Guy Windsor

Consulting Swordsman. Writer.

Archives for July 2018

How are your knees?

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See those knees? Those hips? That's going to take some work…

Historical martial arts can be hard on the knees. But in my experience, 99% of the time the ‘crazy' positions we see in the sources (like the extract from Meyer, above), are perfectly attainable with a little, or a lot, of work, without significant risk of injury. It just takes patience, caution, and knowledge. I can't help you with patience or caution, but if you don't already have the knowledge, I can help. I have a free knee maintenance course designed to teach you the very basics of how to look after yourself while working on the mechanics of whatever historical swordsmanship style you practice.

A few months ago I got an email from Tony, one of my online students. He wrote:

I know you're extremely busy so you don't have to read the whole thing but I just wanted to say THANK YOU at the very least.

I have been interested in HEMA and learning long sword for years but never found a club or school nearby to help me learn. I have some martial arts experience, having a black belt in Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan, and when I started looking into online videos and classes in my area, I paid close attention to the fundamentals like I'd been taught- footwork and stances (guards). I was pretty shocked to find that everyone in my area studies German long sword and the instructors pretty much have everyone picking up a sword and throwing zwerchaus in the beginner classes.

Then I saw Fiore practitioners, including yourself, online. Besides a solid grounding in fundamentals, the movements seemed very graceful. I did ballroom dancing for several years (it's how I met my wife), so I knew that I could make my body move like that. There was just one problem. I needed conditioning and I knew from personal experience that running was the easiest way for me to lose weight. Unfortunately, I had injured both of my knees when I was younger doing Tang Soo Do (a hyperextended kick), marching band (I did a spin turn on one foot but my heel got stuck in the turf), and the general punishment associated with running. I haven't been exercising in years and gained about 80 pounds as a result.

Fortunately, I discovered your free Knee Maintenance course, which has enabled me to resume my regular running routine. After going through the course, I realized that my knees were no longer moving correctly and, as you said in the video, the culprit was my hips. While I used to be able to do the splits, I had lost considerable flexibility in my hips, which was affecting my whole structure. I've also added the 7 way hips to my routine in addition to the knee massage. So far, I've dropped 35 pounds in the past three months, and I'm running 3 miles a day with no knee pain or injuries.

You can imagine how pleased I was to hear it. The main reason I teach swordsmanship for a living (as opposed to just training for fun) is the way it can transform lives. Over the weekend, Tony got back to me with a question, and added the following:

Finally, I’m still running every day to keep in shape for longsword training. No more knee pain. Lost 46+ lbs and counting. That knee maintenance course is amazing!

This makes me very, very, happy.

Of course as a good scientist (or trying to be), I have to add that just because it works for Tony doesn't mean it will work for you. And I'm not a medical doctor. But the course users are all invited to complete a short survey. Here are the results:

So the chances are good that it will help you. The course is completely free, and you can find it here. If you haven't tried it yet, perhaps you should!

Working on the new Rapier Course

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This weekend we begin shooting on my brand-new rapier training course. It is intended to cover everything you need to know to get from absolute beginner to competent rapier fencer in the style of Capoferro. We will also look at how to coach, and how to come up with your own interpretations of the source material.

This is not a quick journey, but it is well sign-posted.

The course is organised in seven parts:

Part 1: Introduction

This covers safety, the historical background, warming up, footwork, holding the sword, etc.

Part 2: Fundamentals 

This covers controlling your opponent's sword, parries, and strikes, and the initial actions of plates 7 and 16 from Capoferro.

Part 3: Blade Actions

This covers cuts, beats, disengages, as well as completing plates 7 and 16, and covering plate 10.

Part 4: Completing the Basics

This covers plates 8, 9 and 13, as well as teaching how to add complexity to drills, and start playing with the material.

Part 5: Avoidances

This covers how to get out of the way of the attack, and includes plates 11, 17 and 19, as well as the Rapier Footwork Form.

Part 6: Skill Development

Having covered the entire basic curriculum, this section teaches you how to develop actual fencing skill, in yourself and in others.

Part 7: Rapier and Dagger

Now that you can actually fence respectably with the sword alone, we add the dagger in the other hand. This includes plates 23-26, and 38-40. We also cover rapier and cloak (plates 36 and 37).

You can download a PDF of the current plan and shooting script here:

The Complete Rapier Course Plan

If there is anything you think I've missed, or you have any requests or suggestions, please let me know!

