J. Christoph Amberger is a native West Berliner. He studied in Berlin, Göttingen, Aberdeen (Scotland), and Annapolis (Md.) and holds an M.A. from St. John’s College Graduate Institute and a J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law.
After a career in financial publishing, he now serves as a prosecutor for the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office.
As a member of two German student Corps, he fought 7 sharp Mensuren. He has been fencing competitively since 1984. After teaching youth teams and adult fencing classes at Baltimore Fencing Center in Timonium, Maryland, he now coaches at Baltimore MidAtlantic Fencing Academy in Towson, Md.
Amberger launched Hammerterz Forum in 1994, one of the first journals exclusively devoted to the exploration of historical fencing. Apart from hundreds of articles and dozens of publications, Amberger has published five books, with more in the pipeline.
Among them is The Secret History of the Sword: Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts, on whose concept this site is based.