About Adrian Paul
Many call Adrian Paul a sword expert, based on his lead role as Duncan Macleod in the action series Highlander. The show spanned 6 seasons, 117 episodes and ran in over 90 countries worldwide. with Adrian performing hundreds of action and sword fights during that time. But Adrian knows it takes many years to become a swordmaster and dismisses this title saying we all have “sword experts” inside us, if are willing to work hard to achieve it.
Having studied Hung Gar and Shaolin Kung Fu for over 25 years, (Kung meaning skillful work, hard training) this philosophy is apparent throughout numerous action films, including two Highlander films, performing and choreographing sword fights and action sequences for both television and film, during an entertainment career that has spanned 35 years. Adrian has also directed and produced projects for both television and film, hosted a radio for charity with over 600 hours of airtime, along with founding his own charity The PEACE Fund (Protect, Educate, Aid Children Everywhere).
The PEACE Fund has been in existence since 1997, helping improve the lives of children in the US, Haiti, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Hungary and Romania. In June 2015 Adrian ran a Sword Experience workshop to raise money for one of the countries that the PEACE Fund supports. The sword fighting event went so well that Adrian decided to test the idea at other similar events across the US. The demand was surprising..
So eight months later, in February 2016, Adrian founded The Sword Experience, as a way to pass on some of the knowledge he learned while working with world-renowned action stars, stunt choreographers, and swordmasters. Although not charity based, The Sword Experience has raised money for The Peace Fund at several events that have been specifically used for that purpose. To date, the testimonials speak for themselves. Not only has it given people a chance to receive the best sword fighting tips and techniques, training with some of the best sword experts around, but it has also given people a chance to do something different, to improve their fitness, their communication skills, their abilities, along with the chance to do something they may have only dreamed about.
Instructors
Keith Jennings is a Personal Trainer and Martial Arts Instructor from Chicago, IL. Practicing martial arts at a young age, Keith began training in Shotokan Karate in elementary school. In high school he switched to studying the Korean Martial Arts, earning his Black Belts in Taekwondo and Gumdo (Korean swordsmanship).
Through a lifetime commitment to the martial arts, Keith takes a more spiritual process to strength and fitness. He knows the path to health and wellness is never quick or easy. However, with proper motivation and knowledge, it is possible for anyone to reach their desired fitness goals.
Once quoted as saying, “my job is to not carry you up the mountain, but rather guide you along the correct path to reach your destination,” he has spent the last two decades building his personal training business while also studying historical European swordsmanship, Filipino martial arts and Reality Based Self Defense.
Currently, Keith holds a 4th degree Black Belt, Full Instructor in Martial Blade Concepts, a Strong First Level 2 Kettlebell Instructor, and a Certified Functional Strength Coach. He is a first class athlete that promises the Sword Experience of a lifetime
Mark opened his first martial arts school in 1978 and has been teaching full time ever since. A lifelong practitioner, he has earned an international reputation as a consummate martial artist and a patient and inspiring teacher.
Growing up on military bases, Mark has a deep and abiding respect for anyone who has served their country in uniform but particularly those who were actually in combat.
At the urging of his father, a World War II combat veteran who fought in the Philippines, Mark started a closed-door group exclusively for combat vets suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, helping them find some measure of peace in their lives.
In 1993, Mark was honored to receive Grandmaster credentials in the Filipino martial arts, but he rejects such overblown titles as unnecessary, preferring that his students address him simply as “Guro,” the Filipino word for teacher.
A perennial student, Mark thinks of himself as the senior-most student in his school and his most advanced students will attest to the fact that he continues to expand the horizons of his personal art, both by studying with other teachers, and, more importantly, by tapping into his own creativity; something he strongly encourages his students to do as well. His fitness training for sword fighting is the best available world wide.
Chad Hawthorn is a practitioner of the bladed martial arts and a certified firearms instructor. He spent many years training law enforcement, private agency contractors, and civilians alike in the safe use of weapons. Chad made the jump into teaching actors and stunt professionals the skills necessary to perform violence “safely” on screen in 2014.
That is when Chad co-founded On Set Arms – the premier film armorer, prop-weapon supplier and combat technical advisor firm in the Pacific Northwest. Since that time, Chad has worked across the United States both behind and in front of the camera, performing, choreographing and coordinating hand-to-hand, bladed and armed combat sequences for film. As an armorer and firearms instructor, Chad routinely works with actors, screenwriters, directors, stunt coordinators and stunt performers to safely design and realistically perform firearm-based combat sequences in a variety of film projects, spanning independent short films to nationally distributed feature films.