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Lessons from my 7-day data detox: on becoming a cat

My pell on its new base, with a longsword leaning against it, put together during my 7 day data detox.

I spent the first week of October on a data detox. No emails, no whatsapp, no socialz, no scrolling. It’s been a lovely mental break. My initial reason for trying this was to allow my inner visionary to be heard, as per this post. 

The single biggest surprise is how little I missed it. I was really looking forward to it, and enjoyed the lack of distraction very much indeed. Days one and two were very relaxing. For reasons I can’t pin down, but which may be related to withdrawal, I was grumpy as hell for days three and four. Oddly though I didn’t have any urge to get online, so I don’t think it was withdrawal exactly. Then things perked up immensely on days 5-7, and I got a bunch of things done that I’ve been meaning to get round to. More on that below.

Filling the Void

So what filled the void created by the data detox? That gaping chasm of boredom and ennui that our marvellous machines cover up with clicks and scrolling?

1. I’ve thought a lot. It’s actually nice to be back in my own head a bit more.

2. I’ve did a lot more actual sword practice, in addition to my usual physio/fitness/strength stuff.

3. Coincidentally (I think, because these were planned ages ago) I went to the actual theatre, and met friends for lunch in the pub (yes I’m still off booze, 50 more days to go), and been to a talk (given by Roland Allen, of The Sword Guy and A History of Thinking on Paper fame). All analogue, real people in a room together, offline goodness.

I should point out that I was not religious about this. I used my wife’s laptop to print out crosswords, and fired up my phone to be able to navigate to drop off my daughter at a friend’s house for a party (I don’t have a paper map of the area, which I should!). But outside some very sensible exceptions, I’ve kept the phone turned off, and did not check any messaging apps or email when I did turn it on. The computer was not turned on at all.

I finished making my mum’s birthday present, put a new base on my pell so it stops falling over when it’s windy (see the photo above), and rearranged my study such that I could get my point control wall target up (it needs a sturdy wall to hang on, and room in front and to the sides for footwork). 

Wall target put up during my 7 day data detox. Leather and wood, on a red wall.

I also planned a new launch, thought about the overall structure of my business, and got a bunch of CEO stuff done. I don’t think my visionary woke up particularly, so I need to think about how to make that happen.

One of the things I’ve been thinking about is how we have all sorts of social rules and norms around other addictive behaviours, such as drinking and smoking. If someone offered you a glass of wine at 11am you might say “it’s a bit early for me”. Because these days it’s normal to avoid drinking during the day. Likewise smoking. It used to be everywhere, all the time. But now it would be very very rude to light up inside someone’s home without asking, and most smokers would automatically go outside.

But watch any TV show from the 80s and just about every rich person is having a drink at 10am, and everyone rich or poor is smoking indoors at all hours. These healthier rules around smoking and drinking are relatively new, and relatively unconnected with legislation.

I do well with rules if they’re my own. (I do much less well with other people’s rules.) Both phones and computers are incredibly useful. But they are inherently built for distraction. So here are my rules for using my computer and my phone.

Rules for the Computer

1. Be a cat. I’ve borrowed this from Jaron Lanier’s excellent 10 Arguments for Deleting All Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. Cats don’t try to please people. They just pursue their own agenda, and allow the people in their life to serve their needs. If a cat wants stroking, you’ll know. The computer belongs to me. It’s a critically important tool for writing books, editing video, running my business, and communicating with people.

But it’s been warped by the internet into also being a major source of distraction. So I will approach my computer the way a cat approaches the humans that feed it. I’ve always had all notifications turned the hell off, but that doesn’t stop me from getting distracted.

2. Decide what I want to do before waking it up. That could be work on the next book, or some critical business task like paying a freelancer, or emailing someone about something. Then do that thing first. After my week away I have a long list of things to do, including drafting this blog post, that comes ahead of checking my emails. Happy to report I’m following my own rules.

3. Unless I have a good reason, don’t open any communications app before 2pm. Exceptions include scheduled zoom sessions (running a trainalong or doing crosswords with my mum are both good reasons), or if I’m expecting a time-critical message about something actually important.

4. Turn off all comms apps at or before 5pm. Exceptions as per rule 3. And take at least one full day per week off all comms. I think probably Thursdays, which I generally keep free anyway. 

