Academia Duellatoria offers the opportunity to learn about fencing, European martial arts and more.

Whether you’re interested in learning the skills and philosophies involved in the age-old art of sword fighting or you just want to recreate a scene from “Braveheart,” Academia Duellatoria offers the opportunity to learn about fencing, martial arts and more related to the history and techniques involved in European historical combat.

With two Oregon-based schools in Portland and Phoenix, Academia Duellatoria — Italian for dueling academy — gives people the opportunity to practice the blade and learn self-defense while also gaining knowledge on the history and philosophies behind the art.

“I think you get out of it what you come looking for. One of the main benefits is making your body do what your brain tells you to do,” said Jeff Richardson, owner and instructor of the school.

The Phoenix-based Academia Duellatoria school offers two weekly classes from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays taught by instructors John Czekala and Leif Wilkinson.

The instructors teach the combat and philosophy system Vincentio Saviolo, utilizing an Italian and Spanish blended rapier and dagger combat style used during the Elizabethan era. Classes are held at the Phoenix Grange, 209 North Main St.

To sign up for classes, visit duellatoria.com/classes.

Richardson has been interested in European martial arts and sword fighting since a young age, also studying Eastern martial arts including Shotokan, Taekwondo and more before moving into an educator role.

“I started teaching self defense classes, and as I was digging into the history and fencing culture, it branched into interests such as old bare-knuckle boxing, grappling skills and deploying everything as a whole,” Richardson said.

Academia Duellatoria was started in 1991 in Ashland as a club with founding members Richardson and John Husky at Southern Oregon University.

“We start fencing together, and it turned into a regular program with about 20 people in Ashland. … We started out with foils and eventually got better equipment,” Richardson said.

Richardson moved to Portland in 2007, establishing Academia Duellatoria’s headquarters in the Rose City. A second school in Phoenix was established around 2012.

“It draws a lot of geeky people; a lot of the geeky people have no athletic background coming in, and I’ve seen people start off stumbling over themselves and then being able to move confidently and skillfully (over time),” Richardson said.

Beyond learning fencing techniques and how to slash and defend, students are taught the history and philosophies of combat experts from times gone by.

“We delve very deeply into history because it’s required in order to understand the things we’re reading,” Richardson said.

The Phoenix school teaches the Spanish circle — also known as La Destreza — based off the text of Girard Thibault d’Anvers, Czekala said.

“We also teach two different schools of fencing here,” Czekala added, highlighting the Thibault system and the system of Italian fencing master Saviolo.

Unlike Thibault’s one-handed approach to sword fighting, the Saviolo style includes a rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other.

For instructor Wilkinson, his venture into the world of fencing and sword combat began years ago with his sister.

“Mine was actually because my sister had found out about it from someone at church that they did sword fighting and she didn’t want to do it alone,” Wilkinson said.

With he and his sister joining Academia Duellatoria in 2009, Wilkinson’s interest only continued to grow after that first experience.

“I just stuck with it. … I’d always been interested in some sort of martial system,” Wilkinson said.

Czekala’s longtime interest in Western military history brought him into the sword fighting world, with his first exposure coming in the 1960s learning the Polish Szabla (saber).

He got involved with Academia Duellatoria in 1994 and has been an instructor since then.

To learn more about Academia Duellatoria, sign up for classes or contact the group, visit duellatoria.com.