John Morahn
John has been studying longsword since 2006 at Western Swordsmanship Technique and Research, after seeing them demo in a 4th of July parade. As a kid, he had always played with sticks, and was intrigued by the idea of learning that art more seriously. The opportunity to study two blocks from his house was too good to pass up, and he moved up quickly from student to teacher within the school, starting teaching in 2011.
As a teacher, John most enjoys imparting the nuances and techniques of German longsword skills. He is skilled at helping his students understand the finer mechanics of strong fundamentals in order to make them more effective. Having studied German translation in college, he brings his direct translation skills and knowledge of fighting techniques to old texts in order to make them accessible to his students.
When he’s not teaching, John also enjoys playing with polearms, peasant weapons, saber, fishing poles, woodworking, and gardens.
AJ Chalifoux
A.J. began studying HEMA in 2005 at Western Swordsmanship Technique and research at the age of 12, after seeing a newspaper ad for the program. As his skills progressed over the years, he found himself teaching occasional classes on a variety of weapons, as well as filling in for John as needed.
A.J.'s martial background is in German longsword, though he has studied and taught messer, dussack, dagger, sword and buckler, and various polearms. In teaching, he emphasizes structure and minute adjustments in position, and how they impact techniques. He also enjoys teaching about the historical context and physical characteristics of each weapon, and the effect that they have on the techniques.
When he is not practicing, A.J. enjoys swordsmithing and researching historical examples of weapons.
Scott Loescher
Scott began studying at WSTR in 2017. He has always been interested in naval combat of the Napoleonic wars of the late 18th and early 19th century and wanted to learn to fight like Captain Jack Aubrey. To this aim, Scott has mostly focused his studies on military saber with forays into spadroon and smallsword. He is also studying cutlass, pistol, spear, musket and bayonet to round out his knowledge of all weapons used aboard ships.
Scott is also a passionate educator, and had over 10 years of experience teaching ballroom dancing and college biology before he began teaching swordsmanship. He loves to focus on the biomechanics of the techniques to find simple fixes that make large improvements in a student’s fencing.
Kyle A. Marrotte
Kyle began studying at WSTR in 2016, after getting way too obsessed with the Witcher franchise. After his wife caught him swinging a plastic sword around in the backyard, she decided that he should have some idea of what he's doing and signed him up for classes as a gift. What started as a casual interest in sword choreography revitalized his childhood love of martial arts, and he has since become a competitor, instructor, and coach at our school.
Kyle specializes in longsword, saber, dagger, various forms of historical grappling, and preparing our students for competition at local tournaments and events. He also has experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, MMA, and many other martial arts, and leverages his mixed experience to inform his teaching methodology and coaching strategies.
Abby Rodriguez
Abby began studying at WSTR in 2021, and has since become incredibly active in the local HEMA community. She can always be found at a local tournament or event, supporting and coaching students (when she isn’t participating herself!)
She is incredibly passionate about creating welcoming and supporting environments for all students, in particular, URG (underrepresented gender) fencers. She works with a variety of local tournaments to ensure all fencers are fairly represented and their voices are heard, and she serves as both Treasurer and Equity Manager at WSTR. As an instructor, she enjoys coaching new students and welcoming them into the club, and she specializes in longsword and smallsword.
Outside of HEMA, Abby enjoys doing archaeology, bouldering, playing D&D, and sewing.
Kieran Garrity
Kieran began studying at WSTR in 2021 and began his competitive career shortly after. He is a tournament multimedalist in weapons including longsword, dueling and military saber, smallsword, rapier, sword and buckler, dussack, and mixed weapons in events across the northeast.
As an instructor, Kieran favors fencing fundamentals and incorporates ideas from a variety of longsword treatises. He prefers to instruct with a games-based approach, where students learn by doing. Coaching students at tournaments is a passion of his and he loves to see WSTR students on the podium.
When he’s not practicing his fencing, he’s wishing he was. He also enjoys scuba diving, D&D, marine science, and watching tournament footage.
Michael Thompson
Michael (They/Them) has been a student of WSTR since January 2020 and an instructor since November 2024. They are primarily a historical wrestling, saber, and longsword instructor but practice every weapon they can get their hands on. Their long term goal is to earn a medal in each weapon covered by the wide umbrella of HEMA.
Michael got started in HEMA by watching the youtuber Skallagrim’s gradual entry into HEMA. They thought “I wish I could do that,” then suddenly realized, as you also have by finding our website, that you can in fact do that. Since then, they've become an avid competitor in both the Open and URG/Gender Equity scenes.
Outside of HEMA, Michael enjoys practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Kyle and video gaming. You may also see them fighting at the CT Ren Faire and Robin Hood's Medieval Faire as a member of the Knights of Gore, under the pseudonym Gil.
Guest Instructor:
Ashley Sciandra
Ashley has been studying HEMA with WSTR since 2017. After being introduced to many weapons, Ashely found her true love for the rapier. She began to study various rapier masters from the 1600s and began teaching Italian rapier at WSTR. Her goal is to read as many of the masters as possible and to study the similarities and differences in the different styles. In addition to solo rapier, Ashley is also interested in studying rapier and dagger, as well as other weapons that can be paired with the rapier. While rapier is her passion, she continues to study other weapons such as smallsword, spadroon, and longsword.
When not practicing swords, Ashley is a proud (crazy) cat mom of three black cats and spends her time doing various crafts.