan and the Philippines. Currently specializing in Chinese swordsmanship, John is the founder of Iron Ox Physical Culture and head instructor at Great River Taoist Center San Diego, focused on preserving and promoting the practical methods of Chinese fencing and martial arts.

 

Beyond his experience in swordplay, John is also a certified Indian clubs instructor and steel mace flow coach, using his knowledge of unconventional fitness and physical culture to condition his students to both heal and prevent common training injuries.

                                    

Time: 10:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $130.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $150.00 at the door

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Buy Tickets HERE

March 14th: 4-Hour Longsword Workshop

Are you looking for a gift for that special someone? This is perfect! Give them the gift of sword fighting. You can send him or her to the class or attend with him! If you know of anyone that you think would enjoy this class, please pass the information on to them or give me a call for more information.

 

This is a four-hour intensive class for the sword students who would like to attend class at the school but live out of the area or don't have the time to commit each week to class. This class is good for students of all skill levels. Whether you have years of experience in martial arts or are new to studying a martial art you can take this class. If you enjoy fantasy novels or history this class will allow you to experience the sword work you have only read about.

 

Every month we gather for four hours to study the long sword. The first three hours are spent on the curriculum of the school and the final hour is spent working on a specific technique from Fior dei Battaglia (Flos Duellatorum written in 1409).

 

I have loaner equipment for the students that do not have their own swords or helmets, all you need to bring are gloves. If you have your own wasters and helmet, please bring them with you.The dress of the day is sweats, a T-shirt, and comfortable shoes.

                                    

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

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Buy Tickets HERE

March 15th: 4-Hour Sword and Shield Workshop

In the sword and shield class we will look at the use of the round and the heater shield along with the single-handed sword. We do have some loaner shields that can be used in the class, but if you have a round or heater shield, I encourage you to bring it.

                  

We will study defensive and offensive use of the shield for fighting, as well as the use of the sword with the shield. There are no known surviving manuscripts detailing the use of the large shield for combat, however there are the Nordic Sagas as well as artwork and architecture reliefs showing the shield as a fighting tool. The earliest manuscript that we know of using a small shield, called a buckler, was written in the 1290s, and it is called the I.33 for its catalog number in the Tower of London library.

 

The techniques we will be studying in this class were learned from years of practice and study fighting with, and against, the sword and shield. We will look at the types of techniques used by the Viking and Saxon shields fights of the 8th-10th centuries, the battlefield shield techniques of the Knights of the 14th century and the Scottish Highlanders of the 18th century.

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Time: 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

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Buy Tickets HERE​

March 20th-22nd: SoCal Swordfight

April 11th: 4-Hour Longsword Workshop

Are you looking for a gift for that special someone? This is perfect! Give them the gift of sword fighting. You can send him or her to the class or attend with him! If you know of anyone that you think would enjoy this class, please pass the information on to them or give me a call for more information.

 

This is a four-hour intensive class for the sword students who would like to attend class at the school but live out of the area or don't have the time to commit each week to class. This class is good for students of all skill levels. Whether you have years of experience in martial arts or are new to studying a martial art you can take this class. If you enjoy fantasy novels or history this class will allow you to experience the sword work you have only read about.

 

Every month we gather for four hours to study the long sword. The first three hours are spent on the curriculum of the school and the final hour is spent working on a specific technique from Fior dei Battaglia (Flos Duellatorum written in 1409).

 

I have loaner equipment for the students that do not have their own swords or helmets, all you need to bring are gloves. If you have your own wasters and helmet, please bring them with you.The dress of the day is sweats, a T-shirt, and comfortable shoes.

                                    

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

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Buy Tickets HERE

April 11th: Renaissance Swap Meet

Join us at the Swordfighting School for our 4th annual Renaissance Swap Meet. 

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There will be renaissance and medieval gear for sale and trade. We will have small 

businesses and local handmade wares here for you to add to your costumes and 

character's clothing.

