Rose & Thorns Historical Fencing Symposium

19/03/2026

Pen and sword were both well represented at our 2026 historical display, with various original treatises, fencing artifacts, and over forty antique weapons available for examination from the 17th-20th century. This may have been the largest public viewing of antique swords north of San Francisco... We believe that historical fencing is elevated when fencers have access to the original tools. Thank you to all who contributed!

12/03/2026

Sunday tournaments featured Rapier & Cloak, Single Rapier, and Smallsword vs Shearing Sword mixed weapons. Excellent sportsmanship, skill, and honor was demonstrated by all our finalists. Congratulations!

We especially want to recognize the fine example of Ryan Mank of Red Sun Classical Fencing for acknowledging the touch against that cost him the bronze medal in single rapier during a confusing exchange. This embodies the spirit of Rose & Thorns and Honor Above All.

05/03/2026

2026 Classical Foil medalists. A win for the Italian school this time! Congratulations! 🎉 The house will be training hard for a rematch... 🇨🇵

Gold: Matthew Lawrence, Socal Swords
Silver: Ryan Mank, Red Sun Classical Fencing
Bronze: Yichen Liu, Italian Renaissance Swordsmanship

02/03/2026

Over 100 bouts fenced on Sunday in our classical foil tournament, with more tournament slots being added due to demand. En guarde, allez!

01/03/2026

Excellent fencing in all our tournaments yesterday, culminating in a tense finals for Beginner's Smallsword, First Blood Rapier, and Open Rapier and Dagger. Congratulations to all our finalists! 🎉
Thank you tournament sponsors:
Zen Warrior Armory
Castille Armory
Diamond Rose Academie D'Armes

01/03/2026

We missed seeing our friends at Zen Warrior Armory this year, but they still generously sponsored our event with ZWA gift certificates. Thank you so much!!

28/02/2026

Looks like a few fencers were interested in taking classes! Red Sun Classical Fencing hard at work teaching Italian smarra to a class of 20.

28/02/2026

Our volunteers still hard at work to be ready for a fantastic weekend. See you soon. ⚔️

26/02/2026

We are pleased to welcome back the Bella Familia Wood Fired Pizza food truck during our Saturday lunch break starting at 12:30 pm.

17/02/2026

Registration for Rose & Thorns remains open until the day of the event (registration link in comments below and on our page). Many of our tournaments are full, but please let us know if you'd like to be added to our waitlist. Rose & Thorns is much more than just a tournament, come join us for some excellent classes, free fencing, and real live human connection.

17/02/2026