By 1901, with some of the lessons of the Boer War learned, regular instruction in swordsmanship had practically been abandoned in the British army. So, when in 1914 the future Field Marshal Montgomery […] led a charge with sword in his right hand and revolver in his left and found himself confronted with a…
Read More... from Book Review: Masiello's "Broadsword", trans. by Col. Francis Vere Wright
Pretty but Authentic Blades Doing Ugly but Authentic Things KOTAKU (New York, New York). 26 October 15. How People Actually Fought With Swords. Cédric Hauteville’s Kickstarter-supported HEMA documentary "Back to the Source" is now available on YouTube. “Actual blade combat was messy and nasty, caring less about looking pretty….” Choreography. It’s actually quite boring. EXAMINER.COM (Denver,…
Read More... from Social Media Sword Press: News for October 2015
“…14th-century fights rarely lasted more than a few moments.” Mr. Greg Mele of the item following notes that a lot of his students were brought to swordplay because of "popular culture" -- the television and movies that influence us in our lives to try something new and different. We have within the Western world seen…
Read More... from Cyclical Sword Press: News for September 2015
It is refreshing to be alive in a time to see so much progress in our society in regards to LGBTQ* acceptance and civil rights -- though we still have a long way to go despite a lot of recent victories. This year in June we saw the Supreme Court of America legalize same-sex marriage. …
Read More... from Trans*gressions: the struggles and victories of trans athletes
The work that George Silver was best known for was his 1599 Paradoxes of Defence, in which he conducts a vehement denunciation of the Italian teaching of the civilian dueling rapier within his England and its subsequent use by a heretofore doughty race of backsword wielders. Paradoxes was not so much a fight book as…
The study and appreciation of WMA continues to enjoy a renaissance in Europe and North America; and we are now uniquely fortunate in having a large variety of salles from which to choose to train. The salles differ in the sword technique favoured, the "olde master" which is followed, how they present their program… and…
Read More... from Collective Sword Press: News for August 2015
This weekend was a momentous event for Academie Duello: our first Silver Cord (aka Provost) examination. A provost is one step below Maestro/Master and it represents an enormous achievement. Provosts are expected to demonstrate a high level of effectiveness within the school’s system, a demonstrable and defensible understanding of the school's pedagogy and theoretical approach,…
“I shall now consider of Wounds with loss of Substance made by Bill, Pole-axe, etc., some cutting twice or thrice in one or near one place, whereby the Wound is large, traverse, yea and oblique….” -- Surgeon R. Wiseman, circa 1676. [1] Swords are the preferred weapon in modern Western Martial Arts (WMA), as they have been…
Read More... from Book Review: “Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair” by Knight & Hunt
Every year the Vancouver institution that is the Georgia Straight runs an open poll to determine the "Best of Vancouver" in a variety of different categories, and for many businesses it is the measure of success and recognition in the city. Whereas restaurants and hotels have comprehensively recognised marks of excellence, in a lot of cases…
This was going to be the "fashion issue"… but then I found the item of the month. Most martial arts salles or groups have a written or implied code of conduct by which instructors and students agree to be a better person… physically, morally, and ethically. Some groups have a youth program, in which young people may…
“They are stories about stories.” [1] It does my heart good when I hear competent people say that they’ve recreated the essence of some medieval martial art event to the best of their ability, because they followed the descriptions of medieval combat "exactly" from period texts. It’s a good ... start. But what if the…
Read More... from Book Review: "Deeds of Arms" by S. Muhlberger
“…In fact he marshalled such an host of many different nations that it was a world's wonder.” [1] Medieval Combat World Championships. Swordfish. Longpoint. Battle of the Nations. … and many, many others. We have an embarrassment of riches in HEMA in that we have a number of national and international competitions during which we…
Read More... from Hierarchical Sword Press: News for June 2015
In about 1877, Colonel Thomas Hoyer Monstery wrote: “I hold that every gentleman should be able to protect himself from insult and violence, with or without weapons.” [1] Words as true now, as they were more than a century ago! [2] But why listen to Col Monstery? In Self Defense for Gentlemen and Ladies, Ben Miller…
Within Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), our serious scholars often suspect that our community suffers to an unknown degree from ‘lost treasures’. Precious books, scrolls, weapons and armour are frequently believed to have fallen to the decaying effects of time. Poor storage, war, long winters (think fireplace fuel), flood, fire, and hoarding in private collections are just some examples of the natural…
♪"Stop, Hammer time!"♫ (Apologies to MC Hammer.) What is a cultural ‘artistic’ reference in our time, was an invitation to ‘bring it’ in medieval times. For nearly two centuries, the warhammer was a weapon of choice for mounted medieval armoured combat. However, there seems to be a distinct lack of (recorded) knowledge of the fighting techniques…
Read More... from Book Review: "Warhammer, the Forgotten Weapon" by James Roth
"It's everyone from everywhere in one place." --Bruno Ramos, Knight's Blade HEMA Fresh from flying home from VISS at the end of last month, the statement above really resonated with my experiences with the Vancouver International Swordplay Symposium, and with my modest exposure to HEMA events internationally. Peers from all over the world fly across continents…
Fifteen years ago we would have been hard pressed to read about swordplay in any newspaper – and the only reference to the art on television would have been clips of sword fighting (of a sort) from that year's 'sword and sandals' blockbuster. Nowadays, swordplay events, educational initiatives and salle training are ‘normal’ fare for…
Read More... from Ready for Prime Time Sword Press: News for Mar 6th 2015
This past weekend a crew consisting of me and five senior students from Academie Duello headed down to the 2015 Ursulmas Championship tournament in Monroe, Washington. This is a tournament hosted by the Society for Creative Anachronism, an organization devoted to re-enactment of the middle ages and renaissance in various forms, including combat. (In the…