Jordan Thompson
Jordan Thompson began his HEMA journey in 2013 with Oslo KdF in Oslo, Norway while studying for a Masters’ degree in Nordic, Viking, and Medieval culture. Under the excellent instruction of Marius Rafoshei, he found that this was a martial art that was fun, dynamic, and also sated his obsession with European history. Moving back home to Washington state in 2014, he joined Seattle’s Lonin League. In 2015, he started and led Lonin KdF, a study group focusing exclusively on 15th and 16th century German-language sources. He has competed successfully and taught at several regional, national, and international competitions. Jordan also contributed the first complete English translation to Christoff Rösener’s fencing poem Ehrentitel und Lopspruch der Fechtkunst to Wiktenauer.com, the HEMA community’s foremost online library for primary sources.
Steph Brown
Steph Brown became part of the HEMA community in 2021, with the founding of Eastside Fechtverein. Studying under Jordan Thompson, her focus has been German-language sources such as Joachim Meyer, Johannes Liechtenauer, and Paulus Hector Mair. She has experience with a variety of sources, but her favorite areas of study are longsword and dagger. As Steph continues her fencing journey, she is happy to be part of a community where a shared interest in history and martial arts fosters an environment of inclusivity and growth.