5. Be a cat. It’s worth an extra rule to be reminded of the first one.

What do I want my Fondleslab Distraction Engine (aka “phone”) for?

There are many excellent things about the phone that I want to keep, that I missed during the data detox. In no particular order they are:

  • Camera
  • Podcast player
  • Music player
  • Sound recorder (when recording videos etc.)
  • Maps/navigation
  • Payments
  • Wallet for tickets, boarding passes, etc.
  • Calendar
  • The Sword People app for keeping in touch with my sword people and posting sword photos
  • Calculator
  • Notes app for when I don’t have a notebook or pen with me. Rare, but it happens.
  • StrengthLog app for tracking weights workouts
  • Family Whatsapp channel. I’d like to move it to Signal, but I don’t think we’d get everyone on board with it (my siblings, their kids, my kids, it’s actually quite a lot of people).
  • Some friends prefer Signal, so I have that for talking with them. 
  • One dear friend, and my godson only really use Discord, so I have that too.

But other than those excellent things, why would I want to be continually distracted?


Rules for the Fondleslab Distraction Engine

1. Be a really fucking grumpy cat.

2. Delete all addictive apps. No games, nothing that makes me likely to scroll (Ebay, Vinted, Chrono24, etc.). No emails. I have the accounts still there in the system settings, but I’ve turned off the email function. That way if I need to be able to check email on my phone for some reason, it’s easy to turn back on, but it’s not on by default.

3. Turn off all notifications. All of them. Especially badges (those red things that flag the app's icon). I’ll check the apps when I want to. The phone still rings if you call me, but that’s it.

4. WhatsApp, Messenger, etc. are strictly friends and family only. I have SwordPeople for work-related messaging. (Feel free to sign up there if you want to be able to message me outside email.)

5. Switch off the phone completely for at least one full day per week. So e.g. turn it off in the evening, and not turn it on until the morning of the day after next.

Final Thoughts on the Data Detox

I’m also thinking about getting a new phone number, and relegating the current one to a no-data phone, so I can use it for two-factor authentication, and as my “business” number, and keep my other number entirely private, so only people I’ve actually given it to will have it. My current number is clearly on too many databases, given the number of spam calls and texts I get.

I’m not alone in fighting this fight. Useful resources are the aforementioned Jaron Lanier’s 10 Arguments. Also Cal Newport’s Deep Work, and for non-algo-poisoned tech solutions, the Creative Good forum has all sorts of options and suggestions. Once you have all this distraction-free time you'll need to learn to prioritise, so you may find my post about deciding what to focus on helpful.

It's worth explicitly stating that I welcome emails from my students, readers, friends, family, and even some newsletters and other things. Email isn't the problem. It's letting it spill out of a confined space to take over my brain that’s the problem. The same is true for messaging apps generally. I've broken the cycle of reflexively checking for anything new coming in with my seven days off, so now I need to keep that cycle broken. Or I'll end up having a (metaphorical) whisky and a cigarette for breakfast again.

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Master Vadi’s Art of Arms: Complete Longsword and Dagger Training Bundle

Flash sale on Philippo Vadi's longsword and dagger courses bundle

Would you like a complete interpretation and training method for Vadi’s Art of Arms, as found in his De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi?

Well now you can have it, with the Philippo Vadi courses bundle, which includes my Philippo Vadi Longsword Course, and my Philippo Vadi Dagger Course.

The courses also include all of Vadi's other plays, such as sword in armour, pollax, and spear.

Bought individually, these courses cost $850. The Bundle is only $600. And you can get 30% off until Wednesday (October 15th).

 

Click here to enrol, and use the code WELOVEVADI2025 at checkout to get the discount.

