The Sword Guy Podcast

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-198-safety-testing-hema-with-jamie-maciver To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jamie MacIver is a historical martial arts instructor who co-founded the London Historical Fencing Club in 2016, which has grown to over 120 members and now has his own permanent training space. We start our conversation with Vadi, and why Jamie prefers Vadi to Fiore. We have a discussion about guards and whether Vadi is more defensive than Fiore. You can find updates on Jamie’s translation of Vadi’s The Art of Swordfighting on his website, here: https://historicalfencingresearch.com/projects/translation-vadi/ Next, Jamie explains about taking the plunge into getting his club its own permanent space. The London Historical Fencing club is one of only around three in the UK that has a permanent home, so we hear how it was possible post-pandemic, and how they manage the classes to make it financially viable. Jamie also explains about the steps they have taken to ensure diversity within the club. Having been involved in running lots of tournaments, Jamie found he was having to make decisions on what HEMA kit is safe enough with nothing much to back up those decisions. So he set up the Historical Research Company Ltd to research historical martial arts safety, starting with research into sword tips. What is the difference between having a tip and no tip on your rapier? And which tips are the safest? Do different tips affect how likely it is for sword to glance off a mask or to stick to a mask, causing concussion and other injuries? You can find out more about the project and its conclusions here: https://historicalfencingresearch.com/projects/safety-tips/ And there’s a video here: https://youtu.be/wAZgMmIak-Y You can support Historical Fencing Research here: https://historicalfencingresearch.com/support-our-work/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-197-russian-dissidence-with-romana-shemayev  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Romana Shemayev is an American songwriter and performer, translator of contemporary Russian poetry,  and one of the founders of “Bent Blades, a gathering of Historical Martial Arts enthusiasts, who study German longsword fencing according to the principles of Johannes Liechtenauer. The interview is a bit different to the usual. It starts out normally enough with background chat, and swords. But she is a translator and performer of dissident songs from the USSR, and she performs several of them for us. It’s only fair to say that the recording could be better- the perfectly fine normal podcast setup didn’t capture her guitar as well as it might. This episode was also edited together from two separate recording sessions several weeks apart, so it may be a bit less consistent than usual. The transcription isn’t perfect either! It won’t affect your understanding or enjoyment of the content though. Also, her songs deal with some pretty intense subject matter. Going to the sauna to recover from years freezing in a gulag is not the most extreme example.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-196-theory-and-practice-and-pole-dancing  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy In today’s show I’m sharing some excerpts from the audiobook of The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts. You can find the book in both audio, print, and ebook formats at https://swordschool.shop/products/the-theory-and-practice-of-historical-martial-arts-audiobook I’m also revisiting my interview with the audiobook’s narrator, Kelley Costigan. Here are the notes for the episode: Kelley Costigan is an actor, director, pole dancer, fencer, performance combatant, adventurer and pirate, currently living in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK, home of William Shakespeare. Listen to our conversation to discover the Shakespeare connection that inspired me to ask Kelley to narrate my audiobook, The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts. (It’s out now: you can probably find it in your audiobook app of choice, or get it directly from me here: https://swordschool.shop/products/the-theory-and-practice-of-historical-martial-arts-audiobook.) As a child, Kelley was told that fencing was “not something that girls do”, but she has since made up for it after taking up HEMA in her 40s. We also talk about competitive fencing, competitive pole dancing (yes, that’s a thing,) not being a Russian spy, and what Kelley would do with a million pounds. In case you’ve never seen someone pole dancing with a sword before, here’s one of Kelley’s performances: https://vimeo.com/221580829 To find out more about Kelley, her website is www.kelleycostigan.com.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-195-pirates-with-dr-jamie-goodall To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Jamie L.H. Goodall is a historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C. She is the author of Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars, National Geographic’s Pirates: Shipwrecks, Conquests, and their Lasting Legacy, Pirates and Privateers from Long Island Sound to Delaware Bay, and The Daring Exploits of Black Sam Bellamy: From Cape Cod to the Caribbean. She has a BA in Archeology, an MA in Public History and Museum Studies, both from Appalachian State University, and a PhD in history from Ohio State. In our conversation we discuss why pirates are seen as so glamorous – the clothes, the swashbuckling, the adventure, the accent. But you won’t be surprised to hear that the life of a pirate was somewhat different to this. Jamie explains about pirate culture, and the democracies on board ship, the arrangements around compensation, and the famous “Pirate Code.” We hear about the successful pirate, Black Sam Bellamy, AKA the Prince of Pirates, who had a reputation for being a kinder pirate, and how that worked for him. As you’ll expect from The Sword Guy Podcast, we have a chat about weapons and fighting. What weapons did pirates use? Were they as bloodthirsty as we’ve been led to believe? We also find out Jamie’s hopes for a biopic of Black Sam Bellamy, and her upcoming book about the taverns, inns and public houses of Virginia.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-194-drawing-a-dream-of-swords-with-chris-schweizer  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Chris Schweizer is a three-time Eisner Award nominated cartoonist, a writer, concept artist and illustrator who lives in rural Kentucky with his wife, daughter, two cats and a long legged dog. He also supplied me with a gigantic list of his previous jobs, but now he makes comics. In our conversation we hear about how Chris got into being a comic artist, why he doesn’t get to do much HEMA, how he used to fight in bars for money, and a Monty Python connection. Over the past year, Chris has been going around museums drawing pictures of swords. He has put these together into a book, A Dream of Swords, which has an introduction by friend of the podcast, Sebastian de Castell. You can support Chris’s kickstarter, which runs until 10th October 2024: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/schweizer/a-dream-of-swords. The book is a collection of 100 monotone watercoloured drawings of swords from museums in Paris, London, and New York. There will also be original artworks, prints, and digital versions available. Check it out!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-193-kinesiology-and-concussions-with-jane-strange  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jane Strange represented Team North America at the 2019 European games in Minsk, and she is a competition medallist at longsword in both open and women's competitions. She is currently teaching and training at Edmonton Historical Martial Arts but is mainly focused on pursuing her degree in kinesiology. We talk about what kinesiology is and her approach to coaching psychology. Find out what way of training works best for improving someone’s ability with a sword, and how Jane’s approach differs from Guy’s. We also talk about Jane’s experience at the Minsk European Games. The experience was a bit of a mixed bag, including food poisoning, gear issues, and even a concussion. Jane has taught a seminar on Concussion Awareness and Prevention, having suffered a serious concussion from a car crash. Click here for her slides. In the episode we discuss preventing and treating concussion – whether there’s any mask that can prevent it, and how we need to change the culture within HEMA to make concussion less likely.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-192-solo-training-and-an-interview-with-guy  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Hello Sword People, and welcome to episode 192 of the podcast! Training alone is an essential skill. You can train anywhere, any time, and practice things that would be unethical with a partner. Enjoy some sample chapters from my book, The Principles and Practices of Solo Training, followed by a reprise of episode 100, where I’m interviewed by Ariel Anderssen about a whole load of stuff, including how I got into swords in the first place, the vision up a Scottish mountain that told me to open my school in Helsinki, injuries from duelling, my best ever sword fight, feminism, getting through the pandemic, and learning to fly. Find The Principles and Practices of Solo Training at guywindsor.net/solo.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-191-clubs-wands-and-gladiators-historical-physical-culture-with-ben-miller  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ben Miller is the man behind Physical Culture Historians, preserving and reviving historical exercise methods for mind, body and spirit using wands, Indian Clubs, calisthenics, and more. He has a successful and fascinating YouTube channel, and has produced several modern editions of 18th and 19th century fencing and self defence sources, as well as being the author of The Gladiatory Art: The Lives, Writings, & Techniques of the Eighteenth Century Stage Gladiators. In our conversation we talk about how Ben got interested in the physical culture of the 19th century, and how his experience doing historical fencing made him realise that the people who designed exercises and physical training in the past had some insights that we are lacking in modern sports culture. Modern fitness is too specialised, whereas in the 19th century there was a much greater focus on holistic health, which would be beneficial to us today. Ben talks about his favourite piece of equipment, the Indian club, and the difference between historical Indian clubs and the modern varieties; they are designed with different ways of swinging in mind. He also explains the origins of the push up, and how you should do the original Swedish version. Another of Ben’s research interests is Colonel Monstery, and this is a link to the book Ben wrote to verify Monstery’s wild claims about how many duels he won and the combats he fought: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Defense-Gentlemen-Ladies-Nineteenth-Century-Quarterstaff/dp/1583948686 https://www.amazon.com/Self-Defense-Gentlemen-Ladies-Nineteenth-Century-Quarterstaff/dp/1583948686 We go on to discuss the largely forgotten stage gladiators of the 18th century, who were men and women who fought with sharp swords (amongst other weapons) on stage, for real. Often resulting in hideous injuries, disembowelling, and even death. More links: One of Ben’s mentors is Harry Allick, and here you can see his YouTube videos of club swinging: https://www.youtube.com/@lakelandviewer See Ben’s fascinating videos on his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PhysicalCultureHistorians Early in the interview we mention the Jared Kirby episode. Here’s the link: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-165-sword-geekery-and-stunts-with-jared-kirby Ben mentions an essay by a Turner who is ranting against the trend toward specialization and production of champions in fitness and sport. We can’t find the essay, but we have included a link to the following video Ben did, in which he shows and reads from the article extensively (begins around time code 7:47): https://youtu.be/oK__aaBLM78?si=0Q7kWhmXEvISTnS9 And finally! Ben’s book on Babe Ruth was just released and here are the links to it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999056794/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0999056794/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-190-crystal-and-silver-in-a-shakespearean-accent-with-ben-crystal  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy In today’s episode we have another audiobook/interview mashup! The Paradoxes of Defence Audiobook Project involved me hiring two narrators to record George Silver’s 1599 book, Paradoxes of Defence. Ben Crystal is a Shakespearean actor, specialising in original pronunciation, and Jonathan Hartman is a modern dramatic actor who narrates in modern English. Renowned historical harpist Andrew Lawrence-King provides the musical punctuation.   George Silver, an English gentleman, was appalled at the influx of Italian rapier fencing into England, and set out his arguments in favour of the traditional English weapons. He rails against the fashionable new style on the grounds that it is both dangerous to the practitioners, and of no use in warfare. Whether he was right or wrong, history was against him and the fashionable Italian rapier took over. But his work offers a vital window into the theory and practice of martial arts in England in Tudor times, and ironically provides much of what we know about several Italian rapier masters: Rocco Bonetti, Vincentio Saviolo, and Jeronimo Saviolo. This podcast episode contains a couple of sample chapters of the audiobook read in original pronunciation by Ben Crystal, which is then followed by my interview with Ben, from episode 58. Here’s a bit more information about the interview: Ben Crystal is an actor, author, producer, and explorer of original practices in Shakespeare rehearsal and production. In this episode we talk about Ben’s work in exploring how actors would have rehearsed, staged, and performed Shakespeare’s plays in the 16th century, and how the original rhymes and pronunciation would have sounded. It makes for a completely different experience to what we think of as “Shakespearean” in modern times. Even if you aren’t into Shakespeare this is a fascinating conversation about theatre, memory, language, and of course, swords. Which leads us on to George Silver. Find out what Ben thinks of Silver and whether he would have wanted to go to the pub with him. For those of you unaware of our project, in 1599 George Silver published his Paradoxes of Defence, offering a window into the Tudor and medieval martial arts as practiced in England. You can find the audiobook at guywindsor.net/silver

