Databases, daggers, love and rapiers

By Peter Murphy

He had previously explored fencing, but this distinct style of combat would open a new world and help him forge lifelong connections.

Kennedy is an associate professor of computer science and engineering. His research focuses on databases and the uncertainty of data. Although his hobby and his career in academia do not overlap, Kennedy says there are some indirect connections.

"I feel like stage combat has done a lot to make me a better instructor and presenter. Like many computer scientists, I tend towards the introverted end of the spectrum,” Kennedy says. “Getting on stage and performing a fight forced me to learn how to ride the adrenaline of dozens or hundreds of people staring at my every move, instead of being petrified.”

Kennedy joined New York University’s (NYU) varsity fencing team while working toward his bachelor’s degree. He enjoyed the sport but admits he lacked the skill to excel. 

"I wasn’t very good,” Kennedy says. “During that time, I also joined the local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism’s competitive fencing group. Here, I was much better."

The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an immersive history group that recreates the Middle Ages and Renaissance period through themed clothing and experiences, including competitive fencing. Kennedy was an active member throughout his time at NYU and searched for an SCA group in Ithaca, New York when he started a graduate program at Cornell University. 

“Fencing was my gateway drug. When I got to Cornell, a fellow student found out about my efforts to track down the local SCA and started trying to get me to join this choreographed sword-fighting group he was a part of,” Kennedy says. “He dragged me to a Ring of Steel practice, and I got hooked."

“It’s a fantastic martial art and an intensely collaborative activity with a really fun group of people,” he continues. “And, of course, there was the cool factor.”

Ring of Steel provides training in theatrical combat and stunts. Its members— Ringers—use real swords in choreographed fights. Ringers master scripted bouts with room for improvisation depending on performance or audience. Once, during a half-time performance at a roller derby bout, Kennedy added a flourish to a Shakespeare production.

“My wife and I performed the Hamlet vs. Laertes fight from “Hamlet,” but we added a crotch kick,” he says. “It was hard to do that tastefully.” 

Kennedy formed several relationships through Ring of Steel, including one that blossomed off the stage. He and his wife, Christina Rockwell, met through the group, and the time that they spent together helped foster a friendship that evolved into romance. The couple’s shared interest in sword fighting would help them maintain their relationship despite living far away from each other, sometimes on different continents. 

He proposed during a Ring of Steel reunion. Kennedy suggested to her that they practice a familiar duel that happened to include a move where he drops down to one knee. During the exchange, he dropped to his knee, but stopped and asked Rockwell to marry him.  

He would ask Andrew Cunningham, the friend who dragged him to his first Ring of Steel practice, to be his best man.

"Our wedding, like several other Ringer marriages, featured a first fight instead of a first dance,” Kennedy says. 

“Ring of Steel: Ithaca alumni are a tight knit group, even across several generations of the club,” he continues. “One of the appeals of the group is that since a lot of the core fights are standardized, two people who have never met before can run through a fight with little or no prep, sort of like two dancers. It’s a great way to build bonds."

Kennedy is not as involved in the hobby as he was in college. He and Rockwell still attend a few practices every year, and the couple will perform fights for friends or family. Kennedy frequently picks up a practice sword to help focus his thoughts or destress. 

“At this point, the hobby is sort of in maintenance mode,” Kennedy says. “It’s a shame, but I, unfortunately, don’t fight with my wife more often, particularly since the birth of our son.”

Kennedy is working to establish a stage combat group, albeit informal, at UB. He and fellow computer science and engineering faculty member Matthew Hertz, who has SCA experience, held practice sessions over the summer and hope to organize more. 

Anyone in the Buffalo area who is interested in learning choreographed sword fighting may reach out to Oliver Kennedy at okennedy@buffalo.edu.