The Art Of Sword Fighting In Earnest

“Guy has the rare talent of making this material accessible” -Neal Stephenson (from his Foreword to Swordfighting) “Guy Windsor's greatest gift to WMA/HEMA is his marvellous ability to translate period language into a meaningful experience for modern WMA/HEMA practitioners and he has once more shown his ability to do exactly that.” - Adam (review of Veni Vadi Vici) NOTE: THIS EDITION DOES NOT INCLUDE A FACSIMILE OF THE MANUSCRIPT From the late fifteenth century comes a detailed manuscript on knightly combat, written by Philippo Vadi. Dedicated to one of the most famous Italian condottiere of the age, Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, this book covers the theory of combat with the longsword, as well as dozens of techniques of the sword, the spear, the pollax, and the dagger. The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest includes a detailed introduction, setting Vadi and his combat style in their historical context, a complete translation of the manuscript, and a detailed commentary from the perspective of the practising martial artist. Please note it does not include a facsimile of the manuscript, but that may be downloaded from a link provided in the text. This volume is the second edition of Dr. Windsor’s earlier work, Veni Vadi Vici, updating the translation and the introduction. This is essential reading for any practitioner of knightly combat, academic historian, or enthusiast for the quattrocento period of Italian history.

Full colour facsimile of Philippo Vadi's important fifteenth century manuscript on knightly commentary, with a detailed introduction, accurate translation and practical commentary from world-renowned swordsmanship instructor and researcher Dr. Guy Windsor.

This book is a simple, straight forward translation of Philippo di Vadi's "De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi" (1482), which covers a theoretical framework for the Italian longsword as well as plays of the sword, sword in armor, spear, poleaxe, and dagger.

In From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor demystifies one of the greatest martial arts books of all time, Fiore dei Liberi's Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). This magnificent, illustrated manuscript described how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all. Dr. Windsor has spent the last twenty years studying Fiore's work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, he takes you through all of Fiore's wrestling techniques. Each technique (or “play”) is shown with the drawing from the treatise, his transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book also contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore's life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore's art belongs. From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Wrestling Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi is essential reading for all martial artists, and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance.

The Flower of Battle is Colin Hatcher's translation of Fiore dei Liberi's art of combat from the early 15th century. The work included high-resolution images and English text laid out in the manner of the original.

English translation of one of the most significant medieval texts on fighting with swords.

When this coronavirus, SARS-CoV-19, emerged at the beginning of 2020, I didn’t worry too much about it, because I recognised it as being outside my area of control. There was nothing for me to do, so I just ignored it. Then bit by bit things started to change—the twin threats of death by plague and economic ruin came front and center into our collective awareness. As lockdown progressed it was soon obvious that many of my students were struggling. Things they depended on for their physical, mental, and economic health were simply gone. I realised that I had to focus on my core mission, which is to help my students. Normally, that means help them with their sword problems, but the whole point of practising swordsmanship is to improve your quality of life. And not all the help they needed was directly sword related. Then I thought of the things that were working for me: the mental postures learned from swordsmanship training, that were easing my way through lockdown with minimal stress. I started blogging these ideas as they came up, between March and June 2020, and before long was getting requests from readers to create a book of them. So here it is. Guy’s Lockdown Survival Guide, or, Swords in the Time of Corona. Some of the advice here is lockdown-specific, but most of it is applicable to all sorts of crises. I hope you find it useful.

“[A] remarkable how-to . . . offers freeze-frame instructions on medieval martial arts using swords, shields, poleaxes, daggers and wrestling” (Publishers Weekly). Written by German fencing master Hans Talhoffer in 1467, this book illustrates the intricacies of the medieval art of fighting, covering both the “judicial duel” (an officially sanctioned fight to resolve a legal dispute) and personal combat. Combatants in the Middle Ages used footwork, avoidance, and the ability to judge and manipulate timing and distance to exploit and enhance the sword’s inherent cutting and thrusting capabilities. These skills were supplemented with techniques for grappling, wrestling, kicking and throwing the opponent, as well as disarming him by seizing his weapon. Every attack contained a defense and every defense a counterattack. Talhoffer reveals the techniques for wrestling, unarmored fighting with the long sword, poleaxe, dagger, sword and buckler, and mounted combat. This unparalleled guide to medieval combat, illustrated with 268 contemporary images, provides a glimpse of real people fighting with skill, sophistication and ruthlessness. This is one of the most popular and influential manuals of its kind. “This superb treatise, amply illustrated, provides valuable insight into the real world of medieval combat. Magnificent!” —Books Monthly