Academia da Espada Belgium is the official Belgian chapter into our international school Academia da Espada. If you want to check out all our schools in the world you can check on the official website academiaespada.com.
The name comes from the Galician translation of Gérard Thibault d’Anvers’ fencing book “Academie de l’Espée” (1630) and means something like Academy of the Sword. The original name is also the name for our school in Bruges who has other weapons included that are not in the Academia da Espada school.
The Academia da Espada was founded in 2004 by Maestro Ton Puey in A Coruña, Spain (Galicia). It is a fencing school that focuses on La Verdadera Destreza and is highly recognized nationally and internationally. In addition to the main location in A Coruña, there are several subsidiary schools and clubs, both in Spain and internationally, for example in Greece, the USA, Germany, and Ireland. The national and international branches are currently being expanded. The Academia is divided into chapters and study groups.
Maestro Ton Puey
He is currently the technical director and fencing master of the Academia da Espada. This focuses on the study of La Verdadera Destreza with the weapons of the time, especially the main weapon, the rapier, or this in combination with the dagger, the buckler or the rotella (a form of round shield). In addition, the Academia da Espada deals with pole weapons and the interpretation of sources related to the montante of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Maestro Ton Puey’s Patreon account with lots of content can be found here.
Instructor for the Belgian chapter:
Nele Vansteenkiste
Monitor for the Study group in St-Niklaas:
Joris Jacops
Als je bij ons lid bent ben je dus ook lid van Academia da Espada. Dit wil zeggen dat je uitgenodigd bent op de internationale events en seminars van de AE. AE heeft ook een eigen gradensysteem, met een examen mogelijks iedere zomer. Volgende seminar met Ton Puey 7-8 juni 2025.
Upcoming events and past ones:
May 2-4 2025: Bruges Fencing Gathering 2025: Warm and friendly event about working together and mixed workshops. Click on the picture to see the event and the people coming:
October 31st – November 3rd, 2024 Academia da Espada International Meeting, Urueña
