Gerald May graduated with a BA at Norwich University, earned a Master’s degree from St. Thomas and his PhD. from Trinity Seminary.

May is married to his lovely wife Stephanie and they have two daughters who graduated from UHCL, and they support this esoteric pursuit of their father.

“I grew up watching pirate movies and swashbucklers, so I was always interested in sword fighting,” May said. “Also, medieval philosophy and history piqued my curiosity about sword play.

“Basically, I saw a documentary on a revival of historical fencing, in the late nineties, and there were these gamers and history nerds that were finding the original sword fighting manuals in libraries across Europe. This led to a new movement, which is picking up steam for the past 30 years, ” Mays added.

“People have established academies based on these medieval sources. I looked around and there was a couple of clubs in Houston. I started a year ago, and on and off, then I joined a sports fencing club in League City. I like that. A lot of people do both sports fencing based on 18^th and 19 century dueling, and it became an Olympic sport.

“I plan on fencing for as long as I can, till I drop or get a Mensur smite, a scar across the face from fencing, resulting from a sword blow, a highly prized honor among fencers,” May added.

Gerald Mays hard won scar from a saber.