Consulting Swordsman
Guy Windsor 
This post is borrowed from The Complete Rapier Workbook and follows on from How to Train Swordsmanship (or anything else) Part One. The “Rule of Cs” The “Rule of Cs” determines how every drill can be practised. 1. In the beginning, you learn set drills by Co-operating in creating correct choreography. 2. Once the choreography … Read more
Catchy post title, huh? Let us continue our examination of the plays of the sword in two hands in zogho largo. The text reads: Anchora me incroso qui per zogho largo a meza spada. E subito che son incrosado io lasso discorrer la mia spada sopra le soi mane, e se voglio passare cum lo … Read more
This post is borrowed from The Complete Rapier Workbook How do you take things you already know, and make them actually work under pressure? How do you become a swordsman/swordswoman/swordsperson, not just a person who knows some sword moves? This is the heart of swordsmanship, and it’s most sophisticated element. The key skill to learn … Read more
Every now and then someone comes up with a brilliant idea, brings it to market, and I see it and immediately buy it. No thought required. This playing card crowdfunding campaign is one such. Historical swordswomen from across the globe, and from the last 800 years or so of history. Yes, they even have Walpurgis … Read more
Despite the fact that we’ve just had the sword in one hand, the grips, the blows, and the guards, this seems like the true beginning of the longsword section, because Fiore begins with these words, which appear over a blank space: Spada son contra ogni arma mortale, ne lanza ne azza ni daga contra mi … Read more
Fiore’s guards of the longsword form a quite complete mechanical overview of the system of movement that Fiore’s art requires. If you can move fluidly through the guards, with every guard transition forming a blow, or one of the voltas (meza, tuta, stabile), then you are probably moving as Fiore would want us to. Regarding … Read more
This Fiore Translation Project is a monster. Transcribing and translating is fun and quite easy (because this manuscript has been in my head for over 20 years now). The commentary is easy too- it just pours out in a kind of free-association torrent. But editing the videos? Uploading them to youtube? Cropping the images? Creating … Read more
Welcome back! The last page of guards looks like this: And it includes coda longa, bicorno, frontale, and dente di zenghiaro la mezana. Posta di coda longa Questa sie posta di coda longa ch’e destesa in terra di dredo. Ella po metter punta, e denanzi po covrir e ferire. E se ello passa inanci e … Read more
I’ve taken up indoor climbing as a hobby. Nothing too serious, and no hanging off skyscrapers. Some friends of ours invited me along, and it was fun, physically and mentally demanding, and reasonably safe. I have a general rule not to take up new hobbies that don’t have a social component. I spend more time … Read more
There is literally nothing more satisfying for a writer than seeing their books in the wild. Normally this happens to me at seminars or events, but sometimes my readers are kind enough to send in photos from far flung places. Dan Weber, for instance, took The Medieval Longsword camping with him (definitely easier to pack … Read more