Consulting Swordsman
The Oakeshott Institute looks after legendary sword collector and author Ewart Oakeshott’s extraordinary collection of swords. They have launched their Historical Sword Documentation Project which will provide detailed 3D models of genuine historical weaponry. Starting with the items in their care they will catalog these pieces and provide contextual materials. This will allow scholars and … 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
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
Today, Finland celebrates its 100th anniversary of independence. They paid a terrible price for it, both in the civil war that followed the declaration, and in resisting the Soviet invasion during the Second World War. The Finnish conduct of the Winter War was an incredible effort of skill, heroism, and sheer sisu (guts, bottom, sheer stubborn refusal … Read more
You’ve probably heard phrases like “Information wants to be free”, or “What gets measured gets managed” before, usually to justify a particular political decision or business process, but they have slipped into more general use. Here’s the problem: both of them are incomplete. “Information wants to be free” comes from Stewart Brand. Cory Doctorow tells the … Read more
At work on a 15′ dining table at Patrick Baxter Furniture, 18 years ago… It’s my birthday today (November 30th, same as Sir Winston Churchill), and I thought it might be fun to spread the love a bit. I’ll be turning 44 (so, nearly a grown-up) and I’ve set up a discount code that you … Read more
Your knees are the keys to everything. For many martial artists knees are the first thing to go, and signal the end of a career. I don’t want my career to end. I have put my basic knee maintenance program online for free here, and for some reason best known to my subconscious I didn’t … Read more
Boldness is a key virtue in swordsmanship, at least according to Fiore dei Liberi (and who am I to argue?). So I’d like to commend Adam Weller of Auckland Sword and Shield for having the wit and boldness to contact me and ask me to come to Auckland to teach a seminar for him. About … Read more
I’ve been off on my wanderings again. I flew to Singapore on Sunday 22nd, and arrived at 5pm local time on the Monday, to be met by Robin (who runs PHEMAS, my Singapore branch), plus three visiting students from Malaysia, and one from Jakarta, who were all in town to come to my very short … Read more
Time spent sharpening is never wasted. A couple of weeks ago I helped a friend to lay a nice oak wooden floor. This entailed lots of standing up and bending over, and I’m delighted to say that I felt it in my legs the next day, but not in my back at all. Ergonomics for … Read more