Consulting Swordsman
Plastic swords are for children. Disclaimer: this post should be read as a completely personal, utterly unscientific, non-practical, emotional, historical fundamentalist tirade against something I find offensive. On this matter I am unapologetically fanatical. You have been warned. About eight years ago, in 2004, I was appalled to find, at a WMA event in America, … Read more
Authenticity is the root of martial arts. It is what gives it value. Every martial art draws its authenticity from one or more of the following: lineage, competition, combat or a written source. This is how we answer the question “how do we know this is correct?” : • Lineage: authority derives from the teacher. … Read more
The effects of Longsword Length One of the mysteries surrounding German (i.e. Liechtenauer) and Italian (i.e. Fiore) unarmoured longsword combat (and I’m sure it keeps you awake at night too) is the different responses to a crossing at the middle of the sword (meza spada) in the two systems. At Fiore’s crossing of the swords … Read more
The Fiore Extravaganza, a week-long immersion in medieval Italian martial arts, is now over. This year we spent much of our time working through Filippo Vadi’s fencing theory, and his 25 longsword plays. This was in part to help with the commentary section of my upcoming Veni VADI Vici book, in part to satisfy the … Read more
I’ve been reading again, this time Tom Hodgkinson’s Brave Old World, which is a charming book all about living well, in defiance of corporate greed and the ghastly Puritan work ethic. I’m not hugely interested in gardening or rearing my own chickens and pigs, but even so the book was well worth the time, The first … Read more
“You remember that which you are ready to learn.” I say this a lot. I was teaching a one-off intro class last night which included a very basic cutting drill (donna destra-longa-zenghiaro-longa-donna; i.e. mandritto fendente, roverso sottano) and having established the pattern of movement, then drew their attention to various aspects of it: first initiating … Read more
Every evening, before class, the salle is cleaned by the students. Usually this entails just a swift floor-mopping, done more for show than effect. Last night I arrived early and was cleaning the bog. It seems that none of my students are really bothered by the gradual accumulation of filth, and so it tends to … Read more
One of the problems with the books I write is that they involve a lot of previously published work. This tends to leave my desk piled high with books, which then get buried under further piles of not-books. My daughter’s chest of drawers (10€ from the recycle centre) finally died and was not worth fixing, … Read more
There is a very interesting article in the New York Times on the sportification of kendo (thanks for Devon Boorman of Academie Duello for pointing it out) here: The Way of the Sword Is Too Complex for the Olympics – NYTimes.com. For those of us engaged in recreating the killing arts, it seems odd that kendo would … Read more
Last Saturday I taught a singlestick seminar. Singlestick is an odd system for me because it’s the one area of swordsmanship where I am not tied hand and foot to a single source. Having been thoroughly pasted by Terry Brown and his students, I am under no illusions about my current competence with this weapon. … Read more