About me

Hello, my dears,

I'm Paul Becker, manager and owner of the IN MOTU Shop. Yes, I run the shop entirely by myself, without any employees. In addition to the shop, I run two schools for historical fencing in Nordhausen and Erfurt, and I work as a research assistant and doctoral student at the Chair of Medieval History at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg. There, I conduct research on the history of fencing.

I have been practicing historical fencing for about 25 years and teaching since 2007. Here is some information about my background:

CV

Sword fencing since 2001 .

2005-2018 Officer in the German Armed Forces (teacher/instructor, teacher trainer, superior/manager) .

Since 2006 long sword in the fencing group of the Hohnstein Medieval Club .

Since 2007, military instructor (close combat, weapons, shooting instructor, combat instructor), sports instructor (BW), military fitness instructor.

2008 - 2011 Training at Hammaborg under Dierk Hagedorn, temporarily also Ochs-Hamburg.

2007 - 2011 Master's degree in Medieval History, Sociology, Politics and Education at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg under Prof. Dr. Stephan Selzer.

2007-2015 Head coach in the fencing group of the Hohnstein Medieval Club

2014 -2018 Member of the education department of the German Association of Historical Fencer (DDHF) Responsible for the areas of training (methodology & didactics, communication) and medieval history.

Since 2015 founder and director of the school "IN MOTU Historical Fencing Arts"

2017- 2018 Vice President Education of the German Umbrella Association of Historical Fencer

Coach and trainer for executives since 2018

Since 2018, director and inventor of the EXCALIBUR KIDS program - Historical sword fighting for children

Since 2019 Head of the IN MOTU Shop for Historical Fencing

Since October 2021, research associate and doctoral student at the Helmut Schmidt University, Chair of Medieval History. Dissertation topic: The Fencing Master Paulus Kal.

Qualifications:

• Completed studies in history (MA)

• 14 years as an officer and instructor in close combat and military weapons, combat/battle training

• Military shooting instructor

• sports instructor

• Trainer/instructor for methodology and didactics

• Trainer/ Instructor for Trainers/ Instructors/Teachers (Train the Trainer)

• 4 years as a lecturer and seminar leader in public relations

• 4 years as a speaker and seminar leader for security policy topics

Externally led workshops/seminars:

• Meeting of Historical Fencer of Central Germany 2015 Workshop "Fencing with One-Handed Weapons"

• DDHF Trainer Days 2015 "Methodology and Didactics - Problems of Didactic Work"

• Lecture on the life of Hans Talhoffer at the University of Geneva in spring 2016

• Workshop on "Hans Talhoffer's Principles" in Geneva in spring 2016

• Meeting of Historical Fencer of Central Germany Workshop "Body Mechanics"

• DDHF Trainer Days 2016 Lecture on "Violence in History and the Present"

• DDHF Trainer Days 2016 Workshop on "Movement Analysis as a Method"

• October 2016 Weekend seminar "Body mechanics and sword physics with the sword brothers "Historical Fencing Gießen"

• Spring 2017 weekend seminar "The Core of Fencing" at Historische Kampfkünste SC Borchen 1926/32 eV

• Meeting of Historical Fencer of Central Germany Workshop "Structure of Displacement"

• DDHF Trainer Days 2 017 Lecture on "Forms of Duel (Duel Fight) in the Middle Ages"

• DDHF Trainer Days 2017 Workshop "Various Weapon Simulators - Advantages, Disadvantages, Areas of Application"

• April 2018 weekend seminar at "Twerchhau Berlin" on the principle of twisting in wrestling and fencing.

• May 2018 weekend seminar at "Tremonia Fechten Dortmund" on shifting (learning the defense).

• Meeting of Historical Fencer 2018 "Zufechten"

• Seminar on Historical Fencing Gießen "Zufechten" 2018

• Tremonia Fencing School Seminar "Entering the Death Zone" 2018

• HEMA Academy Trainer Training 2022/23

• Tremonia Fencing School Workshop "Historical Work" 2023

• Sword-Trip the Gathering 2024 Workshop "Fencing with Skinning"

• Potsdam "Torneo die Narvale" 2024 Workshop "Children's Training in Historical Fencing"

Competition successes:

3rd place Open Tournament Kassel Sword Fencing North Hesse 2014 - Long Sword

1st place Open Tournament Kassel Sword Fencing North Hesse 2015 - Long Sword

2nd place at the German Historical Fencer Meeting in Nordhausen 2018 - short weapons (sword, knife, rapier)

3rd place Tremonia Fencing School Dortmund 2018 - Long Sword

2nd place at the German Historical Fencer Meeting in Borchen 2019 - short weapons (sword, knife, rapier)

4th place Berlin Duelling Days Sabre Tournament 02.11.2024

3rd place Dresden Sabre Strike 14.06.2025

2nd place Dresden HEMA Cup (saber) 29.06.2025