Consulting Swordsman
My latest book encapsulates my entire approach to recreating historical martial arts; 25 years of experience in 350 pages! With this book you can train your mind and body to become an expert in historical martial arts. It includes the seven principles of mastery, considers the ethics of martial arts, and goes into detail about … Read more
There is a heady pleasure only authors know: the moment when the book you’ve been sweating blood over for the last many months or years, is finally done. Here’s the moment captured on video for you: transferring the folder from “Writing” to “PUBLISHED!” (this is probably the least exciting video you will ever see. Unless … Read more
I don’t usually read books with sword-fights in them. There is always something that annoys me. A clear case of an author using sport-fencing experience to write about longsword fights, for instance. Or making swords do things that they just don’t. It’s especially awful when it’s supposed to be set in a particular historical period. … Read more
On January 23rd 2018 in an office overlooking George Square in Edinburgh, three professors agreed that I ought to have a PhD for my work recreating historical swordsmanship from historical sources. “How on earth did that happen?” you may very well ask. What happened was this: After Veni Vadi Vici came out, my dad read … Read more
Dr. Ken Mondschein’s new book Game of Thrones and the Medieval Art of War is an unusual read. On the one hand, Ken is clearly a HUGE Game of Thrones fan, and has immersed himself in the books and TV show, and thought about them very deeply. On the other, he is a jouster, martial … Read more
Once upon a time in Fairy Land, a chap produced something cool, like an online course, and told all his friends just once. Everyone who was interested went out and bought it straight away, and they all lived happily ever after. But in the real world, what happens when you send out one product launch … Read more
Perhaps the most famous fencing treatise of the 1600s, Ridolfo Capoferro’s Gran Simulacro is a wonderful book, and an essential read for all fencing scholars. Characteristically, he spells his name as both Capoferro, and Capo Ferro, in the book itself; just one of it’s many interesting quirks! It covers fencing theory, rapier alone, rapier and … Read more
A little while ago I went to the National Fencing Museum to photograph some of Malcolm Fare’s amazing book collection. Most researchers and other interested folk find a compiled pdf of the photos much more useful than the raw footage, not least because the raw footage is not usually in order; for technical reasons, the … Read more
I’ve been taking a break from working on The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest: Philippo Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatioria Dimicandi (the long-awaited second edition of Veni Vadi Vici), and putting my shoulder to the wheel of getting my Magnum Opus ready: this is the accurately but not very inspiringly titled The Theory and Practice … Read more
In 2012, Piermarco Terminiello discovered the previously lost Second Book of Nicoletto Giganti in the Howard de Walden collection, which is housed at the Wallace Collection (in my not very humble opinion, one of the top ten museums worldwide, and in the top five for anything sword-related). You may recall my rejoicing when the 1608 … Read more