The European Martial Arts Academy accepts students for training in the ancient European Arts.  Featuring an extensive array of open-hand self-defense movements and classes on offensice use of both modern and ancient weapons, the Academy is a complete martial arts school.

The European martial arts have long been a mystery. While we have surviving accounts of trained knights surmounting incredible odds, and we have clear evidence that those knights trained in a martial art, we have little knowledge in how and in what they trained. The arts and techniques they learned have mostly faded into the mists of time, forgotten. Yet as Europe’s martial capabilities advanced, and European armies began conquering Asian territories, Europeans, largely forgetting that Europe had ever had its own martial arts, discovered and preserved Asian martial arts like Judo and Karate. Fortunately, long dormant drawings emerged in the 20th century, the drawings of Hans Talhoffer, trainer to the Crowned Knights of Austria. Done circa 1440 - 1470, these drawings depict a true and intricate martial art which features both the use of weapons and the open hand (or weaponless) techniques known and practiced in Europe. The Foundation for the Preservation of Medieval Arts and History (FPMAH) has worked tirelessly on the Talhoffer illustrations for nearly seven years, and we are prepared to rebirth and mainstream this beautiful and intricate martial art.

The FPMAH Approach to Reviving the European Martial Art:

Mission. The mission of the European Martial Arts Academy is to promote and preserve the European Martial Arts and to develop an Academy which meets the following objectives:

A. Preserves, promotes and teaches the European martial arts in accordance with the techniques illustrated by Hans Talhoffer (circa 1440-1470).

B. Requires martial arts students to learn the value and importance of community service through requiring students to perform community service as a part of the course requirements.

C. Teaches the following tenants of the Code of Chivalry: respect for authority, leadership, courage, integrity, respect for religious beliefs, respect for the opposite sex, respect for performing arts, service as an integral part of the path to happy life, proper etiquette and the defense of the sick, the meek, the poor and the innocent.

D. Encourages discipline and physical fitness and teaches that force is only used in self-defense – not for aggression.

E. Requires students to learn and display a working knowledge of the fundamentals of European Renaissance and Medieval History.

F. Promotes the growth of mental and physical confidence in students while giving each student the opportunity to learn an effective method of self-defense through study of the art.

To enroll or to learn more, contact us at (703) 329-3075.