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.shop/blogs/podcast/episode-189-federations-forests-and-body-awareness-with-marine-beaumel  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Marine Beaumel is a historical martial arts instructor best known for her work with Royal Armouries Manuscript 1.33 Sword and Buckler. She started her historical martial arts career in Toulouse before moving to Finland, like all sensible people, where she co-founded the Tampere HEMA club. She is a member of the board of the French Federation of Historical European Martial Arts. And she has served on the executive board of the International Federation of Historical European Martial Arts. We talk a bit about what these federations are and how they help, and move on to talk about Marine’s master’s in plant science and the fascinating ways that plants can be used to help restore the environment and farm more sustainably. Here is a picture of Marine’s favourite plant, the Judas Tree (Cercis Siliquastrum): Once Marine has finished her Master’s thesis, she plans to work on a project for the French Federation to improve HEMA practitioners’ body awareness and understanding of how to prevent injury. The project will produce a series of leaflets to give people a basic overview, rather than going into massive depth and detail on these topics. Guy is working on a similar project, called Jumppa, to cover prehab and conditioning for historical martial artists. So, look out for both of those in a few months’ time. Marine is a fan of fencing with sharps and towards the interview we talk about the benefits of training with sharps, but also the challenges of working with people who don’t seem to have any awareness of the danger of having a very pointy sword in the vicinity of their face.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/vadi-and-the-four-virtues-of-sword-making-with-eleonora-rebecchi/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today’s episode is a bit different to the usual format, as we have both a delightful sample from an audiobook and a related interview. I have created an audiobook of Philippo Vadi’s De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi. It comes in three parts: 1. My friend, Eleonora Rebecchi (more on her later) has read Vadi’s words in mellifluous Italian. 2. I have read my translation in a rather more clunky English.  3. There’s a combined version, with the Italian chapter followed by its translation in English. Find the audiobook and more details here: https://swordschool.shop/products/de-arte-gladiatoria-dimicandi-audiobook This podcast episode contains a couple of sample chapters of the audiobook in both Italian and English, and it’s followed by a repeat of my interview with Eleanora Rebecchi (episode 129, October 2022). Here are the show notes for the interview: Eleonora Rebecchi is the creative director at Malleus Martialis, producer of excellent training swords, as well as a practising historical fencer and a graphic artist who has done some lovely covers for Guy. She is also a classically trained singer, which you’ll get to hear in this episode. We talk about how Eleanora and her partner Rodolfo got into designing swords for a living, what goes into the design process, and what qualities a business selling swords needs. Eleonora explains how the aesthetics, ergonomics and dynamics of a sword fit together, which is demonstrated by Guy’s longsword. Here is the unboxing video so you can see what he means: https://vimeo.com/722218823

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/could-hema-ever-be-big-in-china-with-zeng-yang/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today’s episode is with Zeng Yang, who is a doctoral student at the Shanghai Sport University, where he is pursuing a PhD in the history of European swordsmanship from the 14th to the 17th centuries. He is a lifelong martial artist having begun training in Wushu at the age of eight. His master’s degree is a comparison of Duan Bing and HEMA. In our conversation, we talk about the spread of Chinese martial arts to the Western world, through things like kung fu movies and immigration, but the question is, why the same hasn’t happened in the other direction? How could HEMA become more popular in China? We hear about a new term, Bing Ji, which combines all steel weapons in an exciting new form of cross-cultural communication. Here’s a bit of detail on some of the terms that come up in this episode: Wushu: The official name of Chinese martial arts Guoshu: The name of Wushu in the early 20th century that literally means "the art of the nation", thus elevating the status of martial arts to the level of the country. But currently people no longer use this term. Tau lu (routine or form): It is a pre-designed practice method and an important form of expression in Chinese martial arts. It had already emerged in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) and has been widely used since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). It is very similar to Assalto in Marozzo. It usually has a fixed start and end action. Each routine roughly contains dozens of actions. Bing Ji: The literal meaning is "fighting with cold weapons", which broadly refers to all fighting sports related to steel weapons, and narrowly refers to the fighting sports of historical martial arts. It is a term that emerged around 2016 to replace the concept of HEMA. Because China's HEMA not only involves European weapons, but also includes Chinese weapons, many people believe that continuing to use HEMA is inappropriate. Therefore, this new term has been created to describe historical martial arts sports. At present, Bing Ji has been widely used in China, and it is used in almost all historical martial arts competitions.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/hema-and-heresy-with-xian-niles/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Xian Niles is a fencing instructor, martial artist and the founder of Spada, a recreational Bolognese fencing study group in maritime Canada. He's also the founder of The Niles Fencing Academy in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In our conversation we talk about his move from representing Barbados in sport fencing to getting into HEMA in Canada. We also hear about how Xian switched from an engineering degree to theatre, and a very challenging job he had working in mental health security, which required serious martial arts skills to safely restrain people in severe distress. Xian has a different take on HEMA to some other practitioners, which comes from his childhood in Barbados. The culture is such that people settle disputes publicly using sword-like weapons, and Xian witnessed these fights as a child. These experiences have led Xian to question the historical sources: would it work in real life, and did the person who wrote it ever fight for real? This leads our discussion into what Xian refers to as his heretical views about Messers, Vadi, and Liechtenauer. We chat about a whole load of other stuff in this episode, including a universal language of HEMA, the difference between ice hockey and HEMA, setting up a competition for kids, tournament rule sets to avoid concussions, and why Guy would rather pour bleach in his eyes than watch HEMA at the Olympics.  Click here for photos of Guy’s longsword: https://swordschool.com/podcast/hema-and-heresy-with-xian-niles/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/historical-dancing-historical-fencing-and-a-bear-with-sarina-wagner/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Sarina Wagner is a musical actress and dancer who trained at the University of Music and Arts of the City of Vienna, which is probably the best place in the world to do that. She is a historical fencer focusing on Capoferro and Fabris, as well as Spanish destreza. She is currently a member of the Academia da Espada. We talk about why Sarina moved to Vienna, and her work running workshops about musicians and dance. One of her favourite composers is Jean-Baptiste Lully, and she likes to do her fencing training to his operas. Have a listen here to see if you’d like to do the same: (3. Symph., I. Movement // 6. Symph., I. Movement)https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ITjm7yPne7OTsUspx5p48?si=aa2708b74265446b The above playlist also contains another of Sarina’s favourite composers, her fellow Bavarian, Christoph Willibald Gluck, plus a couple of tracks from Anton Bruckner. We talk about how a grounding in dance can really help with fencing, and Sarina recommends all fencers go and take a few dance lessons – the waltz is an easy one to start with. And have a couple of beers first. As promised, these are the books on historical dance Sarina is working from: ORCHESORGRAPHY by Thoinot Arbeau (1589) (Sarina’s version is from Dover Publications, 1967)COURTLY DANCE OF THE RENAISSANCE - A new Translation and Edition of the “Nobilta di Dame” by Fabritio Caroso (1600) (Sarina’s version is from Dover Publications, 1995) In our conversation we talk about how we can learn from other disciplines, and Sarina sent an extra note to say, “[T]hanks to Chris Lee-Becker and Ton Puey and Academia da Espada for being so supportive and pushing this work forward, because it's also in the spirit of Academia, where everything from the era is supposed to flow together to develop a sense and understanding of the time. In my words, and this fits so well, because this is also how I see myself as an artist: interdisciplinarity.” Finally, here’s a picture of the armoured bear, Don Herkules, who accompanies Sarina to events: https://swordschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/image1-1024x683.jpeg

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/swords-for-all-humanity-with-janna-datahan/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Janna Datahan was born and raised in the Philippines and is currently living in the United States. She's a mother, a published poet, a fibre artist and an aesthetician. Janna discovered Historical European Martial Arts in late 2019 and found her way into the supportive arms of the sword community during the pandemic. She is an active tournament competitor and event organiser. She also hosts a podcast called Swords Against Humanity, a platform she uses to advocate for underrepresented voices in Historical European Martial Arts. In this episode, Janna explains how she got into HEMA and the support she has received from the community. As a 4’10” woman of colour, Janna didn’t see many people who looked like her when she first started, and so being ‘adopted’ by Fran Lacuata opened up a platform for Janna to start her podcast and also become the social media liaison for the HEMA Alliance. We talk quite a bit about tournaments – the good, the bad and the ugly, and Janna has ideas on the sorts of event that she would like to attend and how resources within HEMA could be better spent to improve the art. Of course, as a person of non-average size, the topic of kit comes up, especially gauntlets. There’s also a bit of chat about touring Europe to visit castles and trebuchets, viral crochet patterns, and rage cleaning. You can find Janna’s podcast, Swords Against Humanity, on your podcast player, and here is her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/swordsagainsthumanity and her Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheTangledTentacleCo

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/want-to-write-a-training-manual-how-to-write-training-manuals-for-historical-martial-artists-with-guy-windsor/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy This episode is an unusual one because there’s no interview. Instead, it’s an extended sample from my new audiobook, From Your Head to Their Hands: How to write, publish, and market training manuals for Historical Martial Artists. The book is designed to be short, clear and to the point, with zero fluff! Listen to this episode to get a good idea of what’s in the book. The chapters from the audiobook that this episode includes are: Introduction: what is a training manual? Clarity Things that get in the way: procrastination, imposter syndrome, fear, and other things The publishing process Publishing platforms What is marketing? Content marketing To buy the book, head to swordschool.shop, or your can find it on your usual audiobook retailer.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/messers-and-more-with-bob-brooks/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Robert (Bob) Brooks is one of the original generation of historical fencers, who began training with me in the Dawn Duellists’ Society in the early 90s. He founded the Hotspur School of Defence in 2003. So it's turning 20 this year. He has been teaching primarily German historical martial arts and he has taught in over 30 countries on five continents. Bob is the author of the new book At Your Mercy: The Foundational Guide to the Messer. We talk about why it was needed and what the book covers. You can find it for yourself here: At Your Mercy on Lulu. We also talk about a fascinating academic study into Bronze age weapons, which Bob and his school were involved in. Here’s a link to the study: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10816-020-09451-0.pdf And here’s a link to the James Dilley episode where we also talked about the battle of Tollense and forging bronze swords. See here for a picture of Guy's bronze sword: https://swordschool.com/podcast/messers-and-more-with-bob-brooks/  Other links we promised to share: The Book of Judith – the one and only Italian Storta treatise. https://guywindsor.net/2015/04/previously-unknown-falchion-treatise-discovered/ Hans Sebald Beham woodcuts of the 12 months images, showing Messers in daily use: https://swordschool.com/podcast/messers-and-more-with-bob-brooks/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/writing-historical-novels-the-facts-and-the-fiction-with-elizabeth-chadwick/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Elizabeth Chadwick is an award winning best-selling writer of historical fiction. She has been writing since she was a teenager, but it took many years and many books before she was finally published. She has had great success since, so it’s a good example for aspiring writers out there to keep going! In our conversation we talk about some of the historical figures which feature in Elizabeth’s novels, including William Marshal, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Joan of Kent. Have a listen to find out what fascinating lives these people led, and also how Elizabeth separates the myths from the facts in the delicate balancing act that is writing a good historical novel about people who actually existed. We talk about the Akashic Record, which is a way that Elizabeth’s friend Alison can psychically tap into the past. Alison is able to see, hear, feel, touch, and even taste what has gone before. Whatever your beliefs, this is a fascinating way of researching historical characters and events, and check out this article Elizabeth wrote for The History Girls, on the Akashics: https://the-history-girls.blogspot.com/2015/01/alternative-research-psychic-strand-by.html Here's Alison's description of William Marshal: "He has incredible courage. He's like a bouncy castle: very buoyant. He's riding with a lot of highborn people. He's awed by them but not overawed. He feels as if he's in the right place. He has a good sense of his own worth. He's very flexible and alert, responds not just in a chitchat way but deeply and appropriately. He knows how to say the right thing at the right time and it comes easily to him. He's alert and all his senses are awakened. He has dark hair, long cheeks, strong nose. His clothes are intricate. His eyes look dark but inside they feel light. I'm seeing the youth and the older man mingled. It is difficult for others to gauge what he's thinking. He has very dark eyes: might be brown might be blue. There is a woman laughing and William is making her laugh by telling her jokes about the English being loutish and stupid. It's probably Poitiers they are going to. The woman is Eleanor of Aquitaine (Alison had several stabs at saying Poitiers, and prompted by me. She was unsure how to pronounce it).  Elizabeth’s website is https://elizabethchadwick.com/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/what-is-a-volta-a-very-detailed-examination-of-fiore-with-dario-magnani/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy My guest today is Dario Alberto Magnani, better known as Mr. Thokk, who was a longtime scholar of the Italian single combat tradition from the late medieval/early Renaissance period, and a world renowned historical martial arts instructor and gear designer. As a swordsman, he specialises in northern Italian fencing from the early 15th to the 16th centuries, i.e., Fiore, Vadi and into the Bolognese. And he's a successful competitor and sought after instructor. In the late 2010s Dario became a historical martial arts professional, between his teaching activities and the founding of Thokk Personal Armor, a business through which he designs and sells innovative historical martial arts gear, such as the Thokk gloves. The reason I'm chatting to Dario is because I met him in Spain at the Panoplia, and we ended up spending probably five or six hours of the weekend discussing details of Fiore stuff and other things. In the conversation recorded for the podcast, we pick up where we left off in Spain, with an in-depth discussion about the Three Voltas of the Sword in Il Fior di Battaglia. If you own a copy of From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, you need to listen to this episode with your book and a red pen in hand! Here's the link to the video giving an example of tornare: guywindsor.net/dvsthrust And the article, One Play, One Drill, Many Questions.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/horse-armour-at-the-royal-armouries-with-eleanor-wilkinson-keys/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today’s episode is with Eleanor Wilkinson-Keys, who is Assistant Curator of Arms and Armour at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. She has an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds, and works with the European armour and edge weapons collections, which makes us all extremely jealous, and the Asian and African collection which also makes us extremely jealous. She works there with Natasha Bennett, who you may recall from Episode 82. In our conversation, we talk about how Eleanor got into her career and why a jousting helmet sparked her interest in working at the Royal Armouries. Ellie’s particular interest is in later jousting, when the kit got really weird and wonderful. We chat about some of the fantastic decoration on both the horses’ and knights’ armour, such as dragons, snails with wings, and even squirrels.  We also talk about the best way to visit a big museum where there is just too much to see. Ellie tells us which pieces at the Royal Armouries she would make a beeline for. Finally, Guy sets Ellie a challenge, and if you are looking at this after 28th November 2024, you’ll be able to see the results of that challenge! Photos: https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object-20471 https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object-1292

