J. Christoph Amberger

Amberger grew up in West Berlin, Germany. He studied at the Freie Universität Berlin, Aberdeen University (Scotland), and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. He earned his M.A. from St. John's College Graduate Institute (Annapolis, MD) and, decades later, his J.D. from University of Baltimore School of Law.

After working as a publishing executive for 20-some years, he became an attorney in 2015 and has worked as a private defense attorney, Baltimore City prosecutor, now as Director in compliance for the City of Baltimore.

Amberger started fencing in 1984. Between 1985 and 1988, he fought seven Mensuren in Germany. Among his teachers are Martina Goedicke, Jurek Kaczmarek, Peter Pieper, Bin Lu, and Larbi Soufiane.

In 1994, he launched Hammerterz Forum, one of the first attempts to gather and unite aficionados and researchers sharing his enthusiasm of historic fencing. Among his first contributors were S. Matthew Galas and John Clements. As a result of his research, he published The Secret History of the Sword — Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts in 1998. After Hammerterz merged with Nick Evangelista's Fencers Quarterly Magazine in 2000, he became staff editor for historical fencing at FQM. Since 2009, he publishes his research at www.fencingclassics.wordpress.com

In 2020, he co-authored Codex Amberger with Dierck Hagedorn.

From 2008-2021, he coached at several Baltimore-area fencing clubs and currently fences épée at Homewood Fencing Club.

Amberger lives in Towson, Maryland. His collection of fencing texts and weapons is among the largest private collections in North America.

Amberger is an empiricist. He considers "styles" (such as "clsssical fencing") inimical to the quintessential nature of fencing.

He is "a republican in upper case and low-caps" and disdains titles such as "maestro". He has intentionally courted the hatred of the chattering classes with his 2017 April Fool's Joke on the secret manuscript of the "Juncker of A."

Despite his progressing age, Amberger cordially invites anyone to put to the test all the martial arts skills against a geriatric epee fencer. There hasn't been one whose claim to martialist superiority was validated, but you never know.

He has recently re-written the history of the Kreussler system.

Relevant contributions to HEMA:

Hammerterz Forum (publisher, editor, writer, 1994-2000); Deadly Duels vol. 2 (1996); Fencers Quarterly Magazine (staff writer, 2000-2005); The Secret History of the Sword (1998), Codex Amberger, with Dierck Hagedorn (2020).

Wiktenauer contributions

None.

Joachim Köppe

HEMA publications

J. Christoph Amberger has produced or contributed to the following books and journal articles.

Author

• Amberger, J. Christoph (1999). The Secret History of the Sword: Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts. Multi-Media Books. ISBN 978-1892515049.
• Hagedorn, Dierk; J. Christoph Amberger (2020). Codex Amberger. Herne: VS-Books. ISBN 9783932077494.

Köppe: https://fencingclassics.wordpress.com/2025/01/01/doctor-doctor-gimme-the-news/