About Ian Macintyre

I am Ian Macintyre, the lead instructor for the Black Boar Swordsmanship School.

I have been studying swordsmanship regularly since 1998 with the Dawn Duellists Society in Edinburgh, Scotland's oldest historical fencing club, and I am currently the DDS President. Over the years I have been privileged to be taught by a number of excellent teachers and swordsmen, including Guy Windsor now chief instructor of the School of Historical Swordsmanship, and my good friend and colleague in the DDS, Gareth Hunt.

Experience

I become an instructor within the Dawn Duellists in 2003, and have been teaching regularly at the Dawn Duellists Society ever since. In 2007 I was approved as a Certified Instructor by the British Federation for Historical Swordplay.

Over the years I have attended a large number of national and international events on Historical Swordsmanship. These are a great opportunity to meet other swordsmen and see and learn from some of the best practitioners out there. I have even been privileged enough to give workshops at a number of them including the BFHS Annual Meeting, the Symposium on the Western Arts of Swordsmanship Through History, the Smallsword Symposium and the Annual HEMAC Dijon event.

Areas of interest

My areas of interest in swordsmanship are pretty varied. I have trained in a number of Western sword styles but my chief passion has always been military sabre. Over time I have also added walking stick defence and most recently courtsword to my areas of study and instruction and it is these weapons that I teach at the Black Boar.

Instructing style

My views on instructing are that it is my job to help the student become better and if possible as good as they can be. This may mean somebody capable of entering and winning national events or simply able to pick up and handle a sword and hold their own in freeplay with fellow students. I am also a firm believer in enabling students to take on a responsibility for their own improvement and study, and providing all the encouragement needed for them to do so. In the long term I expect senior students to begin their own study of sword arts and I look forward to the day when I can learn from my own students.

Ultimately I teach swordplay because I get a lot of joy from it and want to spread the word, and help people take up this fantastic martial art.