The Longsword course includes over 75 video lessons, across 8 modules:

  1. Introduction & Safety
  2. Footwork and Sword Handling – Warm-ups, footwork, grips, and mechanics
  3. The Blows of the Sword– Vadi’s blows, including drills based on the guards
  4. The 12 Guards – Every position explained and drilled
  5. Basic Training and Setting up the Plays – Solo and pair training to build a solid foundation
  6. The 25 Plays of the Longsword – All 25 plays from De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, step-by-step
  7. Plays from Chapters 11 and 15 – Extra drills from Vadi's theory of fencing
  8. Skill Development – Fencing games, timing, and troubleshooting

Sample video:

The Dagger course includes over 55 video lessons, across 5 modules:

  1. Introduction & Safety
  2. Basic Training: Falling and Mechanics – Warm-ups, footwork, and mechanics
  3. Dagger Grips and Strikes
  4. The Dagger Plays from De Arte Gladitoria Dimicandi – Every play explained and drilled
  5. How to Train – Solo and pair training to build a solid foundation

Sample video:

 

Who This Bundle Is For

  • Beginners looking for a structured, complete introduction to longsword
  • Experienced martial artists who want to explore Vadi’s unique system
  • HMA students seeking historical accuracy and practical application
  • Anyone who’s ever dreamed of mastering the knightly art of the sword

What’s Included

  • Full lifetime access to all course materials
  • Train at your own pace, anytime, anywhere
  • Mobile and desktop friendly
  • Immediate start—no prerequisites required
  • Get Started Now

You don’t need fancy gear or years of experience to begin. Just a sword (or even a stick), a mask, a friend, some space, and the willingness to train.

Sound like your sort of thing? Go here and use the code WELOVEVADI2025 at checkout to get 30% off.

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The 5 Project Roles Every Creator Needs (Even If They’re All You)

The 5 project roles every creator needs: Visionary, CEO, Project Manager, Designer, Craftsman

Every project, no matter its size, needs five people. Most of us have only one: ourselves.

I was chatting with a friend the other day, and he mentioned a framework that his dad, a very successful entrepreneur, came up with. According to him, the five people every company needs are: The Founder, The CEO, The Project Manager, The Engineer, and the Builder.

For some reason this stuck with me, to the extent that I’ve been making weird pentagonal drawings on the back of random printouts:A geometrical sketch or a pentagon and five pointed star re the five project roles

It's always a sign that something is brewing when I start spontaneously doing geometry. For weeks I couldn't get this idea out of my head. It explains many of the challenges I've faced running my business, and has highlighted some areas I need to work on.

The Five Project Roles

The catch? In my world, and probably yours, all five roles are played by the same person.  But they are very, very different roles requiring unrelated attitudes, aptitudes, and skills.

The aptitudes are:

  1. Vision,
  2. Execution,
  3. Management,
  4. Design, and
  5. Craftsmanship.

Very few people possess all five personalities and skillsets. I certainly don’t. But using this framework I can see why and how I’ve ended up outsourcing the things I’m not good at, and also confirmed what I absolutely must not outsource.

Case Study: The project roles you need when writing your book

Let’s take a concrete example that many folk can resonate with: writing, publishing, and marketing a book. These are separate processes, so while the visionary and CEO are hopefully leading the way, and the project manager is coordinating the three processes, it makes sense to treat them separately, as the design and craft teams are different.

When we think of “writing a book”, we tend to focus on the craftsman: the writer actually putting one word after another, like a bricklayer building a wall. But what colour bricks, in what pattern? Where should the wall be, and how high should it go? That’s up to the designer. In this case, the overall structure and content of the book. What does this book need to contain, in what order, to what depth of detail?

Most writers act as both Designer, shaping the structure, and Craftsman, laying down the words, but a developmental editor can help with design while a copy-editor polishes the craft. So you will only need to wear your writer hat to get this part done. And most writers I know identify only as writers. This is the hat they want to wear. But here's how it should go:

The Visionary has the idea. I want to create this thing. A single book, perhaps. An entire business, for another perhaps.

The CEO figures out how the vision can be made manifest in the real word. What project management, design, and craftsmanship will we need? It’s in a CEO’s nature to veer away from the vision towards the practical. So the visionary must keep an eye on things and make sure their beautiful idea doesn’t become watered down for business or other practical reasons.

Taking a step back, who decides what book, when? How does this specific project fit into the overall strategy of the business that is being an independent author? Many writers, including me, just write whatever they want, when they want, according to no plan of any kind. But most of the really successful ones have a strategy in place. This series in that genre, spread out over this timeframe, for this business goal. That’s CEO territory. My CEO quit a long time ago in frustration and disgust. But once the decision is made, the order comes down: this book, now.

The project manager steps into office. Ok, I’m going to need the following: a writer, a developmental editor, a copy editor, a layout designer, a photographer, an admin assistant to handle the publishing platform accounts, oh, and a marketing team when we’re ready.

