“There’s no better way to live in the moment than defending against somebody hitting you in the head with a sword,” said one student.
It’s 1 p.m. on a recent Thursday in San Jose, and Steaphen Fick is intently watching two grown men swing unsharpened steel swords at each other.“Don’t be afraid!” he says, like a character going into battle in “Lord of the Rings.”, French for “throat” — and turns to his opponent. “That’s what that’s for!”Fick is no stranger to these swords. He started practicing Historical European martial arts more than three decades ago in his backyard in San Jose.
“This is a very famous battle,” Fick says while his finger tinks against the armor’s metal. The Polish-made helmet is mild steel, which helps disperse the energy if something impacts it. There’s a two-inch dent on the left side of it above the eye hole where Fick got hit. “I was on the field with two squires fighting against the French. English longbowmen shooting arrows over my head. It was a good time.
Looped through his brown belt are a sword and dagger of German design. A 3,000-year-old dagger that was discovered in modern-day Iran and “used sometime between the Trojan War and King David of the Bible” is displayed in his office. On the inside of Fick’s right forearm is a tattoo, “The ink adds to the quirky yet confident air that surrounds Fick. He’s someone you’d probably want to call if you ever got yourself in some sort of pickle.
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