By John Shimer
Staff writer
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AMESBURY — When kids are young, the prevailing message is “dare to dream, you can be whatever you want to be.” Seabrook native Jeremy Oneail is living proof that the imagination can inspire those words to come true.
Spurred on by his love of Dungeons and Dragons and all things medieval as a child, Oneail spent the month of May opening The Academy of Knightly Arts in Amesbury — a place where novices can come to learn the ways of the long sword and how folks fought on the battlefield in medieval times through a regimented program that studies the Knights of the Wild Roses' interpretation of the Flos Duellatorum manuscript written by Fiore de Liberi in 1409.
According to Oneail, Fiore was a master fighter who had trained on several techniques in the art of war from five masters all throughout Europe. As time passed, he formed his own martial arts discipline. Because he was able to survive the warrior lifestyle for so long, Fiore's legend grew and he later taught Italian princes and nobles his philosophies. Before he died, he wanted his martial secrets to survive, so he wrote them down in several manuscripts, three of which survived, and only one — the smallest — was translated into English, which is what Oneail and his academy use.
Ironically, although Oneail was also very much interested in taking karate as a kid, he never even participated in sports due to an overprotective mother. Instead, through his fine arts degree at the University of New Hampshire, which has also landed him a job as a special effects makeup artist doing things like making monsters, building creepy castles and creating Halloween costumes, he first started getting involved in competitive sword fighting back in 1991.
"Dungeons and Dragons and the movie 'Star Wars' really shaped my life," admitted Oneail, who now has studied on a limited basis in the martial arts disciplines of Taekwondo, Kendo, Shim Gum Do, Tai Chi, Kung Fu and the latest Kali. "Both allowed me to constantly use my imagination and let my fantasies run wild. I'm just particularly lucky that I have been able to use those inspirations to make careers for myself."
Now Oneail is quite literally one of the world's greatest long sword fighters. He's never lost a match and won several international tournaments in Europe, including becoming the first person to win the Belgian Hackaland tournament twice. He also won a French televised show called "Chevaliers." In fact, he's even earned a bit of a cult following in Europe.
"I guess I have the same level of reputation that maybe a pro wrestler in a small-time circuit would have," said Oneail, who added the secret to his success is his long arms and a good understanding of spacial relations. "People know me and talk about me, and I sometimes hear weird stories about me, but overall I'm just another guy. But then again, they are usually talking in a language I don't understand, so they could be saying anything about me and I'd never know.
"In fact, I'm not even the coolest warrior in my family," continued Oneail. "My father was an officer in the Army National Guard for most of my life and my brother Jason just retired from there after 34 years of service with the last bunch being active and even serving overseas. I just play pretend warrior. He really is one and he's kind of a hero of mine. I really admire all of my family; there's not a slacker in the bunch."
Students of Oneail use wooden swords called Freds or wasters in sparring in class. The footwork and basics are covered in Fiore's teachings. And all of it is in preparation to actually use real swords and fight in real armor weighing up to 80 pounds.
What Oneail aims to accomplish through his academy is a revival of the Historical European Medieval Martial Arts (HEMMA), which in essence was how the foremost knights battled, while additionally helping people make a tangible connection with their European heritage, including several schools where he's given guest lectures.
"It helps them experience history and realize just how skilled and tough knights were," explained Oneail. "They wear stuff and hold weapons like they would have. We make history a real, tangible and relatable thing instead of just a stream of names and dates.
"It is rewarding on so many levels," Oneail said. "On one, you give people a sense of peace of mind and empowerment because they start to feel they can safely walk the streets. I also get to help people reconnect with their European heritage and to help reinstate this effective martial art in the pantheon of other cultures more widely known as martial arts. It also gives an athletic venue to people who don't consider themselves athletes and who may not normally pursue another physical activity. All of that makes the teaching rewarding and that's why I enjoy teaching it."
The Academy of Knightly Arts
Website: http://www.knightlyarts.com/news.php
Head instructor: Jeremy Oneail
Where: Elm Street, Amesbury
When: Opened officially in Amesbury in May, but Oneail has been running his academy since 2000.
What's all the fuss: Oneail through his studies of the Knights of the Wild Roses' interpretation of Flos Duellatorum written by Fiore de Liberi in 1409 has opened an academy that specializes in a martial art new to modern times but in actuality revives the Historical European Medieval Martial Arts where students learn how to sword fight amongst many medieval disciplines.