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/bronze-age-britons-were-weird-with-dr-james-dilley/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr James Dilley is an archaeologist and craftsman specializing in prehistoric technologies such as flintknapping, and casting bronze weaponry. He is the founder of Ancient Craft, a company that provides expertise and experiences to individuals and educational institutions. James has three archaeology degrees, which seems like an awful lot. He has a BSc exploring polished stone axes, an MA focusing on bone flintknapping hammers, and a PhD from the University of Southampton on Upper Paleolithic hunting technology. So if you get lost in the woods with just a stone, James is clearly your man. In our conversation, we talk about how James got into his career and started Ancient Craft. We talk about casting swords out of bronze, how to do it and what the swords are like. Listen right to the end for a bonus question about hilt design. I can confirm, casting your broadsword is really good fun. I did that with James a while ago. Here’s a video of me casting the sword: ​https://vimeo.com/886422500 Heres a link to the Grotsetter sword: https://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-102-426-C&scache=1yxxwujgq5&searchdb=scran We also talk about some of the weird finds (or things we haven’t found) from the Bronze Age period. For example, the Tollense battlefield site in Germany, where after the huge battle all the bodies were just left there. Another weirdness is the complete lack of Bronze Age armour found in Britain, when there was loads just over the Channel in France. Why didn’t the Brits wear armour? Were they just too brave? Also, why didn’t they eat any fish in Bronze Age Britain? And what did they do with their dead? Why can’t we find human bones? Surely the theory that people were cannibals can’t be true? Listen to the episode for speculative answers to these questions and more!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/community-and-the-club-with-samantha-west/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Sam West is an instructor at the Dueling Weapons Academy of Renaissance Fencing aka DWARF, a historical martial arts club in Barrie, Ontario, where she teaches Italian longsword, 1.33 sword and buckler, and rapier. We chat about running a non-profit club and creating an open and inclusive space for everyone to take part in HEMA. Sam is passionate about relating the club to the community, and she tells us about the different projects they get involved in to help the local community and also create awareness of HEMA.  Amongst other things, she's also involved with running The Gathering of the Blades, which is not a tournament. It’s a historical martial arts buffet of a weekend seminar. We also talk about smallsword, aka murder spikes, access to equipment, bringing together women in HEMA, translating sources, and starting your own club to have people to play with. You can find Sam’s school at Barrieswords.ca.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-politics-of-eastern-and-western-martial-arts-with-jonathan-bluestein/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy   Jonathan Bluestein is a martial artist and author who contacted Guy with some interesting questions related to his research. Jonathan is looking into the similarities and differences between the traditional Chinese martial arts and traditional European Martial Arts, both in Medieval and Renaissance times as well as in our everyday lives today.   Jonathan’s background is in traditional oriental martial arts in general and he practices and teaches traditional Chinese martial arts from his school in Israel. He is the author of a number of books on the martial arts as well as other topics. He’s also a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine.   Jonathan is currently in the midst of working on a book called Martial Arts Politics Explained. In this episode we discuss how we might classify different types of martial arts school, and how the structures and hierarchies of different types of schools inform the politics within the school. Jonanthan explains how Chinese martial arts schools work and the culture of family and disciples within them. We discuss how the cultures within Western historical martial arts schools compare.   This is a wide ranging conversation which also covers philosophy, the war in Israel, straight swords versus curved swords, and Chinese medicine.   You may find this list of terminology useful, which was helpfully provided by Jonathan:   Names of Jonathan’s teachers: Master Nitzan Oren Grand-Master Zhou Jingxuan  Master Sapir Tal Master Stephen Jackowicz Master Brian Hall   Martial arts Jonathan has studied and have taught: Xing Yi Quan Pigua Zhang Jook Lum Southern Mantis Bagua Zhang Li Jia Shaolin Quan (Li Family Shaolin)   Weapons mentioned: Dao (Chinese curved sword) Miao Dao (Chinese equivalent of the Nodachi/Odachi)   Historical figures and periods: General Qi Jiguang  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_Jiguang Japanese Pirates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wokou Meiji Restoration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration Chinese Cultural terms: Wuguan - 'Martial Hall' - Chinese equivalent term to 'Dojo'.  Kwan - the Cantonese pronunciation of 'Guan', and short for 'Wuguan'.  Gongfu - A high level of skill, acquired through longstanding effort and practice Gongfu Family (Gongfu Jia) - the martial arts family within a given lineage, of teachers and disciples Shifu - a teacher in a traditional relationship of a Master and an apprentice Tudi - a disciple of a Shifu - the Apprentice Bai Shi - the ceremony with which a Tudi is accepted into the Gongfu Family.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/medieval-music-and-the-troubadours-with-alix-evans/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Alix Evans is a professional performer and teacher of historical music, founder of Falsa Musica, and has even fenced rapier in the SCA. We talk about what led Alix into becoming a musician, with a mention of her husband David Biggs. (Check out his episode here.) Alix explains what it is about historical music that is so interesting and how it differs from how music is commonly thought to work today. To listen to some troubadour music performed by Alix, at the end of the episode you can hear: Amours u trop tard me sui pris - attributed to Blance de Castille (who was queen of France around the beginning of the 13th century), voice and harp Deus enim rorem in ilas misit - by Hildegard of Bingen - this is is in phrygian!, just voice Ecce tempus gaudii - an instrumental setting of a 12th century song, just harp Gloria sanctorum - a 14th century chant from Ireland, voice and harp Frondens virga - another Hildegard piece just because it’s pretty, voice and symphonia (early hurdy-gurdy) Reis glorios - 12th century troubadour piece by Giraut de Bornelh, just voice Troubadours came from Occitan in around the 11th and 12th centuries. They were a diverse set of people, writing poetry and setting it to music. Some were the wandering minstrels we think of today, but many stayed in one place. We talk about how to make a living from your passion by having a ‘portfolio career’, and Alix tells us about her new project uncovering unknown and unfamiliar ways of making music and bringing them to audiences.   For more information about Alix and her work, see her website: https://www.alix-evans.com/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/swords-in-south-africa-with-david-wagenfeld/  David Wagenfeld is a fencing coach, creator of the En Garde model for teaching fencing in schools, and the co-founder of Table Mountain Fencing and Historical European Martial Arts. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa and has been instrumental in creating the HEMA scene in the country. We talk about how he got into sport fencing, then coaching, then HEMA. He feels that coaching fencing is what he was born to do, but fencing in South Africa doesn’t have the history that it does in Europe, and the culture is very different. David tells us about the model he has created from scratch, and how it has created some extremely successful fencers, as well as a broad base of lots of students having fun. Of course, there is the equipment problem, and the challenge of being so far away from everywhere else. Over the years there has been a lot of improvisation! We also talk about sports psychology, what makes a good tournament fencer, and what sport fencing can teach HEMA. Link to En Garde Fencing

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/life-in-the-stone-age-and-bothering-hedges-with-sally-pointer/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Sally Pointer is a freelance heritage educator, archaeologist and presenter of traditional skills and historic crafts. She is also an author and an Experimental Archaeology MSC student at Exeter University. Sally lives near Hereford, which is in the west of England on the Welsh border. It’s a rural area and perfect for her hobby of “hedge bothering” – a mix of foraging, looking at all the species that are in the hedge, what the birds are up to, and also checking for any pixies or interesting bits of wood. We talk about her time spent in the Middle East as a child, where she and her family could go off into the desert and find stone age campsites and dinosaur bones, just sitting there. This sparked a love of experimental archaeology: finding out how people actually spent their time, what they made and how they lived. We discuss the misconceptions about “cavemen” and how actually they weren’t at all stupid. They made Bunsen burners, they dug mines, they wore makeup, and they wanted the same things out of life that we do now. Sally has written a book about the history of makeup and tells us about a slightly alarming experiment she performed on herself, which explains why on earth people were so keen to wear toxic white lead makeup, despite its dangers. There is lots more in our conversation, including the stupidest thing a member of the public has ever said to us at an event, how to gain an extra two hours in the day, and whether Sally could survive in the wild. To find out more about what Sally does, and see her YouTube videos covering things like the acorn pasta and nettle material mentioned in the episode, see: https://www.sallypointer.com/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/business-chivalry-and-life-or-death-training-with-jason-kingsley/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy One of our most listened-to guests is back on the show! Jason Kingsley OBE is the co-founder and CEO of the games company Rebellion Developments, which also owns 2000 AD, and he’s the man behind the YouTube channel Modern History TV, starring Warlord, which goes into depth of detail regarding many aspects of medieval life, most notably combat and horsemanship, but also aspects of daily life. We catch up on how Warlord is doing since our last chat in episode 81. It’s always great to hear that a podcast guest has acted on the best idea they hadn’t acted on. Jason has written his book, Leading the Rebellion, which he tells us about in this episode. Here is the info for the book: A fascinating look into the business and lifestyle philosophy of Jason Kingsley OBE, CEO of Rebellion. Rebellion is one of the world’s most successful independent games developers and also a film and TV production company and publisher. Combining his love of Medieval History and success in business, this unique book will give insight into a modern interpretation of the Knightly Code of Chivalry, the moral system which combined a warrior ethos, knightly piety, and courtly manners, all combining to establish a notion of honour and nobility, in a motivational and aspirational take on how to live life to the fullest. Find it at: https://rebellionpublishing.com/product/leading_the_rebellion/ We talk about writing: how someone as busy as Jason managed to get the book written, how to get useful feedback, and how to finish what you start. We also talk about how to train for a life-or-death situation, without the death bit. How does one train to be in a situation where someone is actively trying to kill you? To see more from Jason (and Warlord) check out the Modern History TV channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ModernHistoryTV

