Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Reeves.
Hi Brittany, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a professional sword fighter! I started my martial arts journey in Canada in Summer 2011. I was halfway through my bachelor’s degree in Medieval History and I stumbled across a very serious and dedicated group of swordfighters doing a demonstration at a public festival.
I was completely hooked from that moment on, and I spent many years training, competing, coaching, and learning everything I could. It was through sword fighting that I eventually met my husband, who is an Arizona native, and though we were originally from rival schools we fell in love and joined forces by creating Mordhau Historical Combat in Mesa, Arizona in 2018. Running a martial arts school tough work, but it is a labour of love and I am blessed to be able to have my hus0band on board.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My entire sword fighting journey has been full of ups and downs, definitely many challenges, but I suppose that is like anything worth pursuing. I’ve had injuries that required surgery, I’ve been invited to instruct internationally, I’ve had expensive swords get lost forever going through an airport, I’ve had students find confidence and family in my studio. It would be almost unbelievable to say that over the course of 10 years I had nothing but smooth sailing.
Personally, the biggest struggles I had when I first started was finding ways to make techniques work for my body type. I’m a small person at only 5’6” and 110lbs. it can be tricky having to fight someone who is 6′ and 250lbs. It can be done, but I had to make a lot of adjustments for myself to be highly competitive in my field. It paid off immensely, and now I pass that knowledge on to my students.
Starting a martial arts school is a challenge in and of itself. There’s no ‘how to guide’ and you have to learn a lot of lessons along the way. The pandemic provided many challenges, especially for us being considered a gym which had us closed for more months than I care to remember. Even though it was difficult for us, it was necessary and we transitioned entirely to online classes. It ended up being a surprise blessing as it allowed us to reach an entirely new market to share sword fighting with.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Generally speaking, I am a professional sword fighter, but I specialize in German longsword. Medieval Germany had a very strong fencing culture and we are very fortunate to have surviving manuscripts from that time period to study and work from. Having a bachelor’s degree in Medieval History certainly helps in this regard. I’ve been highly competitive on the tournament circuit, so far I’ve earned 16 medals across 4 categories.
There are cutting competitions held within the sword fighting community that expect competitors to use a sharp longsword or arming sword to cut through targets, usually tatami mats, but other mediums exist. I am currently the first and only woman to hold multiple medals in open cutting competitions, which has been one of the achievements I’ve been most proud of in my sword fighting career. Aside from that, I derive a great deal of joy from teaching and coaching to prepare my students to test themselves in a competitive environment.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is very subjective for everyone. Simply, success is working towards and eventually meeting your goals. There is a great deal of research and resources around healthy goal setting from a coaching perspective. Athletes and martial artists can easily become distracted with the idea of medals or winning as the metric for success, which can lead to unhealthy states of mind.
Instead, one example of success can come in the form of learning a new technique, and then taking it one step further and being able to confidently teach that technique to a new person. It’s about learning new skills, pushing yourself towards new goals, and finding joy in your activity. This applies to life in general and it took several years for me to learn it and apply it to my own life.
Pricing:
- $75.00 Intro Month of Sword Fighting
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.swordfightaz.com
Image Credits
Jon Murray
