William Wilson is a former President of the Tattershall
School of Defence and is the advisor and coach for the fencing club at
Northern Arizona University. In the Society for Creative
Anachronism he was known as Barwn Meistr Gwylym ab Owain, OL OP MoD DWS and
is the premiere member of the Order of the White Scarf of Atenveldt,
formerly the
highest award for fencing in the Kingdom.
In the SCA he has also been awarded masters level status for his
research in historical swordplay and study of lifestyle of the
Elizabethan period. Mr. Wilson is a prominent researcher in
historical swordplay.
He has taught seminars internationally on the use of the Italian rapier
and the
Italian 16th century civilian spada da filo (edged sword/sidesword).
The Tattershall school is devoted to the study and practise of the
Art of Defense of the 15th, 16th and early 17th Centuries. This
includes not only fencing but wrestling and the use of the
dagger. The former President of
the School (William Wilson) is an expert in the use of rapier and sidesword, and has
written and published books on the subjects: "The Art of Defense." and
"16th Century Single Sword Combat." He has studied
many
original texts and is in the process of working on translations of
Italian fencing manuals.
Mr. Wilson has been fencing for over 30 years and began his
fencing instruction under Master Bella from Canada and Mr. Silverberg
in
Buffalo, New York with further instruction from other masters and
instructors including Maestro Sean Hayes of Eugene, OR and Dr Rita
Ashcraft of Northern Arizona University.
He specializes in teaching beginners either classical foil,
epee or saber and teaches beginning and advanced students the art of
defence with rapier and sword. He also teaches beginning
Bolognese combat, smallsword and backsword. Mr. Wilson currently teaches beginning
French foil for the FIT department at Northern Arizona University.
If you would like to contact the Mr Wilson with historical fencing
questions
you may email him at gwylym@gmail.com.
Specialized Instruction
Typically for specialized instruction with rapier or backsword, it is
up to the student to supply their own equipment. Some equipment may be
borrowed from the President of the school. Please contact Mr. Wilson if
you have any questions.
The School is located in Flagstaff, AZ in the US and is open
primarily to students, faculty and staff of Northern Arizona
Univerity. Mr. Wilson is the advisor and coach for the Fencing
Club at Northern Arizona University.
Mr Wilson teaches at a number of seminars each year. The
following is a partial list:
- Lansing
Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention May 12-14 2000. A
number of pictures
from that event are available for viewing.
- In Octber 2000 he also taught at the AEMMA Workshop held in
Toronto, Ontario Canada. Click here
to view a Canadian newscast about the event (then click on the small
image).
- May 2001, Schola St. George Sword Symposium in Livermore, CA.
- August 2001, Lansing Swordfighting Convention.
- October 2001, WMA Workshop held in NYC.
- April 2002 - Sidesword seminar in Olympia Washington
- May 2002 - Livermore WMA Seminar
- August 2002 - Lansing Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention
- August 2002 - Tulsa OK, sidesword
- September - WMAW in Chicago - Salvator Fabris
- October 2002 - SCA Known World Academy of Rapier
- January 2003 - Birmingham, AL
- February 2003 - Phoenix, AZ
- April 2003 - Houston, TX - Capo Ferro Rapier
- June 2003 - Edzell Scotland & Stockholm Sweden, rapier and
sword
- July 2003 - Lansing, MI, Capo Ferro Rapier, Marozzo Sword and
Buckler
- September 2003, Tulsa, OK, Capo Ferro Rapier
Mr. Wilson is scheduled to
teach at
these upcoming events/seminars:
- October 2003, KWAR, Denver, CO.
Mr. Wilson has published his
book Art of Defense, a manual on the use of the rapier with Chivalry
Bookshelf. This book covers historical, philosophical and
practical information for
the
rapier enthusiast.