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/washing-paper-and-restoring-books-with-aurelia-sedlmair/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Aurelia Sedlmair is a historical fencer, a translator, a transcriber, and is now studying the conservation of paper and books. Her Instagram is @freiraum.buch In our conversation we talk about what brought Aurelia to the Isle of Man, a small, independent island off the coast of England, and her study at West Dean College of Art and Conservation.  We talk about what happens when you get a book restored, and Guy recommends the bookbinder in Colchester who restored his copy of Alfred Hutton’s The Sword and the Centuries. (Colin Brown, at Cuckoo Farm Studios. bindingarrangement.co.uk). The aim is not to modernise the book, but instead to make it look as if nothing has been done to it. No modernisation. Aurelia describes how to repair paper and how to clean it. Amazingly, if dry cleaning doesn’t work you can just wash it, and she explains how it’s done. Click here for some before and after images of books and paper that Aurelia has worked on: https://swordschool.com/podcast/washing-paper-and-restoring-books-with-aurelia-sedlmair/ Of course, this wouldn’t be the Sword Guy Podcast without talking about swords. Aurelia is a rapier and smallsword fencer, though there’s not much of it happening on the Isle of Man. We talk about the brilliance of smallsword and also about how to encourage beginners to give historical martial arts a try.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/how-to-fight-like-sir-gawain-with-dr-przemyslaw-grabowski-gorniak/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Przemysław Grabowski-Górniak is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw. His research focuses on the chivalric tradition of the late Middle Ages, be it chivalric romances or medieval manuscripts and treatises on the art of war, with a special focus on the English literary portrayals of Sir Gawain in the period of the 100 Years War and the Wars of the Roses. His admiration for the Middle Ages goes beyond academia, as he is also a historical reenactor and a Harnischfechten instructor, combining his knowledge of the period as well as his experience in working with medieval manuscripts with a practical approach, in order to reconstruct martial techniques of the 14th and 15th centuries. We talk about all of this in our conversation, plus Przemysław details his extensive training routine that includes sprints wearing a helmet, and wearing weighted straps on his arms. All excellent practice for fighting in armour. Przemysław explains the book he is working on, which is a fascinating look at how Middle English romances can serve as a record of English martial arts. He believes they could have been used as a vehicle to translate certain lessons that might otherwise have been found in fight books, which people rarely owned at the time. Some of the romances have very accurate fight descriptions, which can be read as teachings on how to fight as well as Sir Gawain. Click here for the armour of Frederick the Victorious Przemysław mentions: https://swordschool.com/podcast/how-to-fight-like-sir-gawain-with-dr-przemyslaw-grabowski-gorniak/ Links to other podcast episodes featuring people mentioned in this episode: Dayna Berghan-Whyman (Buhurt) https://swordschool.com/podcast/historical-medieval-battle-nz-episode36/ Beth Hammer (Battle of Nations) https://swordschool.com/podcast/battle-of-nations-episode34/ Toby Capwell (armour) https://swordschool.com/podcast/armour-of-the-english-knight-episode76/ Daniel Jacquet (armour) https://swordschool.com/podcast/is-there-anything-daniel-jaquet-cant-do-in-armour/ Ariella Elema (The Last Duel) https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-last-duel-or-was-it-with-ariella-elema/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/seven-frenchmen-vs-seven-englishman-who-will-win-with-dr-rachael-whitbread/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr Rachael Whitbread is a historian and author. Her PhD from York University was on tournaments, jousts and duels. She is the co-author with Graham Callister of Battle: Understanding Conflict from Hastings to Helmand, and is currently working on a book called Duel: Single Combat in Medieval England for Pen and Sword Press, which sounds just up our streets. In our conversation we talk about chivalry, jousting, tournaments and how to become a famous knight by winning a pre-battle duel – especially if you chop a dog in half in the process. We hear Rachael’s thoughts on whether Lady Agnes Hotot really jousted her neighbour to settle her father’s land dispute, which could mean Guy needs to alter the decks in his Audatia card game… We also talk about themes in European warfare over 1,000 years of history. Not a small topic! Rachael has some fantastic stories about battles; often with the English getting absolutely trounced, and if you have an interest in medieval history, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this conversation.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/force-of-virtue-with-jack-gassman/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jack Gassman, runs Horseman of Eire, an equestrian training school and medieval combat academy outside of Wexford in Ireland with Alessia Pagani. Alessia specialises in natural horsemanship, and Jack takes care of the swords. I interviewed them both in Episode 124 of the show. Jack has now invented and published a game that is very on topic for us, so he's coming back on the show to talk about it. The game is called Force of Virtue. In Force of Virtue you play an independent mercenary band of your choosing, who are either pursuing their own private agenda or taking on work from Magnates or Warlords. Anything from a disgruntled artist and his apprentices to the feared Swiss Papal Guard. In order to do this, you use decks to choose your officers, troops, equipment, level of morale, special training, advantages like ambushing etc. or to lay traps or effects on your enemy. In our conversation, Jack takes us through the research behind the game, its historical accuracy, and how the fighting works. You can find all the information about Force of Virtue, free downloads and a free tutorial campaign at https://masterstrokegames.com/ The character decks and tokens can be found at https://tempusswords.co.uk/product-category/force-of-virtue

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/jessica-finley-2/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Medieval wrestling and Liechtenauer expert Jessica Finley will be familiar to many of you from her two previous appearances on The Sword Guy. (Episode 1 and episode 56). We’re catching up today after my recent trip to Jessica’s training space in Kansas where we filmed the new Abrazare online course. You can find the course at guywindsor.net/abrazare23. In our conversation, we talk about medieval wrestling, and compare and contrast the approaches of Fiore and Liechtenauer. This leads into a wider discussion about why the German sources could be described as a ‘swamp’, and Fiore’s system as a ‘well’. We go deep into Liechtenauer’s Hauptstücke and the Zornhau. You can see the photo of the tree that’s on the wall of Jessica’s Turnhalle here: https://swordschool.com/podcast/jessica-finley-2/   Jessica hasn’t yet written a book about the Hauptstücke, and we talk about why this is and the difficulty of wanting to write both a memoir and a training manual at the same time. The book Jessica refers to is: Among Warriors: a Woman Martial Artist in Tibet, by Pamela Logan. The blog post I refer to is: https://guywindsor.net/2013/11/7-great-martial-arts-as-a-path-books/ Talking about writing books then leads us on to a brand new book idea, which we will start in the first quarter of 2024. Watch this space! Finally, here is the link to the Unarmed Flowdrill, which Jessica mentions right at the end of the interview: https://vimeo.com/851206322/57c7821ffe

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/big-blue-flags-with-marli-vlok/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Marli Vlok is a virologist, historical martial arts instructor and historical flag waver. She was also a competitive target shooter who represented South Africa for a decade. Now based in Ottawa, Canada, Marli tells us about her work finding viruses in the oceans and working on diseases, including Covid, of course. Marli got into historical martial arts through a Groupon voucher, which started her on the path to becoming a rapier instructor. Since moving to Ottawa she has changed up her weapons a bit and also got into historical flag waving. The flags are very big and were used for both battlefield signalling and for raising soldiers’ morale. Some of the moves are very gymnastic and others involve sword actions, or even a sword in one hand, flag in the other. We also talk about target shooting, biathlon, the Neapolitan masters, comparative studies, and driving across Canada with a car full of swords and guinea pigs.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-geekery-and-stunts-with-jared-kirby/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jared Kirby is a fight director and stage and screen combat instructor at the New York Combat for stage and screen. He’s a stuntman on shows such as Law and Order, The Equalizer, Bluebloods, and Gotham. We talk about how Jared got interested in stage combat, and the most dangerous stunt he has ever done. Jared is also Maestro d’Armee with the Martinez Academy, editor of the first published translation of Capoferrro and of the re-publication of Angelo's The School of Fencing and of Vincentio Saviolo’s Of Honour and Honorable Quarrels. He also re-published McBane’s The Expert Swordsman’s Companion, and has co-authored Staging Shakespeare's Violence. We have a geek out about Capoferro’s 1609 treatise, and you can find the pictures on the blog at https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-geekery-and-stunts-with-jared-kirby/  He was one of the founders and organizers of the International Swordplay and Martial Arts Convention, my first international gig back in 2001, which morphed into CombatCon, which he continues to run. Jared gives a shout out to my SwordPeople social media platform. If you haven’t yet joined, click here to join your fellow sword people: https://swordpeople.com/ To find out more about Jared, see: https://www.jaredkirby.com/ Stunt Reel: https://youtu.be/litxb97CQZc Sword Skills Reel: https://youtu.be/HhOAkUmz_08 Books: https://www.amazon.com/Italian-Rapier-Combat-Ferros-Simulacro/dp/178438691X/ and https://www.amazon.com/Staging-Shakespeares-Violence-Fight-Domestic/dp/1526762404/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/cutting-and-calligrams-with-brittany-reeves/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy   In this episode, I welcome back Brittany Reeves, who is the head instructor of Mordhau Historical Combat in Mesa, Arizona. She is a seasoned instructor, having taught across Europe and North America with a specialisation in test cutting with sharp blades. She is of course most famous for her first appearance on this show in Episode 22.   In our conversation we talk about the value of cutting with sharps, how the cutting tournament scene has been developing in the United States, and issues with sourcing tatami and getting insurance. We talk about potential alternatives to tatami, practising with moving targets, and how competitions are judged. Brittany has lots of cutting videos on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrittanySaintLeafy   We then move on to talk about art history and Fabris. What’s going on with the images of people in the 1601 Fabris manuscript? Why might they look so weird?   As Brittany runs her own club, we also discuss her best and worst business decisions so far, and Brittany has a potentially excellent business idea for what to do with $1 million.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/thc-tournaments-and-training-with-david-ito/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy There is a slightly different intro to this episode as Guy is in Kansas being medievally wrestled by Jessica Finley. Hear the noises here! Onto the interview: David Ito is a fire eater, an epee coach and former kendo player who plays with longswords now, based in Toronto, Canada. Of course, his main claim to fame, top of the resume, is he appeared on episode 25 of this show, back in December 2020. With the world reopening David is living the life of a literary swashbuckler: fighting with swords, hanging out with glamorous show people, and attending all the scandalous parties. To find out more about David and his work, you can find him on Instagram @ittoswords, or the Toronto Historical Combatants at www.torontohistoricalcombatants.ca. Our conversation covers David’s training routine – does he really still do 100 burpees every morning? We talk about keeping track of progress and the overlap between training for epee and for historical martial arts.  When we last spoke on episode 25, David’s best idea he hadn’t acted on yet was to start his own club. Well, he’s done it! He explains his goals for the club and where it fits within the sword community in Toronto. David has also got into the tournament scene since we last spoke, with great success. He talks about how he trains and even if you don’t have as many hours in the week to train as he does, he has some advice on where to focus if you have limited time.

