Arne Koets

Arne Koets at Middelaldercentret in Danmark in 2014.

Arne Koets is a historical European martial arts practitioner and instructor, from the Netherlands. He, along with Guy Windsor in Finland, is one of the few people that works as a full-time professional instructor in HEMA.^[1] He is a notable figure in the world of HEMA, being an expert in jousting and historical dressage.^[1] and runs seminars internationally. Koets has ridden in more than 400 tournaments, in ten countries, on three continents.^[2]

Koets was involved in the first group to begin HEMA in the Netherlands. He enrolled at the University of Amsterdam to study archaeology and there initially started sword combat with an historical martial arts group. It was at the University that he originally learned to ride. Koets is one of the main figures in international historical mounted combat jousting, he has been responsible for TV events, writing articles and is responsible for organising hundreds of tournaments in his time,^[3] including the The Grand Tournament at Schaffhausen and The Grand Tournament of Sankt Wendel^[4] and The Tournament of the Golden Chain at Middelaldercentret i Denmark.^[5]

In his past, he has worked at many institutions in the historical military context, including the Royal Armouries in Leeds, the Royal Netherlands Army Museum and Fürstliche Hofreitschule in Bückeburg. Koets was one of the founding members of the Stichting Historisch Educatief Initiatief, a Dutch foundation promoting education through living history.

References