Then the designer (or developmental editor) looks at the brief and decides what the overall structure of the book should be, and why. Some writers just start writing and see what structure emerges (‘discovery writers’); others plan things out in detail (‘outliners’). So the designer and the writer must get along pretty well, and pass the job back and forth as necessary. Unlike creating an engine or a building, you really don’t need detailed plans in place before starting work on a book if that’s not the way your brain works.

I’m a woodworker, and when I make a piece of furniture I usually start with the overall dimensions so it will fit where it’s going to go, and that’s it. No detailed drawings, no plans, no measurement. I’m a bit more structured when it comes to books (I usually sketch out the table of contents first), but I’m nothing like Saul Bellow, who famously planned his (Nobel Prize-winning) novels “down to the last flicker of an eyebrow”.

The draft emerges and goes through the necessary rounds of editing until it satisfies the project manager. Not the writer. Writers generally don’t like people messing with their words. But they are not in charge of this bit. The fight is usually between the craftsman wanting to tweak more, and the project manager who can see that the project meets spec and so should be pushed out the door.

Then it goes to layout, and the designer, writer, layout person, and editors fiddle about with the laid-out book until again the project manager signs off, and out it goes to the publishing team.

Publishing your book

Creating the book itself, the actual print files, is down to the graphic designer. Again, some writers can do this themselves, but most really can’t, or shouldn’t. Graphic design is its own thing. This, I would say, is still craftsmanship, but in a field that most writers have no knowledge of. For simple text-only books there are tools like Vellum which put simple book design within reach of the graphically unskilled, but for more complex projects (like my From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice series, or my workbooks) you absolutely need a professional.

Then who organises the planning, writing, editing, and layout, and gets the finished files uploaded to the right places, so the book is actually published? That’s project management, pure and simple. A lot of Indie authors do this for themselves too, and many stumble at this point. Because it’s hard, not least because emailing an editor to say the book is ready to be edited, or sending the edited files to the layout person, feels like handing your baby over at the daycare centre.

Then it goes to layout, and the designer, writer, layout person, and editors fiddle about with the laid-out book until again the project manager signs off. The writer, layout person, and editors, are all craftspeople, with their own areas of expertise, which often expand into design territory.

Then it goes to the admin assistant for publishing. The careful uploading of all the right files to all the right places, with metadata and all the rest, is a craft.

Marketing your book

At some point in the publication process the marketing team gets to work. Usually some time before the book is actually finished, sometimes before it’s actually started. Tragically often, after it’s already published.

The marketing team report to the project manager. What kind of campaigns should we run? Paid ads or no? Content marketing? If so what kind? The marketing approach should be engineered to fit with the vision, the overall strategy, and the project management of the book itself.

Most writers have a severely under-developed and under-staffed marketing team. The writer says “I’ll mention it on my socials” or “I’ll let my email list know” and that’s that. The question really is how does the marketing strategy fit with the overall strategic vision? If my strategic vision is “I want to write my books and don’t care how they sell”, then no marketing plan is required. If my strategic vision is “these books should pay the mortgage”, then a marketing team (usually still just another facet of the single person doing all these roles) needs to make that happen.

A common problem with marketing teams is that they mess up the vision, just like CEOs. It may be part of your vision that your work is at the luxury end of the market (super-fancy $100+ special editions), or that it’s as accessible as possible (hello free ebooks), or some combination of both. But the vision will determine the price-point, which is the starting point for the marketing. It’s easier to persuade people to buy a $10 book than a $100 book, but pricing is related to value, so you need to have a clear idea how much value your books will deliver.

My books are generally much more expensive than novels (my paperbacks go for about $30), because I’m not selling a few hours of entertainment to a broad range of people, I’m selling months or years of utility to a narrow range of highly interested people. That comes from the vision, which determines pricing. I also have premium-end books (in the $60 full-colour hardback range), and ebooks priced to be accessible for anyone who really wants the information ($10). I make about half my income from book sales: they literally feed my children. That’s both a product of the pricing strategy, and one of the reasons for it. But my marketing really needs work.

If you're looking for help writing, publishing, or marketing a book, my marketing team would lynch me if I didn't mention From Your Head to Their Hands.

