VAF is one of the few fencing schools in North America where you can study the 14th & 15th-century weapon known as the Two-Handed Sword, also called the Longsword.

This noble knightly weapon was a symbol of authority, power, and honor in the middle ages. Hollywood movies often portray this as an awkward and slow weapon, but in real life these were very lightweight and quick, as students will quickly learn. VAF's Historical Swordsmanship program focuses primarily on the teachings of the German medieval fencing master Johannes Liechtenauer, whose tradition became one of the main martial arts systems of Europe at the time.

In VAF's Beginning Historical Swordsmanship classes, students are introduced to the basic guards and strikes of the Liechtenauer school of fencing. Students may then continue their study of Two-Handed Sword fencing at the Intermediate and Advanced levels, where they also learn related skills of fencing with single-handed sword and buckler, staff and polearms, and dagger.

We offer both Youth and Teen & Adult classes. New to Historical Swordsmanship? Click here to get started.

Two-Handed Sword fencers, from the Talhoffer fechtbuch, a 15th-century German martial arts manual