Maître d’armes Josef Šolc is currently the oldest active member of the Czech fencing club Riegel (established in 1902), which he first joined in 1949. In 1961, together with his Riegel colleagues lieutenant colonel Eduard Wagner, Dr. Jan Černohorský and other Riegelians he took part in the formation of the first group of historical fencing in what was then Czechoslovakia, which began to perform in 1962 under the name Musketeers and Bandits, which kickstarted the phenomenon known as “historical fencing” here and later abroad. Alongside lieutenant colonel Eduard Wagner and Dr. Jan Černohorský, maestro Josef Šolc is thus one of the founding fathers of Czech historical fencing.
In June 2017, in Prague, the Ars Dimicatoria school of historical fencing had the honour of granting master Josef Šolc the title of honorary fencing master for his long-term merit in the field of historical fencing.
At the present time he is Maître d’armes at the Czech Lands Fencing Hall, La Salle d’Armes, Prague, the home La Salle d’Armes of the ARS DIMICATORIA historical fencing school and the BARBASETTI MILITARY SABRE (since 1895) club.
He teaches fencing with the following historical weapons: French foil, military sabre and bayonet.