How much time does each project role get?

  • 80% of the work is done by the craftsman. Typing out the right words in the right order, deciding what images are needed and where they’ll go, producing the file that goes to the editor and then to layout.
  • 10% is done by the designer. Organising the material, making sure the whole thing will hang together.
  • 7% is project management, getting the craftsman, designer, editor, and graphic designer talking to each other.
  • 2.9% is the CEO making sure the project manager is on the right track. Once the team is assembled, the CEO is really only there to keep things on track with a gentle hand on the tiller.
  • 0.1% or less is the actual spark of vision. The visionary can literally be done and dusted in a second. The idea strikes, and that’s that.

Let’s put this in a Fiorean framework, just for fun (Fiore was a 14th century master of knightly combat). The Visionary is Ardimento, boldness. It takes courage to see through what is to what might be. The CEO is Avvisamento, foresight, the strategist. The Project Manager is Presteza, speed, making sure everything actually gets done on time. The Designer is Forteza, strength, which comes from structuring everything correctly. So who is the Craftsman? Every single master, remedy master, counter-remedy master, and scholar in the treatise. They are actually putting the plan in action in the real world.

The most obvious thing I’ve noticed in my own work using this framework is that my craftsman, designer, and project manager are getting lots done. I produced six books and two online courses in 2024. This year so far I've produced four new online courses (Vadi Longsword, Vadi Dagger, Body Mechanics, and Introduction to Historical Martial Arts), and one or two more books are expected out by the end of this year. I think that counts as “lots”.

But my CEO is usually on holiday, and the visionary gets almost no time at all. Which is ironic given how this all started, with an actual vision on a Scottish mountain a quarter of a century ago.

Wearing All Five Hats as a Solo Creator

This framework matters because it is very useful for making decisions. Which of the five project roles should be to the fore, which hat should I be wearing, when I decide a book is ready to publish? Really, it should go through all five.

  1. Does this book come from an authentic vision?
  2. Does this book meet our strategy goals?
  3. Is this book technically ready to publish?
  4. Is this book well structured, so it will do its job?
  5. Is this book well made, in terms of writing, editing, and graphic design?

My current work in progress is From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: the Dagger Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi. It’s with the editor now, and available to pre-order here. See? The marketing team is on the case even while the publishing team is in play. The vision is clear: this is 100% on-mission, making my interpretation of Fiore dei Liberi’s art of arms more available and completely transparent (the book includes every single dagger play in the treatise, with the image from the manuscript, my transcription of the text, my translation, my interpretation with academic justification, and a video of how I do the play in practice).

The CEO thinks it aligns with the strategy.

The project manager is keeping an eye on the editor and has the layout professional ready to go (and in communication with the editor directly).

The designer is happy with the structure and overall content.

The craftsman was sure he was done tinkering and needed a second opinion before further improvements could be made, so agreed to send it to the editor.

Phew.

I’m also working on a new facsimile project, similar to my Flower of Battle. It will have the straight, unaltered, facsimile of Philippo Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi, and a second facsimile with my translation superimposed, and a link on each page to a video of my interpretation of the play. It’s a lot of work, but most of it was already done for other projects. The translation comes from The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest (with minor edits that will also result in an update to the book), the video clips come from my Vadi Longsword and Dagger courses.

The project manager was perfectly happy just using the videos as they are; all of the dagger plays are edited page by page, but the longsword plays have a video each (they are more complex to set up and explain). For this project, I really ought to create a new set of title cards, and re-edit the videos so that there’s one video per illustrated manuscript page. That’s about 56 videos.

The project manager was horrified by how much time that would take, for what is basically a cosmetic improvement.

The craftsman told him to bugger off.

Which role is not getting their fair share of my attention?

As we've seen, from the project manager on down everyone is working pretty hard. But the CEO hasn't got a lot of my attention lately. The last formal CEO thing I did was attend a business seminar with Joanna Penn and Orna Ross on The Creator Economy in 2022. And when was the last time I sat on a mountain?

To give the visionary a fighting chance (and maybe to get the CEO to return to work) I’m taking a week off from all screens and inbound traffic. No email, no socialz, no phone. Which means no actual making stuff unless it’s woodwork or bookbinding. No writing unless it’s pen on paper. No distractions. Give the inner voice a chance to be properly heard. We’ll see what comes of that. My feeling is that anyone who knows me well enough to need to contact me urgently will also be able to contact my wife and/or kids, so can find me that way. Everything else can wait a week without the sky falling.

