Have you ever watched films like Lord of the Rings or a television series such as Game of Thrones or Vikings and thought “That sword fighting looks like such fun, I wish I could do something like that”. Well now’s your chance to be trained in medieval combat and be in the thick of a skirmish. We use specially constructed realistic looking high density foam swords, axes, maces, spears and shields that are typically used in Live Action Roleplay. The Riddle of Steel runs a weekly Children’s club in Plumpton Green near Lewes run by its founder Mark Gilbert and also offers a range of other activities and events such as Group training and Warrior days at your venue, one to one Tuition and Corporate team building events.

Mark Gilbert BSc (Hons), Founder of Riddle of Steel

Professional experience:

Martial arts instructon, team building facilitation, event management, safe guarding, wilderness skills Instructor, course design and implementation, project management, customer service, health and safety, disability consultation, job coaching and mentoring.

Sword fighting experience since 1987:

Historical European Martial arts (HEMA), Sport Fencing, Live Action Roleplay (LARP) and SCA full contact stick fighting.

Instructing since 1990:

Founder of the Riddle of Steel swordfighting club for adults and children.

Instructor at National HEMA events such as Fightcamp.

Running fight training and tournament’s at a whole range of LARP events including Empire, Summerfest, The Gathering, Avatar (Belgium), Renewal, Dumnonni Chronicles, Odyssey and Epic Empires (Germany).

Competition success since 1989:

HEMA tournament results, 19 gold medals with a range of weapons at Fightcamp international HEMA event.

LARP tournament results, 58 wins with a range of weapons including all the major UK LARP events.

Mark loves fighting in tournaments, however his primary reason for continuing to sword fight is that it gives him the opportunity to teach others, to pass on the knowledge that he has learnt and to encourage others to take part in an activity that has had a huge positive impact on his confidence, social skills, fitness, mental resilience, team working, problem solving, adaptability and motivation. A motivation to guide others to fulfil their potential.