The Company of Maisters of the Science of Defence, was in fact run by the ' four anciant maisters'   These, it is assumed, were the four most senior maisters of the Company. It was to these men that students, with there teacher, would apply for permission to play their prizes.

Below, given with original spellings, are a couple of examples of prizes taken from the the records of the Company:

EDWARD HARVYE playde his schollers priz at the Bull within Bishopps gate at ij weapons, the two hande sworde and the sword and buckeler Thear playde with him xiiij [14] at the two hand sworde and xxviij [25] at sworde and buckeler/ with two free schollers called Rayson, and ffrauncies Caverly/ the xxviij of January vnder Richard Smyth.

John Blinkinsop playd his maisters prize the firste daye of June at the Artillerye garden at four kynde of weapons That is to saye the two hand sword, the backe sword, the sword and buckeler and the staff Ther playd with him six maisters vidz Richard Peters/ Anthony ffenruther/ Gregorie Grene, Richard Smyth, Richard Donne & Henry Naylor And so the said Blinkinsop was admitted maister vnder Willyam Thompson maister/1579/.

In later times, after the demise of the traditional maisters and their scholes of fence, prizes continued to be played by fighting men known as stage gladiators. These men were sometimes martial arts instructors and at other times were soldiers or ordinary citizens. Women also fought on the gladiatorial stage with great success. The prize that these people played for wasn't promotion to a higher rank but money. This development was, in many ways, to be regretted because it represented an abandonment of many of the moral and fighting philosophies of the old time maisters. Nonetheless, many of the men and women who fought for money were accomplished fighters in their own right and their fights usually resulted in savage wounds and even death. The most famous stage-gladiator was James Figg. He fought over 300 times with weapons and fists and only lost once (a defeat which he soon avenged).

Although, as stated, the stage-gladiators, had a different approach to martial arts than their predecessors those of them who were also instructors represented an authentic, if somewhat modified, school of English martial arts and must be respected accordingly.