At the core of all martial arts is a philosophy. Within the Schola Saint George, we believe that our approach to the chivalric or Western martial arts is unique, and not only compatible but complimentary with other students of martial arts and swordsmanship.

• First and foremost, we believe that the study of lethal martial skills is a superb way to develop a student's character as well as to build proficiency in self-defense, both modern and historical.

• We expect our students and instructors to respect and explore alternate approaches to both historical and modern methods of self-defense, integrating what works and not wasting time on complaining about what doesn't.

• We strive to build without the School a sense of respect for the historical treatises left to us from the Medieval and later periods, calling on students and instructors to find the tradition that best fits their interests, skills and temprament and to delve deeply into these traditions, so that we can bring them back to life.

• We strive to refine the skills taught in our school should be build on sound fundamentals of balance, awareness, focus and kinesthetics that will transmit to any other art.

• We believe that martial excellence--what was medievally known as prowess--brings with it a sense of responsibility, and that the chivalric ethos (today morphed into the code of the Officer and Gentleman), is about how to employ one's strength with judgment.

• We expect our students and instructors to conduct themselves at all times as gentlemen and exemplars, regardless of circumstance, employing their arts--both physical and social--in the defense of what is right in and out of the school.

For us, philosophy is about how we use our arts, teaching that these arts are fun and educational, but that with study and some dedication they convey riches of  physical, ethical and mental development. Although many Eastern and modern martial arts offer roughly equivilent things, the Western martial arts offer an advantage for the person of European descent, insofar as the arts derive from the same culture and are built on the same foundational elements that have created the finest of Western culture, including individual freedom and democracy. In this these arts may offer a unique road to personal development (and enjoyment!) that helps to create the individual sense of education, consideration and judgment necessary to keep a democracy healthy. These things are in our day in realtively short supply, so these arts fill a vacuum in the modern Western world.