Photo Credit: Angel Uribe For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/brains-biology-and-better-teaching-with-sara-lewis/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr Sara Lewis is a neuroscientist specializing in the biology of childhood movement disorders, and a longtime historical martial artist starting in the SCA in 1999, where she is known as Perin De La Serena. Since 2016 Sara has been with the Phoenix Society for Historical Swordsmanship, where she has written many articles on improving diversity and inclusiveness in historical martial arts, and has written reports on the challenges facing women rapier fencers in the SCA, which we discuss in the episode and are linked below. Sara has also produced a series of videos on applying the neuroscience of learning motor skills to teaching historical combat, again, links below. We start our conversation, however, by talking about a traumatic injury that Sara received during longsword training. Sara explains what led to the injury, the consequences for her personally, and the (lack of) consequences for the instructor responsible. Here are the useful links from Sara: Video play list: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC3Lv55IrIsikIoCLNbnPhHBOuYWBbMhE Blog articles about improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in historical combat:  https://valkyriebootcamp.blogspot.com/  Study on gender differences in recognition: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LP3tbBdqfMkvQit-jr05zkEqC4reo0XP/view Study of variables predicting retention and envisioning success: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MFnDP8XiMGPZ4L4XvNbd--vGX4_U36yZ1GBfIhMsxD0/edit?usp=sharing. The missing stair: http://pervocracy.blogspot.com/2012/06/missing-stair.html

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/wma-hema-the-sca-and-other-abbreviations-with-david-biggs/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy David Biggs is a lawyer, a diplomat and senior historical martial arts instructor with The Tattershall School of Defense. He's known in the SCA as Aeron Harper, where he is a Master of Defense and a Laurel. He's also the organizer, with two previous guests on the show, Lisa Losito and Monica Gaudio, of Lord Baltimore's Challenge, which is one of my favourite historical martial arts events. In our conversation we talk about the distinction, if there is one, between western martial arts (WMA) and historical European martial arts (HEMA), and what prompted him to want to start Lord Baltimore’s Challenge. We also talk about what’s happening in the SCA at the moment, with a scandal around rule-breaking, “half of one percent”, and a petition for change at the very top. David is a fellow woodworker, and one of the things he makes is harps. Head to the blog for pictures!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/hema-for-life-with-dr-marie-meservy/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr Marie Meservy is a neuro radiologist, a psychologist, historical martial artist, sword mom to the Noble Science Academy in Nevada and the organizer of Fraufecht, which is the only American women's event west of New York. In our conversation, we talk about running a school and training students to create the best outcomes. We discuss how to get new people, especially women, to join your club and how to create a good curriculum and feedback mechanisms. Marie has lots of experience in coaching fencers through tournaments, and she explains the best kind of mindset to have when fencing competitively. Speaking of tournaments, we also hear about Fraufecht: why it is needed, when it is, and what happens at the event. Marie shares some of the data on women’s participation at tournaments, and we have a discussion about affirmative action and how to avoid the perception that women need extra help to attain the things they have attained. We also talk about head injuries, AI in medicine and historical martial arts, performing well in exams, and Annie Lennox. If you would like to chat to other swordy folk about this week’s episode, you can find a post on SwordPeople, in the pub. Not on SwordPeople yet? Join us! And here’s the link to Guy’s Get Ready for Rapier series of very short videos, mentioned in the introduction: www.guywindsor.net/grr

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/dressing-up-with-zack-pinsent/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Zack Pinsent is a tailor of bespoke period clothing for men and women, reproducing primarily Regency civilian and military costume. He is vocal on social and political issues while being immaculately dressed. His website is https://www.pinsenttailoring.co.uk/ Zack lives in Brighton and in our conversation he tells us about his plans for a grand Regency ball at the Brighton Pavilion in January 2024. At the time of writing ticket sales haven’t yet opened, but here’s his Pinterest board for you to see the type of dress that everyone will be wearing and what the Brighton Pavilion is like, if you are not familiar with it: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/Zack_Pinsent/brighton-pavilion-ball/ We talk about what men’s clothes ought to be like: how they should fit, the quality of tailoring, the colour palette, the pockets. We also discuss hats and trousers. There’s a bit of sword talk too, of course.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/adhd-speedboats-and-wrestling-in-kindergarten-with-katriina-malkki/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Katriina Malkki is a historical martial artist, dietician with an MSc from the University of Eastern Finland, a Ph.D. student and mum of four plus a lizard. She's an author and also a sea rescue volunteer. In our conversation we discuss nutrition: What does Katriina think of the Paleo diet, fasting, or keto? Top tips from a nutritionist are eat more vegetables and drink less booze! We also talk about ADHD, the symptoms, medication, and living with the condition. We discuss what historical martial arts instructors should bear in mind when teaching students with ADHD, and also what might help an instructor who has ADHD to run their classes. Katriina mentions Adele Diamond and her work on Executive Functions. Here’s an article and a video about it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4084861/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__8mV-7yAaE Katriina has an excellent and novel idea of what to do with €1 million to improve historical martial arts, and it involves very small children.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-people-are-book-people-with-diniz-cabreira/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Diniz Cabreira is a Kunst des Fechtens practitioner at Arte do Combate, a publisher of historical martial arts books, primarily on La Verdadera Destreza in Portuguese, at AGEA Editora, and a graphic designer. He’s currently researching historical martial arts publishing and has a lot of questions for Guy... This is a great episode for anyone interested in book publishing (not just sword books) as Guy shares his wealth of experience in publishing and selling tens of thousands of books over the last twenty years or so. Find out what sells and what doesn’t, what might be the next big thing, and how to get your own book onto people’s shelves.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/bringing-italo-hungarian-sabre-to-taiwan-with-huang-chun-yi/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Huang Chun-Yi is an instructor of classical and military sabre at Lionheart Historical European Swordsmanship in Taipei, Taiwan. She also blogs in Chinese at travelingswordslady.wordpress.com. Chun-Yi’s club is the only one in Taiwan that practises classical sabre, and we talk about what drew Chun-Yi to the Italo-Hungarian sabre, over the longsword or rapier. This is the sabre duel from Potop (The Deluge) that we discuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP98CcasA-E We chat about the European historical martial arts scene in Taiwan, and you might be surprised to hear that it’s a small, but thriving community, with an annual event and several clubs. We also talk about weightlifting, travel, cats and Moomins.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/you-cant-learn-swordfighting-from-a-book-with-dr-antti-ijas/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Antti Ijäs is a grant-funded researcher, whose recent doctoral dissertation is a scholarly examination of Royal Armouries MS I.33 and includes a complete transcription and translation of the entire manuscript. In our conversation we talk about 1.33 as the first, complete, fight book and its position in the wider fencing context of the time. We compare it to later sources but also talk about much earlier ones, all the way back to the Ancient Greeks. Antti has written an article, Greek Papyri of Pragmatic Literature on Combat Technique (P. Oxy. III 466 and LXXIX 5204) about two papyri fragments of a book on wrestling. Which of course leads us on to talking about Ancient Greek sex manuals…  Changing the subject, Antti is also a practitioner of bayonet fencing, and we talk about the development of competing methods in Europe, with the Swedes, Prussians and Saxons (and others) each coming up with their own systems.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-events-should-be-more-like-ikea-with-jana-howson/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jana Howson lives near Chicago and is a historical fencer, a Ph.D. candidate, mother and spouse, as well as being a Lutheran pastor. She started off with Taekwondo and Karate, and also fences in the SCA. We discuss how on earth Jana balances her time to fit it all in! Trying to do swords with babies and kids in tow can be tricky, so we talk about what can be done to make training and attending events possible for people who maybe don’t have babysitters at home or a great network of friends to help out. We also talk about Jana’s PhD, which is about how geeks make meaning within their fandoms; how their love of, say, Star Wars affects their understanding of the world, and how this same framework could be used within Christian education to reimagine the role of pastor. The theme running through this whole conversation is community and how vital it is. Guy has launched the SwordPeople community to connect people who maybe can’t make it to social events for whatever reason, or for people to organise themselves with things like childcare before an event.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/behind-the-scenes-at-the-sword-guy-with-katie-mackenzie/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy It’s the 150th(ish) episode! So to mark this momentous occasion we’ve got a guest who can’t think of any reason at all why she would want someone to run at her with a pointy sword. Katie Mackenzie is the organising principle behind the show, as well as an excellent author's assistant. She is an author herself, of the very approachable, Easy Fitness for Quitters: How to Become a Happy Exerciser. And she wrote these show notes, so she can say what she wants! In our conversation we talk about the trickier aspects of producing the transcriptions for the podcast, and Katie has a quiz for Guy, to find out what he actually said when the transcription software thought he was talking about “venereal potatoes.” We talk about writing books, climbing, and what Katie thinks of the sword world and the other podcast guests. What would a non-sword person do with £1 million to improve historical martial arts? If you haven’t joined SwordPeople.com yet, do consider it – we discuss what the platform could look like in the future, and how we need the membership to grow to achieve this. Finally, do you ever read the episode transcriptions? (Click the link at the top to find the transcription for this episode.) If you think Katie’s hard work every week is a sensible use of her time, do let Guy know!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/bringing-fiore-to-a-knife-fight-with-ian-davis/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ian Davis is a historical fencing instructor at Boston Armizare, specialising in Italian fencing from the 14th to the 16th centuries. These days he is almost exclusively interested in wrestling, dagger and harness. Ian has been testing to discover what it actually takes to stick a sword point through historical maille. Here are some videos of his tests: Maille testing round 1 (sword): https://youtu.be/CLDcmiF1u1s Maille testing round 1 (dagger): https://youtu.be/WRE80BpQi7I Maille testing round 1 (spear): https://youtu.be/51KVNtdKBFY This is a full year after the first series: Maille testing round 2: https://youtu.be/RH1zbd0WFPw We also talk about the contentious topic of bringing Fiore into the modern combative self-defence context. How can wrestling techniques from the likes of Fiore, Vadi and Monte help people defend themselves against an assailant with a knife or a gun? Also, how do you square the murderousness of a knightly combat system with the modern legalities and ethical issues of self-defence? Click here to see the Vadi headlock image we mention: https://swordschool.com/podcast/bringing-fiore-to-a-knife-fight-with-ian-davis/  In the final question of the interview, Ian talks about spending a million dollars on getting manuscripts into the public domain. Here’s the link to the Raymond J. Lord collection we discuss: Raymond J. Lord: https://www.umass.edu/renaissance/lord

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/babies-horses-and-a-secret-knife-with-gretchen-settle/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Gretchen Settle models, swordfights and makes stuff. She is getting back into training after giving birth to an incredibly adorable young sword person who looks very good with her little sword. We talk about Gretchen’s background with horses and how she came to get into longsword and ringen with Maryland Kunst des Fechtens. Her love of historical martial arts has spilled over into her modelling work, and here is a link to the ‘Blossfechten’ photo we discuss, which can be found on Gretchen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/COlisAdHtqE/ And here is a photo of the tiny knife Gretchen hid in her garter on her wedding day: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVwUS1WrjFS/ As Gretchen has recently had a baby, we talk about trying to keep up with training when you’re pregnant (not possible if you’ve got horrendous morning sickness) and how you get back into it after having the baby.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/boldly-going-with-stephen-hand/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Stephen Hand is a founder of the Stoccata School of Defence, author of several books, including English Swordsmanship: The True Fight of George Silver and Swordplay in the Age of Shakespeare, and he currently teaches at the Stoccata Branch in Hobart, Tasmania. He has also choreographed a sword fighting movie about Macbeth. We’ve known each other a long time, and we have a little reminisce about what it was like trying to get hold of manuals and equipment back in the olden days of the 1990s. We also talk about what it was like to be in the first generation of instructors in the fledgling historical martial arts community. Steve is known for his work on George Silver, and also Joseph Swetnam, who was well known for being a raging misogynist pig, and a bit of a dick even by the standards of his day. But the most important question is who would win in a three-way fight between Swetnam, Silver and Saviolo?

