Arne Koets is a

historical European martial arts Historical European martial arts (HEMA) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. While there is limited surviving documentation of the martia ...

(HEMA) practitioner and instructor from the Netherlands. Along with Guy Windsor in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, he is one of the few people that works as a full-time professional instructor in HEMA.Jonathan Chilton (22 March 2015
"Sword enthusiasts fighting to be noticed"
''Towle Otago Daily Times'' He is a notable figure in the world of HEMA, being an expert in

jousting Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponen ...

and historical dressage. and runs seminars internationally. Koets has ridden in more than 400

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, in ten countries, on three continents. Koets was involved in the one of the first groups to begin HEMA in the Netherlands. He started to reconstruct fencing books in 1998. He enrolled at the University of Amsterdam to study

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

and there initially started sword combat with an historical martial arts group. It was at the University that he originally began to ride. His advanced education in historical riding art happened in the Princely Riding School at Bueckeburg castle, where he worked as curator in the horse museum from 2010 to 2014 . His mentor riding master Wolfgang Krischke took care of the training and equipped Koets with the best educated riding art stallions of the school. In 2012 Koets participated at the reenactment of the Carrousel de Sanssouci, a mounted fest that originally took place 1750 in Potsdam under Frederik II of Prussia. Koets is one of the main figures in international historical mounted combat

, he has been responsible for TV events, writing articles and is responsible for organising hundreds of tournaments in his time,"Berufsritter Anno 2015"
goettinger-tageblat. 7 July 2015 including The Grand Tournament at

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

and The Grand Tournament of

Sankt Wendel Sankt Wendel is a town in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier. According to a survey by the German Association for Ho ...

and The Tournament of the Golden Chain at

Middelaldercentret Middelaldercentret () is an experimental living history archaeological open-air museum in Denmark, which depicts the middle ages in the Denmark of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It is located in Sundby Lolland, some 4 km northwest ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

.The Tournament of the Golden Chain at the Middelaldercentret 2014
''The Jousting Life''. 27 December 2015 In his past, he has worked at many institutions in the historical military context, including the

Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Originally an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, originally housed in the Tower of London from ...

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. Once a year he runs the Harnischfechten and Roßfechten Symposium in his garden.

References

Historical European martial arts Dutch martial artists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of Amsterdam alumni {{Netherlands-martialart-bio-stub