                                    

Time: 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: FREE

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                  Free Tickets HERE

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Downloadable Flyer

April 12th: 4-Hour Be SAFE Self Defense Workshop

We have all heard about the person who has become a statistic. Most of you figure it’s not going to happen to you. You’re right, chances are it won’t. However, we have to hope for the best, and prepare for the worst. We are on the road a lot, traveling, meeting people, and some have kids that are preparing to go off to college or high school. 

You can take this class for your own peace of mind or give the gift of safety to someone you care about. If you know of anyone that you think would enjoy this class, please pass the information onto them or give me a call for more information.

Self-defense does not require a lot of physical strength, if you understand how to use an attacker’s strength against him. You don’t need to be stronger than your attacker, nor do you need to be a black belt to be safe. Learn ways to protect yourself with a 600-year-old Italian Martial Art. Be safe in the future, while drawing from the strengths of the past.

Effective use of your hands and everyday objects around you for your personal protection is easy to learn and practice. Regardless of your age or physical fitness, it is never too late to learn to be safe, NOT be a victim.

The Be S.A.F.E. class is a set of awareness, assertiveness, verbal skills with safety strategies and physical techniques that enable someone to successfully escape, resist and survive violent attacks. The course provides psychological awareness and verbal skills, not just physical training.

Empowerment is the goal of this class. When you feel free and empowered, you are better able to go where you need to and do what you need to do without fear or unease because you have options, techniques and a way of analyzing situations that help you to Be S.A.F.E.

Dress of the day is sweats, a t-shirt and comfortable shoes.

                                    

Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

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Buy Tickets HERE

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Downloadable Flyer

May 9th: 4-Hour Longsword Workshop

Are you looking for a gift for that special someone? This is perfect! Give them the gift of sword fighting. You can send him or her to the class or attend with him! If you know of anyone that you think would enjoy this class, please pass the information on to them or give me a call for more information.

 

This is a four-hour intensive class for the sword students who would like to attend class at the school but live out of the area or don't have the time to commit each week to class. This class is good for students of all skill levels. Whether you have years of experience in martial arts or are new to studying a martial art you can take this class. If you enjoy fantasy novels or history this class will allow you to experience the sword work you have only read about.

 

Every month we gather for four hours to study the long sword. The first three hours are spent on the curriculum of the school and the final hour is spent working on a specific technique from Fior dei Battaglia (Flos Duellatorum written in 1409).

 

I have loaner equipment for the students that do not have their own swords or helmets, all you need to bring are gloves. If you have your own wasters and helmet, please bring them with you.The dress of the day is sweats, a T-shirt, and comfortable shoes.

                                    

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

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Buy Tickets HERE

June 13th and 14th: Apache Knife Workshop With Robert Redfeather

You have noticed that everything that an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round … The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours … Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.

 

“All things in the world are (naki-two). In our mind we are two -- good and evil. With our eyes we see two things…things that are fair and things that are ugly…we have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and the left hand full of kindness, near the heart. One foot may lead us to an eviel way, the other foot may lead us to a good. So we are all things two, all Naki”

 

Robert Naki-Besh Redfeather, being (Mashgale Ndee) Mescalero Apache in 1980 sought out his relatives on the Mescalero and other Indian reservations in Southeastern New Mexico and Arizona. Redfeather was trained by his grandfather in survival, and Nagondzoog (old term) means War/Fight/Guerrilla Warfare, Nagonlkaadi means War/Fight/Combat –the unique Apache brand of guerrilla warfare. Both of these were made famous by the Apache realm of powerful War chiefs such as Mangas Coloradas, Cochise, Victorio, and Geronimo, who was a Bedonkohe Apache Leader. In addition to his native culture, Robert Readfeather has been training in the martial arts for 48 years and is an 8th degree Black Belt. He has also been honored and inducted into several Hall of Fames across the country. Now with all of this knowledge and life experiences, Redfeather is honored to pass it on through “Apache Knife Training Courses”.