For transcriptions, images and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/hema-in-mexico-and-inspirational-women/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Mariana Lopez is a historical fencer, coach, artist and one of the founders of HEMA in Mexico, 16 years ago. She is also the co-founder of Esfinges, an international network of female historical fencers. In our conversation we talk about how the HEMA scene in Mexico differs from the U.S. or Europe, and what other countries might learn from the Mexican way of doing things. We also talk about Esfinges, and what it was like to found the network, the abuse she has faced for it, and how hearing from so many women in HEMA has affected her views. Mariana is keen to improve tournament culture, and we hear how she would like to do that – and how her approach differs from Guy’s. She is also looking to set up a scholarship, and towards the end of the interview she explains how it could be done.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to:  https://swordschool.com/podcast/swordbeards-and-violence-with-dr-mark-geldof/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Mark Geldof specialises in all kinds of historical violence. He has a DPhil in history from the University of Oxford on Change and Continuity in English Elite Conceptions of Violence, 1450-1560 and an M.A. entitled The Heart, the Foot, the Eye to Accord: Procedural Writing and Three Middle English Manuscripts of Martial Instruction. He got into swords through the SCA, and he explains how the knowledge he gained through whacking people with sticks has influenced his work. We talk about the three English sword texts from the 15th century, and how Mark wrote a 122 page master’s thesis with a 22 page bibliography on 400 lines of text. He has plenty of advice for the amateur historian on avoiding pitfalls and making sure that you are studying the best sources. We also talk about why what seems like excessive violence is actually necessary or expected, and how humans can keep going even after they’ve been stabbed in the heart or skewered on a spear, so if you’re going to kill someone, you’ve got to keep going until they are definitely dead. There are lots of useful links for this episode. Firstly, we refer to the episodes with Paul Wagner and Mike Prendergast that you might want to listen back to. And here are the links from Mark: - Link to the Patreon: https://patreon.com/dr_violence - Link to the MA thesis download: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/ETD-2011-08-77?show=full (note that these transcriptions are not perfect, in this ed. But they are better than what’s been around most often) - Link to the doctoral thesis for those interested: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6d6be72b-b6ea-460f-b222-beb0547465eb - The most current edition of Titus A xxv: https://bl.iro.bl.uk/concern/articles/614dcee4-907c-4ab8-879d-5143b0e5c673?locale=en - Gentileschi Judith and her Maidservant 1: https://discover.hubpages.com/art/Judith-and-her-Maidservant---My-Take - Judith and Maidservant 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_Judith_Maidservant_DIA.jpg - Judith slaying Holofernes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Slaying_Holofernes_%28Artemisia_Gentileschi,_Naples%29#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Judith_Beheading_Holofernes_-_WGA8563.jpg  - See the shownotes on Swordschool.com for the draft of the paper on the Additional ms that’s in submission right now.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to:  https://swordschool.com/podcast/patience-and-perspective-with-ginny-beatty/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ginny Beatty is a historical fencer in the SCA in Ohio, USA, and she took up arms in her late forties, having done everything else first: historical cookery, archery, heraldry, and making costumes, armour and weapons. She now loves fencing with a rapier and buckler and explains the importance of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and learning new things to stay young.  We talk about how to keep yourself in shape when you are slightly older. What the challenges are (and the advantages) and how to cross-train. Also, how to win a fencing match against someone taller or more aggressive than yourself. Ginny describes her nutrition plan that keeps her energy up and the importance of proper body mechanics to avoid injury.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/fiore-the-movie-with-alberto-mattea/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Alberto Mattea is an Italian film composer and filmmaker, actor and re-enactor with a deep interest in the Middle Ages. In the historical martial arts world, he is perhaps best known for his short film Fiore, which is, I think, the most accurate representation of the late 14th century ever put on the screen. In this episode Alberto explains how the film got made on a tiny budget of €3,000, how they built the sets, made the costumes and did the special effects. And who made the swords! Listen to the very end of this episode to hear some of the music Alberto composed for the film. We also talk about what TV series Alberto ought to make next, which would change the perception of the Middle Ages in popular culture. You can see Fiore on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_H3dkTiaRA and here is the video with the breakdown of the visual effects that is mentioned in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja5Q-70XEDA  For more information about Alberto, this is his website: https://www.albertomattea.com/

For transcriptions, photos and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-whack-dont-die-method-with-kari-holman/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Kari Holman is a rapier fencer and a licensed therapist. She has also written Psychology and the SCA Fencing Woman: a Manual for Students and Teachers. The moment I read it, I asked if I could include it in my How to Teach course because it's that good. So of course, we talk about teaching women and what’s been going wrong with teaching that leads to so many women dropping out before they reach the higher echelons of the fencing community. We also talk about trauma and PTSD. Kari explains about different types of trauma, whether we are all traumatised, and how similar events could be traumatic or not at all, depending on the context. Kari volunteers as a psychological counsellor at the Midwest FurFest, which currently the largest free convention in the US. We have a very interesting chat about why she’s needed, what happens at these conventions, and why so many thousands of people might want to dress up in a fur suit in the first place.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/becoming-your-best-swordsman-with-robert-childs/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Robert Childs is a well-known rapier competition champion and author of the new book Revelations of Rapier. In our conversation we talk about how he trains for tournaments and what has made him so successful. We talk about judging tournaments and the difficulty of spotting lightening fast thrusts. Robert has synthesised his own eclectic method for rapier fencing, and he explains some of it for us in this episode. He also takes us through his school’s unusual ranking system, in which you have to win tournaments and eventually fight multiple opponents at once in order to progress up the ranks. The best idea Robert hasn’t acted on yet it to develop a team sport called Blood of Heroes, which involves weapons, dog skulls, and working as a team to beat your opponents. It sounds great fun. And finally, Robert is actually building his own castle! If you are interested in finding out more or supporting the project, his Patreon is here: https://www.patreon.com/castleandsword YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/robertchildsrapier

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-importance-of-mixer-taps-with-eleanor-janega/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy I am delighted to announce that Dr Eleanor Janega is back! She was first on the show way back in episode 16, which is one of our most popular episodes. Since her last appearance on The Sword Guy, Eleanor has published a book and been on TV. Time to catch up on what she has been working on! Just to remind you, Eleanor is a guest lecturer at LSC in the Department of International History. She has a Ph.D. in history. She has a blog called Going Medieval that you definitely should check out. She's a co-host of the We're Not So Different podcast. She has a Patreon account, at patreon.com/goingmedieval. And she's the author of The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, which came out last year and of The Once and Future Sex coming out next year. In addition to all of this, she is a presenter of the History Hit TV shows Going Medieval and Exploring the Medieval Afterlife. In this episode we talk about sexism through the ages, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, being a foreigner in Britain and what ‘Britishness’ actually is, medieval ghosts, beer, and quite a few other things too.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/outnumbered-combat-and-catching-imaginary-balls-with-luis-preto/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Luis Preto is a Jogo do Pau instructor and author of multiple books, including a tutorial on multiple opponent combat with one handed weapons. He also has two master's degrees, one in teaching sports and the other in Kineseology. Jogo do Pau is known as Portuguese stick fighting, which shares a cultural heritage with similar combat systems in Europe, but one difference is that in the Portuguese system, the multiple opponent training has been preserved. We talk about why training in outnumbered combat may have been lost in other areas, and how to train for such scenarios in a safe way. Luis explains how it’s actually quite simple to protect your head from being whacked by a big stick. To watch some Jogo do Pau videos, here is Luis’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC45K3e12LNK9EajBvpMtmKg We also talk about teacher training, and how to teach movement through practises that give trainees intrinsic feedback, rather than repeating specific techniques that may not be helpful in the reality of a swordfight. It is all about the context and the motivation. We also talk about how martial arts practitioners can improve their training, and how coaches can get better at coaching.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/medieval-shoulders-trees-and-swords-with-jessica-finley-episode-1-repeat/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy This week’s repeated episode is the very first Sword Guy Podcast episode, with the inestimable Jessica Finley, who may be known to you from her wonderful book about medieval wrestling. Those of you who are enrolled on my Solo Training course may have sweated and grunted through her “solo training for wrestlers” section of the course, and if you know her on her Patreon account, she produces translations, interpretations, previews of books in progress, and videos also for her patrons and you can find her there at www.patreon.com/jessfinley. Birthday Sale You still have two days left to use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fear-is-the-mind-killer-with-kajetan-sadowski-episode-5-repeat/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy As it’s the Christmas holiday period I have decided to repeat a couple of classic episodes, which you may not have heard first time around. The first is with Kajetan Sadowski. Kajetan has changed his name and pronouns since the time of recording, and in the episode you’ll hear me using his old name of Kaja. Kajetan is the author of the must-read Fear is the Mind-Killer, one of my top ten books on martial arts. We also talk about training with two swords, training in high-stress situations, and lots more training besides! Kajetan has been a physical instructor since 2004, teaching figure skating, rock climbing, and mountaineering before coming to martial arts in 2010. He joined the coaching team at Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly in 2012, and created their beginner program shortly afterwards. He currently teaches group and private lessons to students of all experience levels, and runs the school’s self defense program. His website is https://kajaswords.com/ This week’s non-sponsor This week it is to remind you of the mighty wiktenauer.com, which is a gigantic reference source for everything historical martial arts. It’s run by Michael Chidester, who I interviewed in episode 21, and it includes scans, transcriptions, translations and articles and just keeps getting better every day. I use it almost daily and it’s a simply astonishing resource. Birthday Sale - it's still running! Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-yeti-of-chest-protection-with-veronica-young/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Veronica Young is an industrial designer, historical martial artist and founder of Cryptid Combat Wear, and she is also currently running a campaign for making a chest protector for women, which will actually fit and allow for movement. Veronica explains how she developed the prototypes, and how she has worked on the sizing to fit the widest range of people. The Indigogo campaign is running until 6th January, and you can support it here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fencing-chest-protector#/ You might recall from the AMA episode a couple of weeks ago, we had a question about women’s knees, and how to prevent injury from fencing in a Meyerist fashion. Well, Veronica practises Meyer, and she has knees, so I asked her what she does to protect them. It’s all about the inner quads! Veronica has got heavily into tournament fencing, and we talk about the mindset one needs to compete successfully, and about being a minority in HEMA – the stereotypes and the difficulties of different genders fighting one another. We also talk about how to win a fight against someone much taller than you. Birthday Sale Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This week’s non-sponsor It’s Freelance Academy Press, which is a publishing house dedicated to serving the historical martial arts community. It was founded by Christian Tobler (see episode 101) and Greg Mele, and it has a fantastic catalogue of books you might be interested in. Such as my own, The Medieval Dagger, of course, but also their stunning critical editions of the Fiore manuscripts, translations of Bolognese and rapier texts, and works on German medieval combat. There’s really something for everyone. So, if you are looking for something to read, go to freelanceacademypress.com.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/what-makes-a-warrior-with-cain-maxwell/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Cain Maxwell is an instructor of physical culture, who's been teaching physical skills his entire life, from swimming to military firearms to ballroom dancing, even. And now he is teaching mounted martial arts and runs a school called Martial Equestrian, a mounted combat school in Hinckley, Ohio. Cain learned to fight by fighting for real in a rough neighbourhood. In his own words, he had a chip on his shoulder. So he approaches martial arts with the question of whether it would really work on the streets. In our conversation we talk about pedagogy, translation, choosing a source, and martial culture. We discuss the difference between a warrior and a thug. They are both willing to do violence to others, so what is the difference? And can martial arts really teach good character in life outside the salle? Listen to this episode for one of the most unexpected and thought-provoking answers to the question, “What would you do with $1 million to improve martial arts worldwide?”   Birthday Sale Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This week’s non-sponsor: Arms-n-armor.com are makers of swords and training weapons. I got my default training rapier from them in 2005 and my longsword in 2004 and they are both still going strong. They also made my sharp rapier and dagger, and my training smallsword. I interviewed smith Craig Johnson in episode 33 and he is not just a great smith, he is also a good friend. So you might think I’m biased, except those swords are still on the rack, scratched and worn. I’ve replaced the leather on the longsword grip at least twice and it’s still going strong after at least 15 years. So, if you are looking for a new sword, go to arms-n-armor.com.   For more information about the host Guy Windsor and his work, as well as transcriptions of all the episodes, check out his website at https://swordschool.com/podcast   And to support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/furries-bar-fights-and-cryotherapy-with-lisa-losito/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Lisa Losito is a sword mom, historical fencer and an organising brain behind Lord Baltimore's Challenge. Lisa suffers from a chronic illness which affects her training, but she is absolutely passionate about helping others achieve their vision for events within the historical martial arts world. Whether that’s a big event like Lord Baltimore’s Challenge, or small grassroots events with local clubs, Lisa will make sure everyone has what they need, and make sure that everyone is safe. Safety is something we discuss in this episode, both in terms of gear (particularly head protection) and physical and emotional safety within the environment. We talk about the culture change that is needed to prevent injuries like concussion and to keep bad actors out of historical martial arts. Plus, we also find out that Lisa wants to open a salle with a brothel attached. (That’s not exactly true…) Birthday Sale In other news, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This Week’s Non-Sponsor Most podcasts have sponsors who offer discounts to the listeners and money to the host. In the sword world most of the companies and organisations offering products or services to sword people have tiny profit margins and very little cash. So I thought I’d introduce a non-sponsor segment to the show, where I call out producers of good sword stuff and recommend it to our listeners without getting paid for it. The first non-sponsor to the show is the mighty wiktenauer.com which is a gigantic reference source for everything historical martial arts. It’s run by Michael Chidester, who I interviewed in episode 21, and it includes scans, transcriptions, translations and articles and just keeps getting better every day. I use it almost daily and it’s a simply astonishing resource.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/ask-me-anything-with-guy-windsor/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today's episode is a little bit different. It's an Ask Me Anything with me. I sent out a query to my patrons on Patreon and also to my mailing list, and I got a whole bunch of questions that apparently people want answers to, so I’ve answered them. Find out which historical master I would like on my side in a tavern brawl, my funniest moment in teaching, my ideal podcast guest, and more. A couple of useful links From the question about the best rapier fencing system: Link to the Swordschool Wiki where you can find plate 17 and plate 19 from Capoferro: https://www.swordschool.com/wiki/index.php/Specific_Plays_from_Capoferro From the question about the lefty Todesca: Here is the link to Eleanora Rebecchi’s episode: https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-four-virtues-of-sword-making-with-eleonora-rebecchi And my unboxing video: Malleus Martialis Todesca Unboxing.mp4 from Swordschool.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/medieval-banana-hammocks-with-tasha-dandelion-kelly/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today’s episode is with Tasha Dandelion Kelly, an expert in medieval clothing who blogs at La Cotte Simple and in my opinion, knows perhaps more than anyone else on the planet about how a gambeson should be made. We talk about the Charles de Blois pourpoint, which is constructed in such a way that it gives incredible freedom of movement. You can see pictures of different examples on Tasha’s website – check out the construction around the shoulders: https://cottesimple.com/images/cdb-pourpoint-pattern/ If you fancy making one, Tasha’s pourpoint pattern book is for sale here: https://www.lulu.com/shop/tasha-kelly/the-pourpoint-of-charles-de-blois/paperback/product-1rg4jw2g.html?page=1&pageSize=4 Here is a direct link to the PDF of her article on the red coat armour at Chartres: https://cottesimple.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Charles-VI-pourpoint-article-Tasha-D-Kelly-reduced-size.pdf This is a video summary of the paper about the Lengberg finds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGg8xbUVXT4 In the video you can see the world’s oldest bra, which the priests were not at all happy about. Those naughty women! Lengberg experts Q+A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LnWIveL5l4

