Blood & Iron Martial Arts' principal instructor Lee S. Smith and senior instructor Dan Ring both love a good fight, whether with fist, knife, or sword. Mixing manuals penned by the masters of antiquity with a little modern combat science, the duo resurrects European styles of weapon fighting ranging from the French rapier and dagger to the German longsword to Portuguese stick-fighting techniques. They pack their weekly schedule full of two-hour classes, spending the first hour imparting the basics of balance, footwork, and body alignment needed to add a 3-foot metal extension to one's arm. They leave the second hour open for sparring sessions for authorized students, since application is the best way to master a skill and the world’s last dragon retired to Florida in 1986.: