Blog - Guy Windsor

Want to learn dagger? The New Medieval Dagger Course is ready!

4th September, 2024
By Guy Windsor
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Learning Swordsmanship, What I'm Working On

dagger, Fiore dei Liberi

At the end of June I went to Kansas… and came back with footage of a whole lot of my interpretation of Fiore’s Il Fior di Battaglia, including all 73 plays of the dagger, and 7 new clips on Fiore’s footwork. These are now available with the re-edited and re-released Medieval Dagger Course.

Dagger Course Info

For the next ten days, you can get 40% off with this link: Click here for Dagger Course

Or use the code DAGGERLAUNCH2024 at checkout. Feel free to share the link, the code, and this post with your friends.

If you already own the old course you can get the new one for just $70 with a different link, please drop me an email and I'll send it to you. I tried to do that with a bulk email a while ago, and a) most people didn't get it and b) the link stopped working.

Fiore’s dagger plays comprise by far the largest single section of the manuscript, so there is a lot of new material, all organised according to where you’ll find it in the treatise. I’ve also included all the plays that include a dagger in any form, so, the defence of the dagger against the sword, the defence of the sword in the scabbard against the dagger, and even the dagger and the staff defending against a spear.

Veterans of my mailing list will know that when launching a new course, I have to send out a bunch of emails. I will try to make every email worth your time, whether you buy the course or not. To do that I’ll include a link to a piece of the course content, like the one with me throwing stuff at Jessica’s head that I shared last week. For now, the following sections of the course are already free to preview on the sales page:

Falling
Dagger Handling and Basic Strikes
The Nine Masters
First Master plays 1 and 2: disarm and counter

This way you can get the idea whether the course is for you, or not.

That very exciting news? not so exciting after all

25th August, 2024
By Guy Windsor
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The Dardi article I posted about this morning- Michael Chidester, Josh Wiest, and David Biggs all got in touch to let me know that the institution and author apparently don't exist. It's almost certainly a hoax of some kind. Though why anyone would post such a thing on Academia.edu I have no idea.

I've deleted the post wherever I can find it, and posted retractions. These things happen- but next time I'll check more carefully before posting stuff.

New Book: Get Them Moving: How to Teach Historical Martial Arts

5th August, 2024
By Guy Windsor
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Books and Writing, Learning Swordsmanship

Learn to teach historical martial arts!

My new book, Get Them Moving: how to teach historical martial arts is now available at the swordschool shop. It will go live on other platforms (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc etc.) in a few months, but you can get it now: Click here to Get Them Moving

Here's the blurb:

In Get Them Moving I’ve distilled over twenty years of teaching experience into a comprehensive guide that’s as practical as it is motivational. Whether you’re stepping into the salle as an instructor for the first time or you’ve been teaching students for years, this book offers clear and actionable guidelines to improve outcomes for your students.

From constructing effective lesson plans to overcoming the hurdle of imposter syndrome, I’ve laid out strategies and insights to elevate your teaching craft. Learn how to engage beginners with effective drills, run advanced classes, and how to incorporate the historical sources into your teaching.
This isn’t just a manual; it’s a mentorship in book form, designed to accompany you as you forge the next generation of martial artists.
Ready to transform your practice into impactful teaching? Let’s begin.

Here's a thought- you could get a copy for your historical fencing instructor… if they will take it as a friendly gesture, not a critique of their current skills!

Forged in Fire 2: a Viking knife

26th May, 2024
By Guy Windsor
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Fun, Personal

blacksmithing, craft

I recently turned 50, and my sister gave me a “ Forge a Viking knife” day course at the Boneyard forge in London for my birthday. I went a couple of weeks ago, and it was great fun. I’ve done a couple of similar courses before (I wrote up the first one here: https://guywindsor.net/2020/01/forged-in-fire/), so I had some experience, but most of the group had no craft background at all. There were seven of us in total, and it was as fascinating to me to see how our very skilled and experienced instructor Dan (shown at the anvil in the photo above) kept everyone safe and made sure everyone went home with a decent knife that they had done a lot of work to create. As a teacher of dangerous skills myself, it was fascinating to see where his attention went, and why.

Crafting the knife

We started out by drawing out the tang,

then shaped the blade,

ground the back and the cutting edge, shaped the handle:

Heat treated it, and sharpened it. (Not shown!)

With so many in the class, and my hands full with hot steel, I didn’t get much in the way of photos, but I do have a pretty little knife that is almost all my own work. It required exactly three expert taps in just the right place from Dan to get it straight, and the inside curve where the blade meets the handle was done for us all (I’m guessing because it’s the bit of grinding with the highest risk of an accident).

I’ve now sharpened it to a somewhat more refined edge, and made a simple saddle-stitched sheath for it.

It’s a coming-of-age present for my godson (who almost certainly never reads this blog, so it’s pretty safe to post this, I think!).

Madison Seminar 2024: Improve your Freeplay!

2nd May, 2024
By Guy Windsor
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Learning Swordsmanship

Join me in Madison, Wisconsin, July 6th and 7th, to work on your freeplay skills!

The theme is “improve your fencing”: we will cover a systematic approach to improving your fencing/freeplay/sparring skills with the rapier (Saturday) and longsword (Sunday), regardless of what fencing style you currently study. We will start by establishing safety guidelines, then gradually introduce complexity to simple drills, and learn to create the optimal environment for you to improve your skills.

Beginners are welcome: you won’t be thrown in the deep end.

It’s worth coming to both days, because the challenges are different for each weapon (controlling the impact of a lunge is mechanically very different to controlling the impact of a longsword cut, for example). While the overall approach is the same, the specific exercises and applications are different.
We will include exercises and approaches for:

developing your fencing memory, so you can recreate what just happened, and learn from it.
using freeplay/sparring for technical and tactical development
setting up modified freeplay to allow you to focus on the things you personally need to work on
competitive fencing: how to use it to develop, and how to get better at it.
equipment: what equipment you need, and what the pros and cons are of full-kit freeplay versus using less protection.
communicating goals and boundaries with training partners you don’t know.

Minimum equipment: blunt training sword, mask.

Ideally, have full freeplay gear: mask, gorget, elbow and knee pads, gauntlets, chest protection (jacket, plastron, padding etc.).

Location: The Goodman Centre: 214 Waubesa St Madison, WI 53704

Time: hall open at 10.30, start at 11.00, finish at 17.00 both days.

Cost: $85 for one day, $160 for both days.

Ready to Wrestle?

6th March, 2024
By Guy Windsor
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Books and Writing, Fiore Translation Project, Learning Swordsmanship

I’m delighted to let you know that From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: the Wrestling Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi is now out on the Swordschool shop! For the next week only, you can get 10% off the hardback, paperback, and ebook here. Use the code wrestle10 at checkout to apply the discount.

This book is the academic basis of my interpretation of Fiore’s wrestling plays, following the format I pioneered in the first book to come out in this series, From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: the Longsword Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi.

I start at the very beginning, and provide a transcription and translation of the full introduction from the Getty Manuscript, then for each play, I provide the drawing from the manuscript, transcribe the text, translate it, and interpret it, with a video clip of the action in practise. The book also includes an essay by Jessica Finley comparing the Italian wrestling with German medieval wrestling, and a bonus section where I transcribe and translate the wrestling plays from the mounted combat section.

The book provides the “what” and “why” of Fiore’s wrestling plays. For instruction in how to train Fiore’s wrestling, you will need my online course which I created with Jessica Finley, so I have also discounted that by 45%, here.

These discounts expire on March 14th.

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