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/broadsword-for-kids-with-andrew-newton/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Andrew Newton lives in the Annapolis Valley in Eastern Canada. He is a historical fencer and mounted archer and runs the Annapolis Valley Historical Fencing Club, teaching broadsword, sabre and cutlass. Andrew was also an officer in the Air Force, so of course there’s a bit of plane chat. In our discussion we talk about the business end of running a club: how to make money, effective marketing tips, and why even if you’re a non-profit you still need to have a business-like approach. Andrew is running very successful youth classes, for both younger kids and teenagers. He talks about how to teach children and why it’s not that different to teaching adults. We discuss the importance of getting youngsters into HMA. Useful links: Guy’s Farfalla di Ferro drill video: https://vimeo.com/540592226 Sea Winds horse archery: https://www.seawindshorsearchers.ca/ Cateran Society broadsword: https://cateransociety.org/ This is Guy’s lengthy and ultra-geeky post about stretto: https://guywindsor.net/2018/06/freedom-to-strike-a-lengthy-discussion-of-largo-and-stretto/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/how-to-build-a-space-rocket-with-leigh-shocki/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Leigh Shocki works for Blue Origin as an Instructional Designer – she can teach you to build a rocket, even though she flunked maths. You too can work at a space company, even if you’re not a rocket scientist! Leigh is passionate about making both space travel and swords more diverse and we discuss the code of conduct she wrote for Lonin which builds in things like inclusive language and ensuring everyone feels safe: https://www.lonin.org/code-of-conduct/ Leigh also mentions the Esfinges Facebook group for women in HMA which now has 2k members and 6.9k followers of the page. Here are the links for the Beth Hammer episode, the Neal Stephenson episode and the Kaja Sadowski episode we refer to. And then on the space inclusivity side see: https://astroaccess.org/ and https://spaceforhumanity.org/?locale=en Leigh hasn’t trained at her club since she suffered a traumatic head injury in a car crash three years ago. Obviously, there is a high risk of being whacked in the head when sword fighting, and so we talk about how best to return to training whilst minimising the risks to Leigh. It’s worth a listen for anyone who has suffered a concussion or looking to modify their training practice for similar reasons. This is the link to Blue Origin’s New Glenn re-usable launch vehicle: https://www.blueorigin.com/new-glenn/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/podcasting-with-the-sword-whisperers-schwertgefluster/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Michael Sprenger and Alexander Fürgut are the creators of Schwertgeflüster, a (usually) German-speaking podcast about all things HMA. In this episode Michael and Alexander interview Guy, while Guy also interviews Michael and Alexander a bit too. It’s not as confusing as it sounds. We talk about how Alexander can’t get into the correct position for Fabris’s rapier fencing, which Guy diagnoses as possible tight hamstrings. If you also want to work on lengthening your hamstrings, here’s Guy’s trainalong hamstring special. The warmup section is about 25min, then we get into the hamstring stretches… vimeo.com/504380949/d22be1ece5   We also talk about the art and science of making a podcast, what’s wrong with HEMA tournaments, publishing lawsuits, and more. The Schwertgeflüster website can be found at www.schwertgefluester.de  and the HEMA event calendar mentioned is hema.events/ Here is a link to the podcasting editing video mentioned in the outro: vimeo.com/755065041/b9eca60702

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-episode-in-which-guy-gets-challenged-to-a-duel-with-auri-poso/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Auri Poso is a long time student of Guy’s and one of the first teachers he ever trained. Auri now runs her own school, the Gladiolus School of Arms in Helsinki/Espoo, Finland. In our conversation we talk about Star Wars, which leads to a disagreement about Luke Skywalker needing a good slap. Whether lightsabers would be a suitable weapon in the ensuing duel between Guy and Auri causes another difference of opinion… We also talk about returning to classes and teaching after an extended break to have children, the challenges of starting a school in a crowded market, taking a summer break to tour Europe’s sword schools, and using €1 million to set up an incredible historical martial arts centre.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/poofy-pants-and-murderhobos-with-adam-franti/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Adam Franti is a member of the Meyer Freifechter Guild and an organiser of the Midwest Historical Fencing League. He also started the Lansing Longsword Guild in the summer of 2017, which focuses on Meyer’s longsword. And he is a fellow podcaster, host of a show called Murderhobos, which covers chivalry, duelling and warfare. We talk about 19th century American military history, and then hop back in time to 16th century Germany. Adam is something of an expert in Meyer’s dusack, and we find out what drew him in to this system. He tells us about the Fechtschule fencing competitions, duelling and warfare in Germany at that time. There are links and photos below to accompany the episode: Adam’s workbook on Meyer’s fencing: https://www.lulu.com/shop/adam-franti-and-joachim-meyer/foundations-of-fencing/paperback/product-mnw2gr.html   His dusack video series: https://youtu.be/9XmI4WYqvqw?list=PLYv4p_FmRMfKSI9-9YPg4fI-9BzugzI8G   A couple of Adam’s historical lectures: https://youtu.be/HsARLoyFmoI?list=PLGRaseBnVpX6yZU9yHcW9sqY9fJzqrA56   And a direct link to the Murderhobos podcast, with all the episodes we discussed, including Donald McBane and Götz von Berlichingen: https://sites.libsyn.com/411899

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-four-virtues-of-sword-making-with-eleonora-rebecchi/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Eleonora Rebecchi is the creative director at Malleus Martialis, producer of excellent training swords, as well as a practising historical fencer and a graphic artist who has done some lovely covers for Guy. She is also a classically trained singer, which you’ll get to hear in this episode. We talk about how Eleanora and her partner Rodolfo got into designing swords for a living, what goes into the design process, and what qualities a business selling swords needs. Eleonora explains how the aesthetics, ergonomics and dynamics of a sword fit together, which is demonstrated by Guy’s delightful new longsword. Here is the unboxing video so you can see what he means: https://vimeo.com/722218823

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/how-to-teach-historical-martial-arts-with-guy-windsor/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy This episode of the podcast is a little bit different because I'm not interviewing anyone. I'm here to talk to you about how to teach. I believe that teaching historical martial arts or anything else is a skill, and as such it can be studied and taught. In other words, you're not born a good teacher, you become one through mindful practise. So the question, I guess, is how do you set about that in a systematic and useful way that will lead you to your desired result? Well, I have a course. Of course I have a course; I always have a course. I am releasing this week my course on how to teach. Now, before you just dash off and buy it, because you're just that sort of excellently supportive listener to the show, I think it would be a good idea if you listen to some excerpts and get an idea of what the course is all about and then decide whether it's really for you. Listen to the episode or read the transcript for exclusive extracts from the course. And to buy the course itself, you can find it at guywindsor.net/teach, where there is a 40% discount offer - only valid until Wednesday 5th of October.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/from-katanas-to-creating-the-metaverse-with-neal-stephenson/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Neal Stephenson is a best-selling author, futurist, tech geek and swordsman whose works include Cryptonomicron, Seveneves, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash. He has also co-written several other books and graphic novels which we discuss in this episode. His latest book, Termination Shock goes into depth and detail about Sikh martial arts, which he had to research during the Covid lockdowns. Of course, Neal’s main claim to fame is that he wrote the preface to my own Swordfighting for Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists. We cover an enormously wide range of topics in this episode, from fountain pens to working with Jeff Bezos building rockets. If you want to find anything in particular, the timestamps and related links are listed below: [03:07] How Neal got into swords. Neal’s club in Seattle is Lonin. [08:12] Ellis Amdur and Japanese martial arts. [14:31] Bartitsu [17:53] Silver and McBane. Note: It was Captain John Godfrey's 1747, A Treatise Upon The Useful Science of Defence, where he said that “The Small-Sword is the Call of Honour, the Back-Sword the Call of Duty.” [28:50] Indian Club training [37:46] Sword fights in fiction and how to write one [43:48] Working with Charles C. Mann on Cimarronin. The Manila Galleons. We mention Da’Mon Stith and episode 23 of this podcast. For the photo of Ellis Amdur sticking an eight foot spear into Neal’s chest, see: https://swordschool.com/podcast/from-katanas-to-creating-the-metaverse-with-neal-stephenson/  [52:40] Fountain pens [55:38] How Neal plots, writes and edits his books, and how he co-writes with another author [1:01:09] How Neal’s books changed culture – e.g. influenced the development of the Kindle (see Fiona image here: https://swordschool.com/podcast/from-katanas-to-creating-the-metaverse-with-neal-stephenson/ Fiona is a character in The Diamond Age. Amazon used the codename ‘Fiona’ for their Kindle project.) [1:03:47] Working with Jeff Bezos at Blue Origin finding better ways to power space rockets [1:14:05] Bullwhips [1:15:41] LAMINA1 and building a new open platform for metaverses [1:28:28] The best idea Neal hasn’t acted on yet [1:32:14] What Neal would do with $1 million to improve historical martial arts

