Maestro Andrea Lupo - Sinclair is a fencing instructor of Legnano, a city near Milan, Northern Italy and a researcher who studied for twenty years the western martial tradition.

He is the Founder of the Italian federation for historical fencing , and teaches the weapons of the Italian tradition of duelling, particularly the Rapier also in its late forms such as the Spada all'Italiana, the Italian duelling weapon before the more known Epée.

He also founded, together with Maestro Paul MacDonald - who earned his title from Andrea Lupo-Sinclair (which is highly irregular, given the fact that nearly every living fencing tradition requires a neutral examination panel when testing for and awarding the maestro certification) - and Maestro Ramon Martinez the International Master at Arms Federation.

Maestro Lupo-Sinclair states that his method "is not involved in any way whatsoever with modern competitive sport fencing, nor is it a hybrid of modern and traditional fencing. This discipline solely concerns itself with fencing as a Martial Art, encompassing all aspects of tradition and etiquette". In the past he has been part for a while of a Sport Fencing program to develop Historical Fencing, but has chosen to be independent, refusing any acknowledgement of his title by the Sport Fencing and creating a different Federation in Italy, stating that he does not want to be involved in political agendas.

The instructor biography on the IMAF web site mentions that he spent twenty years in extensive researches of reliable teachers, old duellists, traditional systems and documents for the knowledge and teaching of the Art of Fencing since its roots.

After stating that his master's title was obtained from his late teacher (unnamed), and then correcting the record by saying that he had obtained it from IMAF, he now claims a certification of "Maestro d'Armi" from the Italian Ministery of Education. This, however presents several problems. The Italian Ministry of Education does not release fencing titles: that task is accomplished by Nationally-accredited academies affiliated with the official Italian Association of Fencing Masters (AIMS). There is no record of Lupo-Sinclair's name in the official AIMS roster. In any case, to this date this certificate has not been publicly produced. Lastly, Lupo-Sinclair has given no reliable information about his lineage other than occasional allusions to a deceased maestro (unnamed).

It is therefore widely suspected that his claims to official credentials are fraudulent, which constitutes an egregious ethical infraction and a breach of public trust. To this date, Sinclair has made no reliable attempt to set the record straight. When a claim is laid to official titles, the burden is on the person making the claim to produce the evidence.

He also claims to be an acknowledged Master at Arms by Maestro Ramon Martinez and the Association of Historical Fencing (USA), by the British Federation for Historical Swordplay and the Association de Esgrima Antigua of Spain. It should be noted, however, that all of these are small amateur historical fencing organizations, and they are for the most part affiliated to the International Masters at Arms Federation, a body of which Andrea Lupo-Sinclair was co-creator with three other members (see above).

External links

Andrea Lupo Sinclair's curriculum

Vitae of the IMAF teachers/ IMAF International Masters at Arms Federation Masters' Curiculum Vitae

FISAS - Italian Historical Fencing Federation - an amateur historical fencing organization based in Italy