Zdeněk “Žemla” Žemlička

AKA and me:

“Why am I fencing? I love our history, studied archival and auxiliary historical sciences, and was also a sucker for Asian martial arts before the local traditions and long-forgotten styles were revealed to me. Logically it intersected, and so I took the European path of a warrior. I found a lot of experiences, great people and a perfect way to balance creative and destructive energy. A kind of zen or harmony. I don’t want to sound too “Eastern”, purely by way of illustration – the driving force of all existence is represented by opposing principles, yin and yang, and people naturally, whether consciously or subconsciously, need to balance their levels. One “unloads” and can be creative at the same time. This is what I lead my students to do. A.K.A. is characterized by a cool group, inspiring cooperation. We learn to function as a team, but not at the expense of space for individual development and realization. The students are the mirror of the lecturer, so in retrospect I learn a lot about myself. I am convinced that none of the A.K.A. lecturers are ashamed to look into this mirror 🙂 We represent a school with a long tradition and at the same time we follow the latest trends, we are not stuck in some ossified system in terms of methodology, we monitor the latest findings in the field of historical research and in the field of bringing the fight to the scene. For me personally, the greatest proof of quality is the working relationships between individual A.K.A. lecturers and their students, who can become lecturers themselves or members of a wider or narrower A.R.G.O. team. As a result, we are able to retain students, they return to us in professional collaborations, bringing innovative ideas, whether they are young people who have been through our studios and returned after their studies, or perhaps artists, including foreign actors and choreographers.”

Zdeněk’s fencing biography begins in 1997, when he attended his first weekly school under the auspices of the Magisterium. In 1998, Petr Nůsek offered him cooperation within the A.R.G.O. agency.He continued to learn and participate in cultural events and performances in the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and the USA.

Since 2000 he has been gaining experience on film/theatre projects (e.g. Mists of Avalon, Joan of Arc, Blood of the Templars, Borgia, 1864) He has been through the German, Italian, and sabre school in the Magisteria system, and currently regularly participates in seminars led by Peter Kozy, Peter Nusek, and Peter Vytopil. He has been working as an A.K.A. lecturer at the Italian school in České Budějovice since 2007.

Zemla is a deserving father of three children, so he doesn’t have much free time for other hobbies. He works with wood (not as a lecturer) and many theatrical props, weapons and toys have been created under his hands. He is a talented juggler, fireman, archer, hiker and floorball player, among other things.