Jeff Tsay – Lead Instructor; Club Director
Texts, Longsword
Jeff Tsay has an eclectic martial background, having studied wing chun and several other unarmed and armed Eastern arts before finally succumbing to the hidden mysteries of the Western traditions. In his spare time, Jeff’s efforts have focused on refining his interpretation methodology and using it to analyze both greater- (e.g. “Krump“) and lesser-understood (e.g. “Rose“, “Aussere Mynn“) KdF techniques, putting them to the test in national and international tournaments (e.g. Swordfish, Longpoint, and Fechtschule America), and pushing the bounds of using video as an effective medium for sharing HEMA research — efforts that have led to 3 major US HEMA Series Livestreams in 2013. Every fall (and now Spring too), Jeff also helps host the Iron Gate Exhibition (IGX), one of the premier HEMA/WMA conferences in the US. In the remainder of his very full life, Jeff is a professional solution architect, a devoted husband, and dedicated father of 2 awesome boys.
Blake Johnson – Beginner Longsword Lead Instructor
Longsword
Blake has been a part of the HEMA community for 10 years. He has been a swordsman since he was 10. He frequently creates new exercises for the club to try and to use as learning tools. Of all polearms, his favorite is the spear. Blake loves teaching-he only does it for a living.
Brandon Whitehill: Beginner Longsword Assistant Instructor
Longsword, Equipment, Texts
In 2012, Brandon started his first martial art and made his way to HEMA in 2019. His favorite part of the sword is the Forte (which is the strong of the sword.) He will happily deep dive into the specific details and minutiae of equipment. Brandon is just happy to be here.
Joey Hochadel – Lead Rapier Instructor, Assistant Sabre Instructor
Military and Eastern Sabre, Longsword, Rapier, Dagger, Equipment
Joey has been part of the HEMA community for 10 years and he has been a swordsman since he was 15 years old. Of all the weapons he fights with his favorite is Sabre. His background as a bio-mechanicist provides him with a deep understanding of body mechanics and geometry. When discovering any discourse, his first thought is “Wanna fight about it?”
Liz Crowe – Assistant Rapier Instructor
Small sword, Rapier, Sabre, Longsword, Equipment
Liz is a HEMA veteran who has been around since 2016. She has brought a lot to the club including our “Give a Girl a Sword” days and the unique idea to put all of our rapier students into heels and corsets to encourage good footwork, proper posture, and correct form (also bonding). She is passionate about safety and will stare at you if you decide to do something that you probably shouldn’t.
Ian Crowe – Lead Sabre Instructor
Sabre, Longsword, Rapier, Smallsword, Equipment
Ian has been doing HEMA since 2014, and Olympic Fencing since 2010. While his main focus is sabre, he prides himself on a working knowledge of almost every weapon available under the HEMA envelope having competed with most of them. Ian has a wealth of knowledge and opinions about various equipment and knows most of the companies that make HEMA gear. He is on the planning committee for Iron Gate Exhibition, a premier HEMA event
John O’Connor – Lead Polearms, Assistant Texts Instructor
Longsword, Polearms, Wrestling, Texts
John has been with Forte Swordplay for over twenty years. Currently working on staff and polearms from both eastern and western tradition. He has for many years work on interpretation of many texts on Longsword, Staff, Messer, Polearms, Dagger, and Wrestling.
Don Kindsvatter– Assistant Polearms Instructor
Polearms, Greatsword
Don has been active at Forte Swordplay for the past fifteen years and has taught longword techniques in the Lichtenauer tradition as well as pole arms. He is currently researching various traditions of western and eastern martial arts in order to better understand the principles behind the techniques and the common themes across all martial arts.
His involvement with HEMA started over twenty years ago at the Higgins Museum Sword Guild where he demonstrated techniques for the longsword and other weapons for museum visitors. While with the Sword Guild he started the tradition of Star Wars Day by adapting some of Joachim Meyer’s techniques for lightsaber combat. Don is also a member of the Cambridge HEMA Study Group which translates and interpreters medieval combat manuals. He has a long-time interest in martial arts and holds a second-degree black belt in Shotokan karate.
Andy Shultz – Longsword Instructor
Longsword
Andy has been a part of HEMA for over 20 years. He enjoys Iaido, which is Japanese sword katas. If you ever need help with your form, he is always happy to correct and improve form. He appreciates winding because he always knows where his opponent’s sword is in the bind. Andy grew up with cats and brings their attitude to the rest of the world.
Matt Iverson – Lead Sword and Buckler Instructor
Longsword, Sword and Buckler
Matt Iverson has been with Forte Swordplay for over twelve years. He is a former boxer, a black belt in American Kenpo karate, and specializes in long sword and I.33 sword & buckler style. Matt focuses on the practical aspects of swordplay, focusing on taking descriptions from the sources and blending them with techniques proven to work in sparring.
Joseph Emerson – Beginner Longsword Assistant Instructor
Longsword, Rapier, Greatsword
Joseph has done martial arts for most of his life, spending most of his time delving into a series Eastern Martial armed and unarmed arts practices since 2012. He came to us straight from the trenches of the SCA, where he is still an active member. He has a wealth of knowledge about HEMA and is happy to help any one and is often the first to step in to help someone struggling on their own. He favors the longsword and the greatsword.
Eric Miller – Lead Wrestling Instructor
Eric has joined us in HEMA recently but has a lot of knowledge to spare! His many accomplishments include 2nd degree Black Belt in Taekwondo and Hapkido. Judo competitor. Experience in Shotokan and Kyokushin Karate, Eskrima, Krav Maga, and Italian and German HEMA. Could probably defeat 2-3 kangaroos in a straight fight.
Guest Instructors of the Current, Future and (Recent) Past
Marcus Bowyer – Archery Instructor
Marcus has been involved in archery at some level for 40 years. He has shot nearly every type of bow although he will not claim to be an expert in all styles. He has made all wood (self) bows, wood laminate, and composite laminate bows in both traditional longbow and hybrid recurve forms. He has been making arrows for about 20 years and informally instructing and coaching intuitive/instinctive archery for about as long. He focuses on primitive and traditional archery. He has a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology and was a fitness instructor for a decade. He has a Master’s Degree in Education and has been an Anatomy instructor for 25+ years and adjunct professor for Great Bay Community College in Anatomy for 10 years.
Marcus got involved in HEMA during its infancy at Higgin’s Armory in Worcester and that involvement bloomed into a company called Hickory Arms which supplied wooden wasters locally and world-wide. Through this company he became involved in the HEMA, SCA, LARP and Ren Faire communities for over 25 years. Now he hopes to spread his love of archery to people in all of these and the adjacent communities for years to come.