 

He is also happy to pass along the history and traditions of his family and heritage and the Apache people. Redfeather, who teaches not from theory but from his life experience, is known for his training of our U.S. Military Troops, Police Officers, Native Americans, and anyone who has a desire to learn.

 

Apache Knife Combat®
1. Day seminar-$150.00 SATURDAY at 10: am to 4:pm JUNE 13,2026
https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

2. Day seminar-$250.00 SUNDAY at 10:am to 4:pm JUNE 14,2026
https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=JBSYWA2AA8AF2

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Purchase your ticket for this workshop HERE  

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Tickets are now available!

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July 11th: 4-Hour Longsword Workshop

Are you looking for a gift for that special someone? This is perfect! Give them the gift of sword fighting. You can send him or her to the class or attend with him! If you know of anyone that you think would enjoy this class, please pass the information on to them or give me a call for more information.

 

This is a four-hour intensive class for the sword students who would like to attend class at the school but live out of the area or don't have the time to commit each week to class. This class is good for students of all skill levels. Whether you have years of experience in martial arts or are new to studying a martial art you can take this class. If you enjoy fantasy novels or history this class will allow you to experience the sword work you have only read about.

 

Every month we gather for four hours to study the long sword. The first three hours are spent on the curriculum of the school and the final hour is spent working on a specific technique from Fior dei Battaglia (Flos Duellatorum written in 1409).

 

I have loaner equipment for the students that do not have their own swords or helmets, all you need to bring are gloves. If you have your own wasters and helmet, please bring them with you.The dress of the day is sweats, a T-shirt, and comfortable shoes.

                                    

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

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Buy Tickets HERE

July 12th: 4-Hour Lightsab... Sun Sword Workshop

Davenriche European Martial Artes School is offering an ongoing academy for the Jed … I mean those that are interested in the Lightsaber. This class is great for any fans of the Star Wars Movies between the ages of 9 – 89. If you are a fan of a Galaxy Far, Far Away, you don’t need to travel very far to study.

 

This academy will include learning how to use the lightsaber with one and two hands, how to cut from different angles to intercept and deflect the opponent’s energy-sword, footwork, and much more. The curriculum of the course is based on the teaching of Western Martial Arts from manuscripts written in 1409, 1536, and 1765.

 

This is a four hour class and will include training in the use of the lightsaber to fight, training to create a choreographed fight with the lightsaber, and time to practice your new skills in a fight with the other students. 

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Our curriculum is a combination of the skills and curriculum from the longsword classes, the side sword classes with a flare of rapier of the 17th century

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Dress of the day is sweats, a t-shirt and comfortable shoes. 

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Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

​

Buy Tickets HERE

August 8th: 4-Hour Longsword Workshop

Are you looking for a gift for that special someone? This is perfect! Give them the gift of sword fighting. You can send him or her to the class or attend with him! If you know of anyone that you think would enjoy this class, please pass the information on to them or give me a call for more information.

 

This is a four-hour intensive class for the sword students who would like to attend class at the school but live out of the area or don't have the time to commit each week to class. This class is good for students of all skill levels. Whether you have years of experience in martial arts or are new to studying a martial art you can take this class. If you enjoy fantasy novels or history this class will allow you to experience the sword work you have only read about.

 

Every month we gather for four hours to study the long sword. The first three hours are spent on the curriculum of the school and the final hour is spent working on a specific technique from Fior dei Battaglia (Flos Duellatorum written in 1409).

 

I have loaner equipment for the students that do not have their own swords or helmets, all you need to bring are gloves. If you have your own wasters and helmet, please bring them with you.The dress of the day is sweats, a T-shirt, and comfortable shoes.

                                    

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

​

Buy Tickets HERE

August 9th: 4-Hour Quarterstaff Workshop

This will be a 4-hour workshop focusing on the use of the quarterstaff. This class is the first of a three-part series on the use of the quarterstaff.

