Consulting Swordsman
I stopped drinking alcohol on August 19th, aiming for 100 days. In the end, I reached 103 days without booze, and without much effort. This post unpacks my 100 days no booze results, including cholesterol, visceral fat, sleep, heart rate, and the strange mysteries of my DEXA scans. If you want the background and the … Read more
7 Countries. 4 Continents. 6 books. Two online courses. And one really good idea (I think). It’s kind of absurd to summarise an entire year in a single blog post, especially such a busy and yet somehow still productive year as the last 12 months have been, but I need to get a handle on … Read more
My parents watch the 10 o’clock news every night. While I was staying with them recently I took that as my cue to wander upstairs and do my evening stretching and breathing routines, and read before bed. I just don’t need to see interviews with people complaining about lockdown restrictions, or the latest speculation about … Read more
Hi today’s questions are: Joe Propati’s series of questions continue…. Since Knights trained their whole life to become masters of the sword, were there any individuals who stood out as the Grand masters of the sword above everyone else in the world and who were they? Did Squires and Knights learn sword play by physical … Read more
A week after moving house I jetted off to Helsinki for the photo shoot for the German edition of The Duellist’s Companion, which is being published by Wieland (as was The Swordsman’s Companion, and The Medieval Longsword.) Somewhere in the mists of time the original photos for The Duellist’s Companion got lost, and as you … Read more
I am face-down in the first draft of the third instalment of my new Rapier Workbook series. Part Two, Completing the Basics is back from the proof reader and I sent it off to layout this morning. Huzzah! Part Three, Developing Your Skills is proving to be a bit of a beast. It’s about how to … Read more
I’m currently in Helsinki sitting at the dining table in my friend Tina’s apartment, and it’s a very good day, on several counts: I spent the weekend at my salle teaching my students. We covered breathing exercises on Friday evening, spent all day Saturday torturing ourselves with rapier footwork, and all day Sunday working on … Read more
I recently got my latest book, The Theory and Practice of Historical European Martial Arts, back from the editor, and am working through it. There are always last-minute changes to make, but they are usually minor additions or rephrasings. This time, there is one major change: I have decided to stop using the term HEMA … Read more
I get asked a lot about crowdfunding campaigns, especially for writers, so I thought I would do a complete breakdown of exactly where all the money came from and went to in my last campaign, which raised 12,093 euros in 30 days. Be warned, this post will make the accountants among you happy, but has … Read more
I’ve been a tad busy of late (not that that is anything unusual). But the last couple of weeks have been especially interesting. First up, PC Gamer magazine have published an article based on an interview I gave to the journalist Rick Lane; it’s all about trying to make games that involve sword fights more … Read more