Swordsman & Geek

A Midsummer Night’s Blog

An Examination in Sacramento

Filed as Classical Fencing, Destreza (Spanish swordplay), Fencing, General, Historical Fencing with no replies

In July 2014 the Sacramento Sword School held its second student examination.  The exam consisted solely of Scholar candidates, it was open to the public, and it was judged by a board of fencing masters with Dr. Mary Curtis acting as a special advisor to the board.  In addition, this was the first time the Scholar’s examination was offered to a candidate from an external school and our we extend our fellowship and congratulations to the Elite Fencing Club in Mexico City for their candidate’s attendance and excellent performance.

To provide some context the Sacramento Sword School Scholar’s test is a La Verdadera Destreza examination derived from both the classical fencing examinations and material outlined in Don Luis Pacheco de Narvaez’s “Easy Method for examining Masters…” published in 1625.  At the Scholar level the test is intended to qualify that a student has competence reflecting six months to one year of training and study.  The process includes preparing and receiving feedback on a example lesson, an oral examination, the candidate receiving a lesson, and the candidate teaching a lesson.  In addition, the board may ask to observe free fencing or for the candidate to teach specific fencing actions if time permits.

The Board of Examiners:

  • Kevin Murakoshi (Master at Arms)
  • Eric Myers (Master at Arms)
  • R. E. “Puck” Curtis III (Master at Arms)
  • Mary Dill Curtis (PhD – Golden Age Spanish Literature acting as an advisor)

Scholar candidates in alphabetical order:

  • Evans, John
  • Kalleen, John IV
  • Pacheco Ancheyta, Jorge Luis
  • Smith, Eric
  • Smith, Olivia
  • Welsch, Michael
  • Minor (name withheld)

Each of these candidates passed the examination in good order with some performance occasionally reaching beyond Scholar level towards Freescholar level.  The Sacramento Sword School is pleased to extend our endorsement of each of these candidates based on their performance during the examination.

A complete list of Scholars examined by the Sacramento Sword School alphabetically by year:

  • Murphy, Dan (2013)
  • Wright, Tyson (2013)
  • Evans, John (2014)
  • Kalleen, John IV (2014)
  • Pacheco Ancheyta, Jorge Luis (2014)
  • Smith, Eric (2014)
  • Smith, Olivia (2014)
  • Welsch, Michael (2014)
  • Minor (name withheld) (2014)