About Us
The Metropolitan Historical Fencing Academy (MFHA) is a Historical Fencing (also known as HEMA) School located in Lorton, Virginia, run by nationally and internationally known coaches with more than 20 years of experience.
MHFA offers classes in a number of fencing traditions and weapons such as Sword and Buckler, Longsword, Rapier, Saber, Smallsword, and more! With an environment that aims to foster a safe, supportive, inclusive, and accessible space.
Our mission is to provide high-quality coaching that meets up the needs of our students through group and private lessons. Whether your goal is to fence recreationally and make friends, dive into the intellectual aspects of historical fencing, or perform competitively at high-level competitions, we are committed to creating a thriving community for fencers of all kinds.
MHFA is a diverse LGBTQ+ positive school.
Meet our coaches
Coach DAvid
Pronouns: He/him
David Rowe is a founder and head instructor at the Metropolitan Historical Fencing Academy, with 25+ years of fencing experience, teaching, competing, coaching, refereeing, and event organizing, and is a decorated national and international competitor, coach, instructor, and referee in numerous weapons. In addition to fencing, David studied at Catholic University researching the transcription, translation, and interpretation of medieval manuscripts, was a producer of the Into the HEMAverse podcast, and an organizer and tournament director for various tournaments and workshops, including the National Historical Swordsmanship Convention, Capitol Clash, & King's Cup.
David's areas of expertise are the French & British tradition from the 17th-20th centuries, including transitional rapier, smallsword, foil, epee, & sabre; the Italian tradition from the 16th century onwards, including Bolognese sword and buckler, dagger, cape, two swords, spadone (two-handed sword), and polearms, and 16th-18th century Italian rapier and dagger; and German traditions from the 14th century onwards, including Royal Armouries ms. I.33, the Liecthenauer tradition, Augsburg, & Gladiatoria traditions, and includes longsword, sword and buckler, rapier, dussack, messer, dagger, polearms, armored combat, and wrestling.
David’s favorite area of study is the comparative study of modern and historical fencing theory, tactics, and sport/combat psychology, and their application in the modern historical fencing context.
David teaches all levels from beginner to advanced, and runs the competitive program, athlete development, and fencing team.
Outside of HEMA David enjoys playing guitar, making music, and spending time with his pugs, club mascots Pickles and Mustard.
Coach Mariana
Pronouns: She/Her
Mariana Lopez is a founder and head coach of the Metropolitan Historical Fencing Academy (MHFA) and has 15 years of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) experience. A highly accomplished competitor with various gold medals amongst a number of weapons, she’s also a tournament organizer and referee in both North America and Europe, and a former member of the Mexican National HEMA Championships committee. Having a strong passion for art she has also partaken in a multitude of art projects related to HEMA, creating reproductions, illustrations for books, fencing manuals restoration, and other visual resources. As an International Relations major Mariana founded Esfinges, an international organization with thousands of members dedicated to the support and promotion of woman’s participation in HEMA.
Coach Collin
Pronouns: He/him
Collin Vredenburg is an avid competitor and passionate scholar. He started fencing in 2018, diving into an intensive training program under Coach David that included self-study and research, building a comprehensive HEMA library, and earning his first tournament medal at Purpleheart Open 2019 with just 8 months of experience.
Collin applies the same dedication he has as a student to his coaching and works with beginning and advanced students teaching the Bolognese tradition of one-handed sword, Sword & Buckler, and Two-handed Sword, Smallsword and Saber in the French Tradition, and specializes in Rapier. His primary source is Gerard Thibault d’Anvers’s Academie de l’Espée, making him one of the only three instructors in the United States working with this tradition. Collin is currently adapting and re-translating l’Academie into English from its original 17 th century French.
Outside of HEMA Collin is a big fan of “Garb” and finery. He’s often seen wearing outfits that resemble styles from the time period in which he is studying, which he prefers to sew or alter himself. He regularly attends the Maryland Renaissance Festival, and currently holds SAFD certification as an Actor/Combatant. He has a degree in Philosophy from Catholic University which he uses to teach ethics to middle and high school students and plays saxophone and flute in a Jazz quartet.