Consulting Swordsman
This post is a short library of my favourite online resources regarding how medieval manuscripts were created, and related traditional bookbinding videos. One of the unexpected consequences of my return to Phillipo Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi while working on the second edition of Veni Vadi Vici was that I got completely hooked on the physical craft … Read more
Philippo Vadi’s instructions for the size of your sword, in Chapter 2 of his De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, are the earliest example of sword specs in fencing literature. So what is Vadi Sword Geometry? He says (as I translate it in The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest): Chapter II: The Measure of the Two-Handed … Read more
It has been a splendid few days in Seattle so far, kicked off by a trapeze lesson with the excellent Milla Marshall at SANCA. The place was pretty empty, so there was no-one to hold the camera (Milla was busy spotting me through the tricky bits), but we did manage to catch this new trick … Read more
Armour of the English Knight, 1400-1450 is the best book on the subject of armour that I have ever read. I bought it last week at the Wallace Collection museum shop, and was simply blown away. I’m not really an armour man; I prefer fighting out of armour, but I bought this book because I … Read more
One fencing manual above all has a special place in my heart. I found Donald McBane’s The Expert Sword-man’s Companion from 1728 in the National Library of Scotland back in the early nineties, and persuaded my University tutor to let it onto the course she was teaching. My essay “The Gallant Pander” was in truth the … Read more
My urgent desire to snuggle up to Philippo Vadi has been gratified, and now you can do the same too. This lovely facsimile went live today, and you can get it from Amazon US, Amazon UK, or order it from any bookshop with the ISBN: 978-9527157091 Not every online store stocks it, probably because … Read more
What’s this? A new book? Or an old one? My recent fascination with producing affordable facsimiles of fencing manuscripts began with wanting to curl up in a chair with Vadi. Mission accomplished. The proof copy arrived this week, and I have released it for distribution. It will go on sale on February 28th. I set … Read more
About a month ago I was checking through a pdf of Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, and thinking how lovely it would be to just pluck the manuscript off a shelf and curl up in an armchair with it. So I looked into getting a copy printed and bound locally. It was going to cost about … Read more
Speaking as a teacher, there is nothing more satisfying than finding out that your students have used your material to materially improve their lives in some way, be that as simple as getting better at swordsmanship, or as complex as re-evaluating the entire course of their life. I believe in giving credit where it’s due, … Read more
Everybody breathes, but some do it better than others. Breathing training is the foundation of my martial practice, and as with everything else I do, I’m happy to teach it to you. The topic for the latest instalment of The Swordsman’s Quick Guide was chosen by my student Cecilia Äijälä, and she picked Breathing Training. … Read more