Sound like fun? It will be. I expect to launch the course officially in a month or so, and have an early-bird heavily discounted price of $119 (plus tax in the EU) in place until then.

You can find the course here!

The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest Ebook now ready!

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Good news for Vadi fans! The black and white paperback edition of The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest is now at the printers- I expect to see a proof copy next week- and the ebook edition is now live!

I’ve put together an ebook bundle for you here. This includes the full-colour PDF, as well as the e-reader friendly black and white version (without the facsimile), in EPUB, PDF, and Kindle formats. It is the only place where you can get the colour PDF.

Previous buyers of Veni Vadi Vici (in any format from any platform) can get the bundle for free: just email me and ask for it, and I'll send you a link.

This volume includes a detailed introduction, setting Vadi and his combat style in their historical context, a complete full-colour facsimile of the manuscript, and a detailed commentary from the perspective of the practising martial artist.

You can also get the ebook on your book-shop-website of choice. Except for the pdf which is only available through the bundle, all ebook formats are in black and white, and do not include a facsimile of the manuscript, though they do include a link to a resources page that has the scans.

For Kindle or Hardback, you can try the world's longest river: Amazon US, UK, AU, CA. You can also find it by searching for this product code on any other Amazon site: B07F889KFY

It is also available on Kobo here, and will be on iBooks here.

Not a medieval Italian longsword fan? Fair enough. You might find the pre-release deal for my upcoming Rapier course more interesting…

Remember to share this with your friends!

Coming to Seattle: SwordSquatch Ahoy!

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In early September I will be leaping aboard an aircraft with a spring in my step, as I will be off to see my friends in Seattle (again). The pretext for this merry jaunt is attending the awesome SwordSquatch event for the first time. This is the third Squatch, and for the last couple of years in early September my social media feeds have lit up with a cacophony of praise for this event, which makes me a) very proud of my students who run it and b) rather jealous that I didn't get to go.
This year the stars have aligned, and from September 7th-9th I'll be there, along with some really good instructors.

I'll be teaching the following classes:

Rapier and Dagger. 11am Friday 7th
Weapons: rapier, dagger, mask.
Managing one weapon at a time is challenging. Managing two at once is an order of magnitude more so. In this class we will go through through my rapier and dagger skills progression, starting with games to encourage rapid learning, and building up to specific plays from Capoferro (or other masters). Students will come away with a system for practising and teaching control of both weapons at once, and new insight into the rapier and dagger systems they study.
This class will suit both experienced rapier and dagger practitioners, and those who have never used this weapon combination before.
 
Research and Recreation lecture. 1.30 Friday 7th
Weapons: bring any you like, but you won’t need them unless you really hate the lecture. Definitely bring questions though.
Research is what makes our art Historical. The process of developing workable fighting systems from historical sources is relatively new, and in this lecture I will cover what to look for in a source, how to approach that source, and how to glean useful technical and tactical instruction from it. We will also cover how to use translations, and how to organise the material into a training syllabus, if there is time.
If you have questions about a specific source, please make sure you bring a copy of that source, and if you are using a translation, bring a copy of that too.
I recommend reading pages 37-117 of The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts beforehand, as the lecture will be based on that.
Problem Solving for Any Weapon. 11am Saturday 8th
Weapons: this class is weapons agnostic; you will need the weapons and protective gear (and partner) required to set up whatever problem you are trying to solve. If you’re not sure, bring a longsword and a mask.
Skill development is a matter of diagnosing problems and solving them. The mantra for this class is “run a diagnostic, fix the weakest link, run the diagnostic again”. We will begin with surveying the class for problems to solve, and then applying my approach to solving them.
This will include:
  • How to run a diagnostic drill (if you don’t know what the problem is, you can’t fix it)
  • Distinguishing between technical and tactical problems
  • Setting up corrective drills, specific to the problem
  • Coaching practice
  • Practising at the optimal rate of failure
I recommend reading pages 176-187 of The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts beforehand.
There is no minimum experience level for this class: if you’ve been training long enough to encounter a difficulty, then that’s sufficient.
With all my classes the content is heavily student-lead: I am a consultant, not a tyrant. If I were Fiore dei Liberi, that would make you the Marquis of Ferrara. So if you're planning to come, feel free to prepare questions or problems beforehand. I'll be around all day every day, and within the limits set by jet lag and other biological constraints, I'm there for the students. If you can't make my classes (because you just like other instructors more, that's ok, I understand, my feelings aren't hurt at all, honest) then come find me betweentimes and I'll do what I can to help.