Ken Pfrenger.

The International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention Biography Page for Ken Pfrenger Celtic Martial Arts Research Society

Ken Pfrenger is a hopologist from Northeast Ohio who has a background in teaching Muay Thai, JKD concepts and the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA). Several years ago his focus changed from the Asian arts to the Western Martial Traditions of Europe and the United States. He has devoted most of his time researching the Martial Traditions of the various Celtic cultures, from Irish Collar and Elbow wrestling and stickplay to Cornish Close Hugg wrestling. To this end, Ken has served as Director of Cumann Bhata, an organization founded in 2000 to promote the study and research of stickplay common in the Irish Faicseanaíocht (faction fighting) through teaching, seminars, and publication. He is also one of the founding members of CMARS (Celtic Martial Arts Research Society) and is currently working on a training manual for those who have a further interest in the Irish style of stickplay. An avid boxing fan since a young age, Ken has been seriously studying the science of manual defence for many years. His focus now is on the techniques and fighting concepts of pugilists from the late 18th to the late 19th centuries.