I’ve done similar retreats before, but this one will be a bit different, as I’ll be home, and not on holiday in any way. It’s work, just of a different kind. Meditation, exercise, writing, reading, thinking. Not typing, editing, or responding to external requests for my time. That’ll run from Wednesday October 1st to Wednesday 8th because I have a regular zoom call with my mum on Wednesday mornings where we solve cryptic crosswords together, and I’m not cancelling that. But it’s all screens off the moment we hang up, until it’s time to get cracking again the following week.

The visionary’s whisper can’t be heard over the noise of constant production.

So whether you’re writing a book, starting a historical martial arts club, or building a shed, ask yourself:

  1. Can I hear the Visionary?
  2. Is the CEO guiding strategy?
  3. Is the Project Manager keeping things on track?
  4. Is the Designer building a solid plan?
  5. Is the Craftsman executing their art with skill?
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Move Like Fiore: body mechanics, structure and flow in Fiore's art of arms

Guy holding a sharp longsword with decent mechanics

I'm teaching a seminar here in Suffolk for my friends at Suffolk HEMA on Saturday October 18th. If you'd like to learn to move better, and to analyse any guard position or movement from a structural perspective, you should come!

Move Like Fiore

Improve your structure, flow, and control in Fiore’s art of arms
Good movement is the foundation of great fencing. It keeps you safe from injury, helps you control your level of force, protects your training partners, and lets you fight harder and longer without fatigue.
In this full-day seminar, you’ll develop practical skills to make your fencing smoother, stronger, and more efficient. Together we will cover:
1. Analysing and improving the structural qualities of Fiore’s guard positions
2. Refining transitions between the guards
3. Different ways to hold the sword for specific purposes
4. Centres of rotation and how they affect different plays
5. How to strike with speed, power, and control
6. Applying these mechanics to wrestling, dagger, and longsword plays

Event Details

•When: Saturday, October 18 · 11am–5pm (with a lunch break)
•Where: The Coddenham Centre, Mary Day Cl, Coddenham, Ipswich IP6 9PS
•Cost: £50
•Bring: Longsword, fencing mask, dagger (if you have one), water, lunch. Freeplay kit is optional, but bring it if you like.
Sign up with this paypal link.
I would highly recommend having a look at my free Fundamentals: Body Mechanics course to prepare (or in case you can't make it over here from New Zealand). It will familiarise you with my approach, and the more people who know the basics of this method, the more stuff we'll be able to cover on the day.
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Quitting at the top of your game?

Alison Balsom is retiring this week, quitting after 25 years at the very top of the classical music world. She is probably the most famous classical trumpeter of her generation, and certainly ranks with the greats: André, Marsalis, Hardenberger, Harjanne (go Finland!). She’s 46.

I have several of her 17 albums, and she is an astonishing player. I've played the trumpet enough to really get how fabulously skilled she is.

So what? You may very well ask. Here’s the thing that really caught my attention. When asked by Classical Music magazine what she was going to do next, she said:

“I’m not going to be a world-famous anything else I don't think, but I really want to paint. I really want to make things, I really want to draw and learn another instrument… I have these recurring dreams about playing the viola and the cello and the violin… also I just have always wanted to design things. I just want to sit quietly and design things. That's what I was maybe supposed to be, a designer.”

She’s world class, and she’s quitting at the very top of her game. I have to respect that, and also, isn’t it an extraordinary thing that she thinks that maybe she should have done something else? She also said:

“I’ve followed my particular path, very honestly and with authenticity and I feel that I've come to the end of that path.”

Knowing when to quit is one of the most important skills in life. Dropping something even though you’re good at it (and she is the best), even when you’re successful, just because your heart isn’t in it any more.

Go Alison.

The night after I found this out, I had a weird dream in which I was at a concert where she was playing, and she was having all sorts of crises of confidence. I told her two things (just to be clear there is absolutely zero chance she would ever come to me for advice. This was my subconscious telling me something).

