Jared Anthony McNeil-Smith has spent his life bringing an expertise in the Martial Arts (weapons, swordsmanship, muay thai, and boxing), Psychology (behavior analysis, spiritual counseling, & youth leadership), and Apologetics (philosophy & theology) to create wholistic training for his students in spiritual formation.
This vision was the beginning of a new kind of academy, The CrossSwords Order: a society dedicated to the formation of men who are seeking to understand the good, the true, and the beautiful, and living it out in the world. By this mission, CrossSwords works to advance Christ’s kingdom through creating cultures of true nobility that all point to Him as their source and summit.
Jared founded CrossSwords Combat Academy in the Fall of 2018 as a a school devoted to this final purpose, originally alongside training in the disciplines of Knightly swordsmanship. Now, with methods of Christian spiritual formation (Christian philosophy, moral education, disciplines of prayer, and fellowship) taking center stage, this academy continues today as The CrossSwords Order, where the true combat is the spiritual fight all men must face at all times, and the true nobility not in excellence of swordsmanship but in spiritual mastery and in humility of spirit.
It is Jared’s continuing passion to raise up this first generation of Knights of the Way: sharpening their souls through the teachings of nobility, and calling them up to pass it on to others in their world.
The CrossSwords Order 