Salle Saint George

About Salle Saint-George

Salle Saint-George is a school for the art and science of defense with a particular focus on those western martial arts practiced prevalently by ladies and gentleman through the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The salle Saint-George has its roots in Seattle's Academia della Spada, an academy for historical fencing and the Seattle Pugilism Academy. Instructors from both organizations have come together creating a venue that offers in-depth instruction through an intensive training curriculum.

Head Instructor: Cecil Longino

Cecil's formal martial arts training began with his study of Tae Kwon Do from Grand Master Kyu Il Cho in 1983. It was this strict training and formal environment that would inform his judgment to seek out quality instruction in all his future endeavors. In subsequent years, Cecil continued his exploration of Eastern martial arts; however, while living in Germany, he became captivated with the notion of European historical fencing. In 1994, from the University of North Florida, he received his Bachelor of Arts in Drama with a focus on Elizabethan stagecraft. Founder of the Elizabethan reenactment troupe, Blood, Love & Rhetoric, Cecil has spent many years examining various aspects of Elizabethan society and culture: literature, philosophy, dance and fence. He founded the Academia della Spada in 1998 to focus on reconstructing earlier forms of fencing form the 16th & 17th Centuries. In 2003 Cecil felt compelled to seriously pursue formal training under Maestro Ramon Martinez and Maestro Jeannette Acosta-Martinez. He is currently a Certified Instructor in French foil, French smallsword and Spanish rapier with the Martinez Academy of Arms in New York and is also the President of the Association for Historical Fencing, an organization dedicated to preserving the arts of classical and historical fencing.
In his teaching he strives to connect the art of fencing back to the greater historical mindset from which it was developed, because it is crucial to keep in mind that every martial art is a child of the specific culture that gave it birth, and therefore should adhere to a particular ideal esthetic in its form, movement, and manner inherited from its parent culture.