1. Your true fans care about your wellbeing more than about any one performance.

2. Play the music of your heart.

I’m not in her league in any field, but I am pretty well established in my profession. And yet every now and then (not less than once a month) I wonder whether I’m still doing what I’m supposed to be doing (whatever that means). Am I following my particular path with authenticity?

The one thing that reliably makes me feel like I’m in the right place doing the right thing is teaching in person. Having a classful of students growing in the art with a little help from me. Everything else, the writing, courses, all the extra stuff, is a maybe.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but it feels like a clear reminder that above all else I should be playing the music of my heart, whatever that is.

Maybe you should too?

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Fiore's 76 Dagger Plays: a complete interpretation

On Monday this week I sent the final draft of From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: the Dagger Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi off to the editor. Hurrah! There's a lot of admin work to do from here, checking edits, sending to layout, making sure all the links work etc., but let's put it this way: if I became incapacitated, my highly competent assistant could get the book finished and into your hands no problem. Some authors call this the “truck draft”, as in, if I were hit by a truck, the book would still come out.

Which means that it's ready to preorder, in ebook, paperback, or hardback. I expect the book back from the editor this month, and back from layout in October, so if all goes well it should ship in mid-November.

You can find it here.

So what's the book about?

It's my complete interpretation of Fiore dei Liberi's dagger plays. Every single one of the 76 plays we see in the Getty manuscript is there, with the illustration from the manuscript, my transcription, my translation, my explanation of how it works, and a link to a video clip showing my interpretation in action.

There is also a comprehensive introduction about Fiore himself, the treatise, and the four known manuscript versions of his work, and various asides and digressions about elements of practice. Going by word count, the actual dagger plays and interpretation text are about 60% of the book, so there's a lot of extra material.

Sound like fun? Preorder here.

Here's an example of what you'll get (it will look better when the layout is done by a professional: this is just me pasting stuff into an email program).

The Seventh and Eighth Plays of the Ninth Master

F18v

Fiore's 7th play of the 9th master, dagger between the legs, interpreted by Guy Windsor​
​La presa del mie magistro non abandonai in fin che questo zugador vidi vidi che non lassava la presa. E luy se inchina cum la daga in verso terra. E io subito piglai la sua mane cum la mia mancha per enfra le soi gambe. E quando la sua mane hebbe ben afferada, dredo de lu passai. Comomo possete vedere chello non si po discavalcare senza cadere. E questo zogho che me dredo posso fare. La man dritta dela daga lassa, e per lo pe lo vegno a piglare per farlo in terra del tutto andare, e a torgli la daga no mi po manchare.

I will not abandon the grip of my master so that this player saw that he could not leave the grip. And he leant down with the dagger towards the ground. And I immediately will grip his hand with my left hand between his legs. And when his hand has been well secured, I will pass behind him. As you can see, he cannot dismount [from my grip] without falling. And this play that is after me I can do. The right hand leaves the dagger, and I will come to grab him by the foot to put him completely on the ground, and I will not forget to take his dagger from him.

Fiore's 8th play of the 9th master, with the leg lift, interpreted by Guy Windsor

Questo scolaro che me denanzi a fatto lo principio, et io fazo del so zogho la fine de mandarlo in terra como ello ha ben ditto. Per che questo zogho non habia corso in larte, volemo mostrare che in tutta liei habiamo parte.

This scholar that is before me has done the start, and I do the end of the play, by sending him to the ground as he has well said. Because this play is not common in the art, we want to show that we have a part in all of it.

This technique is fascinating, and lots of fun to practice if you’re careful. It works best if the player is pulling back on contact, or you can create some space for it by a sneaky backfist to the groin with your left hand. Having made the cover, you slam their wrist into their groin, then let go with your left hand (unless you already did to do the backfist) and reach around their leg to grab their wrist again from behind. This is quite easy because you are just finding your own right hand. Then let go with your right hand and bring that around too. You’re now holding their wrist between their legs from behind. If you just yank upwards they will fall on their face, or you can grab their ankle and yank that up for extra vim. Fiore recommends doing the disarm too, which we see in the first image.

You can see this play here: guywindsor.net/dagger064​

I'm hoping it's really obvious to you whether this is your kind of thing or not. If not, no worries, there's plenty of other material for you. But if it is your thing, you can preorder here. And if you think your friends will like it, do share.

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