Christian Henry Tobler has been a longtime student of swordsmanship, especially as it applies to the pursuit of the chivalric ideals. A passionate advocate of the medieval Liechtenauer school, his work in translating and interpreting Sigmund Ringeck’s commentary firmly established him as an important contributor to the growing community of Western martial artists. This work is encapsulated in the 2001 book “Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship: Sigmund Ringeck’s Commentaries on Johannes Liechtenauer’s Verse”, and “Fighting with the German Longsword” (2004, revised 2015), a training guide for students of the Liechtenauer tradition. His other published works include “In Service of the Duke: The 15th century fighting treatise of Paulus Kal”, “In Saint George’s Name”, “Captain of the Guild”, “The Peter Von Danzig Fight Book” (with Dierk Hagedorn), and, most recently, “Lance, Spear, Sword, and Messer”. He has also produced two training DVDs as part of the “German Martial Arts” series, one on the poleaxe and the other on the messer, sword, and sword and buckler.
Born in 1963 in Paterson, New Jersey, Christian is a graduate of the University of Bridgeport’s computer engineering program, and has worked as a software developer, web designer, product manager, and marketing specialist in the analytical instrumentation and publishing fields. He is the current Grand Master of the Order of Selohaar, an eclectic order of chivalry that he co-founded in 1979, and serves as Principal Instructor for its associated school of swordsmanship, the Selohaar Fechtschule. A veteran of 35 years of armoured tournament fighting, he is also an avid collector of reproduction arms and armour. He is the winner of the 2013 Historic European Martial Arts Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award, and a co-founder of the Chivalric Fighting Arts Association (CFAA).