Consulting Swordsman
It has been my experience that beginners feel they have learned something when they get to try a new technique. But experienced students of the art feel they have learned something when they have identified and corrected a flaw in their skills. This is normal, and in both cases, the student is correct. It can … Read more
Martial arts are not just a set of skills, they are a way of life. I have always felt that to be true, but did not truly understand it until I moved to Finland and opened my school. Since doing so, I have been inspired by many books written by people who have shared the … Read more
I have a special place in my heart for novelists who actually practise the skills that their characters need. Of these perhaps the best example alive today is Christian Cameron. His US Navy aviation thrillers (co-written under the nom-de-plume Gordon Kent) are informed by his 12 years in the Navy; his ancient Greek novels (the … Read more
I was asked recently to write a preface to the new Finnish-language Conan compilation, Conan Palkkasoturi (Conan the Mercenary). It was a pleasure to write, and the published book is nothing short of beautiful. The editor, Janne Suominen, translated my thoughts into Finnish, and with his permission I am sharing the original English version here: When I … Read more
The real thing is the only bullshit-free scenario in martial arts. If you’re an MMA fighter, that’s the ring on fight night. If you’re a soldier, that’s being in the presence of the enemy. And if you are a swordsman, that is someone trying to take your head off with a blade. But the real … Read more
One interesting aspect of the recent kerfuffle regarding the USFCA certifying “historical fencing masters” is the debate about the meaning of the word “master”. It can mean simply “teacher”, or “one who has completely absorbed a system of information”, or “one who is in control of something else”. For our purposes I think perhaps “expert … Read more
Despite my reasonable and gently-worded objections, the USFCA have gone ahead with their plans to create a pedagogical certification system for historical swordsmanship. I am clearly not alone in my feeling that this is a bad idea, as it has created something of a shit-storm on social media, including a series of vicious ad hominem … Read more
My sister, a writer, is marrying David, a historian and writer who has a special interest in 18th century France. So what could be more fitting than a Roubo bookstand? I came across it in an article in Popular Woodworking Magazine (Feb 2011), picked up on a trip to the States. In the article, Roy Underhill not … Read more
We had an interesting time in the “intermediates” class this week. (Those scare quotes are to point out that after all these years, we should probably be calling it the Advanced class. So I will.) We began by establishing the goal of the class: to address the problem of freeplay devolving into tippy-tappy shit. You … Read more
I have been working for the last nine months on creating a teaching tool for students of Fiore’s art: a card game called Audatia. The game has been designed from the ground up as a way to make the abstract elements of Fiore’s system, such as the terminology and the overall tactical structure, easier to … Read more