While Poulsbo Parks and Recreation is busy this summer with various events and programs, its swordsmanship classes are one example of an activity that is growing in popularity since it began over a year ago and has a direct correlation to the Nordic theme of the Viking City.
“There’s a lot of tradition and history in Poulsbo, and many people are open-minded and interested in things other than just what’s popular right now,” lead instructor Nathan Walker said. “The connection that Poulsbo has to the past and specifically our Viking heritage I think strikes a chord with people and brings them to a special place. Studying these ancient martial arts brings people to a similar place but also, it’s just a huge amount of fun. In addition, it’s far more practical than people might imagine.”
Walker, who has over 15 years of experience, teaches four classes with the help of two assistants: Italian Rapier (Mondays 7-9 p.m.), German Longsword (Wednesdays 7-9 p.m.), British Military Saber (Thursdays 5-7 p.m.), and Jedi Academy (Wednesdays 5-6:30 p.m.). To sign up, visit secure.rec1.com/WA/poulsbo-parks-recreation/catalog.
He partnered with the city after originally looking for a space to rent where his existing group, Resolved in Steel, could practice. But after finding out he could teach it as a class he thought it would be good to open it to the wider community.
“Swordsmanship is a fantastic skill to have that has a lot to offer the modern practitioner,” Walker said. “It’s really not about putting on a costume and pretending to be a character from Lord of the Rings. It’s a serious martial art with serious students. Studying the sword improves balance, structure, strength, aggression, situational and spatial awareness, explosiveness, reaction time, confidence and much more. Students find a friendly group, eager to help each other learn and grow as martial artists and as people.”
All of the classes are for those 16 and older, except for the Jedi, which is for ages 8-15. Walker said the year-round program sees the most turnout in fall and winter since it’s an indoor activity but added the classes still see 10-20 participants in summer.
As for the classes themselves, Walker said they focus on building physical competency, technique, strategy and preparing students to compete in sport and even defend themselves if need be. Classes include a warm-up, footwork and positioning, building fundamental skills for historical fencing, developing understanding of techniques and learning winning strategies for facing an armed opponent. “Students should come ready for a workout and ready to learn,” he said.
Participants are provided a certain amount of loaner gear, generally including a fencing mask, gorget or throat protection, padded gloves and forearm/elbow protection but Walker said most begin putting together their own set of protective gear soon after joining.
Walker said students start off slow by learning the fundamentals of footwork, positioning, striking and defending. More advanced techniques and strategy include face-to-face combat called Flow Sparring, where students move together and present attack patterns but don’t strike each other, instead allowing the opponent to defend and counterattack.
“A large part of any martial art is learning to use techniques under pressure and that does require some degree of sparring,” Walker said. “This allows newer students to experience opposition without the swift punishment of more experienced fighters taking advantage of their inexperience.”
From there, students move on to medium sparring where only light hits are allowed, just enough to show the opponent displayed an opening they could not defend. More experienced students engage in heavy sparring, which involves much more protective equipment, steel swords and harder striking. Students are not required to duel to participate in the classes.
One of Walker’s students, Stuart Cosgrove, started with the Italian Rapier class in February and has since started the German Longsword and British Military Saber classes. He was looking to have more fun than he was at a previous martial arts gym. It was just what he was looking for.
“It doesn’t matter your level of physical fitness, there are people who are ready and willing to spend the entire two hours sparring and practicing, and there are people who will do the lesson and sit and talk about swords and history or whatever else.”
He said it’s a great workout. “It always seems to fly by and suddenly I am sweating and breathing hard through a big smile. Each class is always my most fun workout of the week.”
Another student, Rose Schaffer, started fencing two years ago to get some weapons sparring after being trained in other martial arts, such as kickboxing, Kali and tai chi.
Some friends took her to Junefaire at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds and saw the rapier tournament. “Obviously I found it beyond cool.” She joined Walker’s class. “Nathan has a lot of knowledge which I soaked up like a sponge.” She enjoys the environment because of its “chill nature and lack of ego.”
Her favorite sword type is rapier—“think the Three Musketeers—especially paired with dagger. It is very similar to Jeet Kune Do, which is Bruce Lee’s martial art.” The other types are saber, which is short and curved and longsword, which is two-handed.
Schaffer used the words “elegant” and “beautiful” to describe the craft, and Walker agreed.
“On the martial aspects of swordsmanship, it’s hard to find a martial art more perfectly designed for humans,” Walker said. “Most people think of unarmed martial arts when they think of self-defense. Hands are a delicate collection of all your smallest bones, grouped together to give you maximum dexterity, control of fine movement and manipulation of small things. In short, humans are made to craft, not punch.”
Students work on footwork drills.
