Born in Australia in 1972, Simon has had a life long passion for Military History. Up until his teens, he moved back and forth between Australia and his fathers English home town of Maldon Essex, famed for the great Battle that took place in 991 A.D between the Saxons and Vikings. This environment inspired his joining the Essex branch of the English Civil War Society in 1982. It was here that he was first exposed to early forms of Historical European Martial Arts reconstruction.
A strong background in Classical (Bare Knuckle) Pugilism stems from the advice and training provided by two key men. The first being his Grandfather, a Bare Knuckle Prize Fighting champion in the Queensland cane fields and copper mining district of Proserpine, where he worked as a Miner and Cane Cutter in the 1920's and 30's. The second influence was that of his Godfather, Rod Litzow, who was an Australian Middleweight Boxing Champion and 1954 Commonwealth Games Silver medalist. On his Fathers side stands the record of family cousin Charley (Dinky) White, who fought out of Islington North London as a successful Middleweight in the 1950's. Through his Grandfather, Simon carries on a living family tradition in Classical Bare Knuckle Pugilism.
After training in Olympic Fencing as a school boy in England, Simon returned to Fencing as an adult receiving instruction with the Mountains Fencing Club under the guidance of Richard Emmerick, NSW Epee State Coach and Armourer at the Sydney Olympic Games. Here he studied both Foil and Epee, serving as a Committee member and Trainee Armourer before leaving to found a new branch of The Stoccata School of Defence.
In 2015 a family event sparked a return to England. Simon spent two days in Marylebone, London, visiting with Dr Tobias Capwell, Curator of The Wallace Collection, examining Rapiers and Daggers dating from the 15th-16th Centuries. The purpose of this visit was preparatory research for articles and a future publication on Historical Swordsmanship. It was a friendly lunch time conversation with Dr Capwell which served to cement a commitment to starting his own Historical Martial Arts Academy when he returned to Australia. In 2015 The Company B.S.A was established in Katoomba, NSW.
A lifelong Military Historian, since 2006 he has been a Senior Moderator of one of the largest International Military Surplus Firearm Forums online. Serving this community as a virtual curator, he assists people daily in the identification, preservation and education of Military rifles as Historically significant artifacts. As a Historian, Collector and shooter of both 19th century and WW1/WW2 firearms, bladed weapons and Militaria, he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge in a diverse range of Military and Civilian weapons. His area of special interest is Lee Enfields.
STILL FILM IMAGE AT LEFT - Shows Simon J White holding c1610 Rapier, with Dr Tobias Capwell at the Wallace Collection - May 2015.
