Anders Linnard

Anders Linnard is the founder of Gothenburg Historical Fencing School (GHFS), St Mark fencing gear, The Fencing Guild ranking organisation, Swordfish and The Historical Fencer. He started fencing in 1988 and joined his first historical fencing group in 1994. In 2003 he founded GHFS and was the head instructor until he stepped down in 2019. He won his first international gold medal in HEMA in 2006 and was the first winner of a sanctioned Swedish national championship in 2015, as well as winning gold at Swordfish – the premier fencing competition in the world – as well as silver in the Nordic League in Denmark that same year. He has also competed in full contact stick fighting. Anders has been instrumental in the development of HEMA in Sweden and internationally. He wrote the first official rules which laid a foundation for the modern competitive format. He has also focused on developing safer competitions through writing injury reports from Swordfish. He established the regulations and looks of modern HEMA referees and judges, as well as many norms for conduct on the matt. He was instrumental in raising the bar for physical training and athleticism in HEMA. Over the years, he has published many articles, research and interpretations on historical fencing techniques and topics and he is a member of the international research organisation HEMAC. He is also the person behind the curriculum and pedagogical model for GHFS, one of the most successful HEMA clubs in the world. He has also choreographed fighting scenes for a documentary on the 16th century ship Mars produced for Swedish national Television and aired on National Geographic.