Seven Swords Academy, Lakewood

What services does your business offer and what makes your business stand out from the competition?
We take a hands on approach to guiding our students. We don't just bark out a curriculum and you follow it. We highly encourage questions, and will provide supporting evidence for our answers.

What's one tip for first-time students that will make them feel like veterans?
Relax. Sword fighting is unnatural, and even accomplished martial artists pick up swordsmanship slowly.

What was the inspiration to start or run this business?
I saw a group a Steamcon doing a demonstration on longsword and it looked so cool that I decided to start looking for groups to do it the next day. I found one practicing on Ft Lewis. Three years later, both the head instuctor and I decided to open up an actual school to spear the word of HEMA.

What do you love most about your job?
I love seeing students picking up new techniques from the manuals. Sometimes I will drill a student on a specific technique for weeks when suddenly something clicks in their brain and do it perfectly. Seeing the fruits of my labor like that is the best feeling in the world.