Nick Jamilla [Ha meal ya] is a novelist, screenplay writer, freelance writer, fencing instructor, and sword fight choreographer.
This fall, Sword Fighting in the Star Wars Universe will be released by McFarland Publishing. It is a revised edition of the Shimmering Sword: Samurai, Western, and Star Wars Sword Fighting, published by NBK Publishing in 2002.
He is also the author of 3 unpublished novels — Grey Eminence (a US/USSR thriller), Bridge Builders (a novel about the pope and an American Swiss Guard), and The Montani Chronicles (a historical fantasy about an ancient Roman nation that survives into Renaissance Italy). In 1997, Jamilla was approved by Lucasfilm Licensing to submit short stories to West End Games (former producers of the Star Wars Role-Playing Game™). He occasionally contributes to the Miamigo magazine in south Florida.
In 2004, Jamilla was an actor and sword fight coordinator for the independent Star Wars film Revelations, which is noted as of the Internet’s first feature-length sci-fi production, rivaling the original Star Wars movies and garnering an unprecedented 3 million downloads. It’s director, Shane Felux, has gone on to produce Trenches, a new Internet movie produced in conjunction with Disney.
Jamilla gave a sword fight demonstration at the Children’s National Medical Center Benefit Premiere of Episode I: The Phantom Menace at Loews Theater, Washington, DC, and at the Post-Screening party at the Embassy of Finland, Washington, DC, on May 16, 1999. That summer, he gave a series of 7 talks/demonstrations in the Washington metropolitan area Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores. For two summers, Jamilla taught a summer course called Fencing and Its History, a 2-week summer program combining fencing with thematic research paper writing on The Three Musketeers, Hamlet, and The Phantom Menace in July of 1999 and 2000.
A graduate of Georgetown University, Jamilla has a B.S. in International Relations, Law, and Organization. His former professors included former U.S. Amb. Jeanne Kirkpatrick and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. During his junior-year-abroad in 1987-88, Jamilla studied at the Institut d’Études Politiques, the Sorbonne, and the Université de Provence. He was a Library Assistant at the Supreme Court library for two years, before moving to Tokyo, Japan where he was the Head Teacher at a YMCA English language school for four years. Upon returning, he taught English and religion to the 6th - 8th grades at the St. Elizabeth Catholic School in Rockville, MD. He then taught English, literature, math, social studies, and French to the 5th- 8th grades at the Newport School in Kensington, MD. Presently, he teaches 4th grade English, literature, math, and social studies at the Sheridan School in Washington, DC. He is a teacher of the Creating Original Opera course for kids, sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild in New York City.
Jamilla competed in the 1987 World Fencing Championships (Lausanne, Switzerland) and 1987 World University Games (Zagreb, Yugoslavia) for the Philippines. Afterwards, Jamilla began training at the Aikido Shobukan Dojo in Washington, DC under the instruction of Mitsugi Saotome, Shihan. He was also the senior student at the U.S. Naval Academy Aikido Club under George Meyer from 1990-91. In 1991, he traveled to Tokyo, Japan where he trained in the World Headquarters Dojo (Aikikai Hombu Dojo), and trained under Endo and Masuda Sensei. He receive his first degree blackbelt from Hombu dojo and his second from Saotome Sensei. Jamilla began training in kendo and iaido under Akira Kubo, Kyoshi, at the Tokyo Kyumeikan Dojo. Jamilla is a second degree (dan) in kendo and first degree in jodo (short staff). In addition, he has also studied iaido and naginata.
Jamilla taught fencing at the Newport School and at the Georgetown University fencing club from 1996-2000. From 1990-91, he was an assistant aikido instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990-91.
Jamilla is fluent in French, has moderate fluence in Japanese, et amat lingua latina.
His online writings are found in the "Links" section of this webpage.
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