This month we will be looking at the use of the quarter staff as it was used in the late medieval and renaissance periods. The basis for this course is treatises from England and Italy. Some of the manuscripts that we will pull information from are;

• Joseph Swetnam (1617)
• George Silver (1599)
• Giacomo di Grassi (1570)
• And spear techniques of Fiore dei Liberi (1409)

We will learn the guards of the staff, the way to transition from one side to the other side whilst maintaining a defensive position of the staff, and the offensive use of the staff.
While we will not be doing an exhaustive study of each of these manuscripts, we will be able to look at the similarities and differences between the techniques put forth in them.
This class is a sample four hour class that will show the student some of the use of the quarterstaff in a martial use.

Equipment: Fencing Helmet, Gloves, Staff, Elbow Guard (not required)
If you do not have a staff, you can pick up a closet dowel at a hardware store for very little money. A 1-inch staff of approximately 5 – 6 feet will be the weapon of the day.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me to ask. I look forward to seeing you at the class!

 

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

​

Buy Tickets HERE

September 12th: 4-Hour Longsword Workshop

Are you looking for a gift for that special someone? This is perfect! Give them the gift of sword fighting. You can send him or her to the class or attend with him! If you know of anyone that you think would enjoy this class, please pass the information on to them or give me a call for more information.

 

This is a four-hour intensive class for the sword students who would like to attend class at the school but live out of the area or don't have the time to commit each week to class. This class is good for students of all skill levels. Whether you have years of experience in martial arts or are new to studying a martial art you can take this class. If you enjoy fantasy novels or history this class will allow you to experience the sword work you have only read about.

 

Every month we gather for four hours to study the long sword. The first three hours are spent on the curriculum of the school and the final hour is spent working on a specific technique from Fior dei Battaglia (Flos Duellatorum written in 1409).

 

I have loaner equipment for the students that do not have their own swords or helmets, all you need to bring are gloves. If you have your own wasters and helmet, please bring them with you.The dress of the day is sweats, a T-shirt, and comfortable shoes.

                                    

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

​

Buy Tickets HERE

September 13th: 4-Hour Quarterstaff Workshop

This will be a 4-hour workshop focusing on the use of the quarterstaff. This class is the first of a three-part series on the use of the quarterstaff.

This month we will be looking at the use of the quarter staff as it was used in the late medieval and renaissance periods. The basis for this course is treatises from England and Italy. Some of the manuscripts that we will pull information from are;

• Joseph Swetnam (1617)
• George Silver (1599)
• Giacomo di Grassi (1570)
• And spear techniques of Fiore dei Liberi (1409)

We will learn the guards of the staff, the way to transition from one side to the other side whilst maintaining a defensive position of the staff, and the offensive use of the staff.
While we will not be doing an exhaustive study of each of these manuscripts, we will be able to look at the similarities and differences between the techniques put forth in them.
This class is a sample four hour class that will show the student some of the use of the quarterstaff in a martial use.

Equipment: Fencing Helmet, Gloves, Staff, Elbow Guard (not required)
If you do not have a staff, you can pick up a closet dowel at a hardware store for very little money. A 1-inch staff of approximately 5 – 6 feet will be the weapon of the day.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me to ask. I look forward to seeing you at the class!

 

Time: 12: 00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: 395 E Taylor St  
San Jose, CA 95112
Cost: $100.00 in advance                                                                                            

         $120.00 at the door

​

Buy Tickets HERE

Contact us 

408-216-9351

info@swordfightingschool.com

Hours of operation:

Monday-Friday 5pm-10pm

Saturday and Sunday 10am-12pm

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Monthly Weekend Workshops on the Second Weekend of Every Month

Airsoft Games on the Last Full Weekend of Every Month

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Location

395 E. Taylor St,

San Jose, CA 95112

 

Detailed directions

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