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/elementary-my-dear-windsor/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Ashley Polasek is a historical martial artist who started with Lichtenauer and now teaches Bolognese swordsmanship. She is based in South Carolina, but spends much of her time travelling for her day job working with one of the world’s most successful playwrights.    Ashley is an expert in Sherlock Holmes. She was a consultant on the first Enola Holmes movie and is a member of the exclusive ‘Baker Street Irregulars’. Her PhD is in adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, and it is fascinating how the character pops up in so many different versions, and yet they are all recognisably Sherlock Holmes. Even Sherlock Gnomes. (As she is so keen on adaptation, I’m sure Ashley won’t mind that the misquoted title of this episode, “Elementary, my dear Watson,” was never actually said by Sherlock in any of the books.) We also talk about how having no vision in one eye affects Ashley’s swordfighting, training to be a Ninja Warrior, women’s hips, and getting swords into schools.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/teaching-horses-martial-arts-with-the-horsemen-of-eire/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Alessia Pagani and Jack Gassman run Horsemen of Eire, an equestrian training school and medieval combat academy outside Wexford in Ireland. Alessia specialises in natural horsemanship and Jack takes care of the swords. In this episode we talk about what’s natural about ‘natural horsemanship’, and its origins in American cowboys and medieval training techniques. There is a blog post here with pictures of the single and double pillar training techniques we discuss: https://dariocaballeros.blogspot.com/2013/09/antoine-de-pluvinel-images-from.html  Alessia spent time living and working as a cowgirl in Arizona and she explains how Rossfechten (swordfighting on horseback) is similar to herding cattle. Teaching horses to fight is not dissimilar to teaching humans to fight, when you understand their motivations and characters. As Jack says, horses intimately understand violence and will beat the shit out of each other over “you looked at me funny”. We also find out why there is so much unarmoured longsword in Liechtenauer, why it helps to be a dancer, and how many plates you have to spin to run a business involving horses. Audiobook Bundle Special Offer! Don’t forget to check out my audiobook bundle for The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts. This includes the ebook and the audiobook version, narrated by Kelley Costigan. You can find it at guywindsor.net/tsg22. That link will get you 20% off the list price until 15th September 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/support-vector-machines-are-cool-with-kari-baker/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Kari Baker is a data scientist and swordswoman from Arizona who writes appallingly advanced data analysis articles for Sword STEM. In our conversation we discuss how data helped increase women’s participation in events and whether we can predict a double in tournaments. You can find Kari’s Sword STEM articles here: http://swordstem.com/author/kbaker/ If you have any interesting research questions, or datasets you want to ask questions of, send them to Guy or pop over to the Sword STEM Facebook page.   Audiobook Bundle Special Offer! As mentioned in the introduction to this episode, check out my audiobook bundle for The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts. This includes the ebook and the audiobook version, narrated by Kelley Costigan. You can find it at guywindsor.net/tsg22. That link will get you 20% off the list price until 15th September 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/movement-matters-with-katy-bowman-episode-54-repeat/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Bestselling author, speaker, and a leader in the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman has been changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. Her eight books, including the groundbreaking “Move Your DNA” and “Movement Matters” have been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide. Bowman teaches movement globally and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences. Her work has been featured in diverse media such as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, the Seattle Times, and Good Housekeeping. One of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and an America Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement”, Katy has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities, sharing her “move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need” message.  Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family. In our conversation we talk about form, feet, injuries, and Jess Finley’s ‘hooky’ acromion process (it’s part of your shoulder). When you use swords, or do any other sport, the movements – or lack of – that you do all of the rest of the time when you are not doing swords create your ability to move freely and effectively with a sword in your hand. What is your body doing when it is not doing swords? We mention Ruth Goodman’s book, How to be a Tudor. You can find out more here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/287/287072/how-to-be-a-tudor/9780241973714.html and listen to our podcast episode here: https://guywindsor.net/2021/04/fire-and-cauldrons-episode44/ If the section on barefoot shoes inspires you, check out Freet shoes https://freetbarefoot.com Use this code at checkout: THESWORDGUY10 to get 10% off- and if you do, I’ll also get a small commission. Yay! The author mentioned when we are talking about Finland is Robert Holdstock, the Mythago Wood series. We also discuss sedentary culture, what it’s doing to us and our kids, and how we might improve our environment to make movement more likely. Human movement is at an all-time low and our children are currently facing both a movement and nature deficiency, with physical, mental and environmental consequences.  The good news is, while the problem feels massive, the solution is quite simple…and fun! Katy’s forthcoming book, “Grow Wild: The Whole-Child, Whole-Family, Nature-Rich Guide to Moving More” is out in the UK on 24th June, SRP £24.99, published by Propriometrics Press; distributed by Chelsea Green Publishing. On Bookshop UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/grow-wild-the-whole-child-whole-family-nature-rich-guide-to-moving-more/9781943370160 On amazon UK.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grow-Wild-Whole-Child-Whole-Family-Nature-Rich/dp/1943370168/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29X0ZIYTB1DAG&dchild=1&keywords=grow+wild+book+katy+bowman&qid=1615844073&sprefix=grow+wild%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-1   Katy’s web/social media links: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com https://www.facebook.com/NutritiousMovement/ https://www.instagram.com/nutritiousmovement/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fiore_dinosaurs_erin_fitzgerald/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Erin Fitzgerald is a historical martial arts practitioner at the Chicago Swordplay Guild, but her day job takes us much further back in time: to the time of the dinosaurs. Erin is a Fossil Preparator and in our conversation she explains the painstaking process of safely transporting fossils back to the lab and cleaning them up ready for studying.  After talking about dinosaurs we skip forward a few tens of millions of years to medieval times and talk about Erin’s love of armoured combat and medieval longsword.  Erin is also an artist and created a magnificent painting of Fiore’s Segno, to be hung on the wall in the Chicago Swordplay Guild. Here is a blog post from Tasha Kelly about it: https://cottesimple.com/manuscript-interpretation/coloring-segno-della-spada/ Visit the website to see the Segno from the Getty manuscript, Erin’s painting, and the other photos accompanying this episode. https://swordschool.com/podcast/fiore_dinosaurs_erin_fitzgerald/   What’s the book that shall not be named? Medi*val Sw*rdsmanship by J*hn Cl*m*nts

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fire-and-cauldrons-with-ruth-goodman-episode-44-repeat/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ruth Goodman is a social and domestic historian working with museums, theatre, television and educational establishments. She has presented and consulted on several highly successful television series for the BBC. She has also written several excellent books we’ll be talking about today, including The Domestic Revolution, How to be a Tudor and How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England. In this episode, Ruth and I talk about some of the lesser known, but nonetheless fascinating aspects of life in the Middle Ages, without what we think of “essential” cleaning products, or temperature controlled ovens. Yes, people did get their clothes properly clean, and they were able to bake excellent cakes, pastries and bread. Ruth explains how they did this, and the type of learning that has been largely lost nowadays. In our wide-ranging conversation, we also cover the importance of sheds, leaving kids in forests, giving knives to toddlers, and understanding fire. Ruth has a special passion for medieval cauldrons. We also talk about how people would have dressed and moved at this time, all of which is very relevant if you are interested in martial arts from this, or any other period of history. We discuss how to research when there aren’t many sources available – as it turns out, there are many ways to skin a rabbit.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/finding-your-niche-with-mila-jedrzejewska/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Mila Jędrzejewska runs Audatia Creative, a professional services company for businesses in the historical martial arts space. In this conversation, we hear what led Mila to start up her own business, why she focuses on our particular niche, and how Guy and Mila are working together. Mila describes her experiences of sexism in the sword world and racism in the business world and we discuss the privilege of being able to work in a fulfilling job that you love. For the question, ‘What would you do with £1 million to improve historical martial arts worldwide?’ Guy gives his own idea of what he would like to do with the money. Would you be interested in a dedicated historical martial arts online platform, a “Swordbook”, if you will? Guy’s vision is a not-for-profit online space with zero tolerance for trolling, mansplaining, disrespectful behaviour of any kind, where you can talk about swords (or watch cat videos) with fellow swordy folk. If you follow Guy on social media, look out for a poll in Instagram Stories on the subject. Also, as you will hear, Mila is looking for someone to join her team, so if you have graphic design and social media experience, and you are mad about swords, get in touch with her: https://audatiacreative.com/contact/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/tameshigiri-training-with-asante-lawla/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Asante Lawla is a London-based inventor, corrective exercise specialist and a martial artist who is currently working on an edge alignment device to help people learn to cut better. He practises an Indian battlefield martial art called Shastar Vidiya, which translates as ‘the science of weapons’. Finding that getting hold of the materials needed for cutting training to be expensive, time-consuming and messy, he developed a prototype for a new type of tameshigiri trainer. It uses lasers attached to your sword which makes marks on a target so you can see your edge alignment – something you cannot do with tatami mats or water bottles. Asante has a crowdfunding campaign that runs until the end of August 2022. See here for all the details of the tameshigiri trainer, how it works and the status of the campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tameshigiri-trainer#/ https://vimeo.com/721797796 The yoga practice Asante refers to early on in the episode is this one: https://www.shastarvidiya.org/teaching/sanjam_kiriya_variyam.html Asante’s Shastar Vidiya Brixton Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShastarVidiyaBrixton

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/combat-theory-and-the-incas-with-john-lennox/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr John Lennox is one of the founders of the International Swordsmanship and Martial Arts Convention in Lansing, which moved to Vegas to become CombatCon. He's an instructor with the Historical Martial Studies Society and with the School of Two Swords. John has a Ph.D. in the relationship between stage combat and personal combat from the late 16th century onwards, and we talk about stage combat throughout history and how actors were trained to fight on stage. For more on this, see John’s book, Stage Combat Swordplay from Shakespeare to the Present. The actor in Shakespeare’s troupe who was a master fencer was the famous clown Richard Tarleton, who was given his master’s status on Oct. 23rd, 1587 by the London Masters of Defence (Berry, 33).  Sloane’s MSS 2530 states:                         Mr tarlton was a lowed a mr the xxiijth                         of octobere vnder henrye nayllore mr                         1587 /          -ordenary grome off her                         majvstes chamber” (Berry, 53) Changing the subject somewhat, we also talk about Rumi Maki, the ancient Inca martial art. John takes us through the five elements of this Peruvian ‘stone fist’ system, but how ancient is it, really? How can we even tell whether any modern interpretation of a historical martial art is the real deal? John’s second book is on Combat Theory. In our conversation he takes us through his thoughts on breaking down melee combat into its component parts. You can find John’s book here: Combat Theory: the Foundations of the Fight. This is the podcast episode with Dori Coblentz where she proposes using Guy’s imaginary millions on childcare at events: episode 67.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-business-with-jo-york/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jo York is a provost of the Hotspur School of Defence, which is based in the north east of England, and an entrepreneur in her work life, as well as an avid listener of this show. Jo talks about her home town of Knaresborough, with its annual Bed Race. There are pictures here: https://www.bedrace.co.uk/gallery/2022-race And this is the fabulous Yorkshire-accented raven at Knaresborough castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf42vpQMJ9o Jo works with start-up businesses and has started her own businesses too, so we talk about what makes a good idea for a viable enterprise and how to go about it. The book Guy mentions is Don’t Trust Your Gut, by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz and the book Jo recommends is The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea when Everyone is Lying to You, by Rob Fitzpatrick. Check out Jo’s cutting square website at: https://cuttingsquare.com/ This interactive cutting square tells you where to aim your next blow. There is a left-handed and right-handed option, and you can set the tempo.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/yoghurt-pot-armour-with-kin-chan/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Kin Chan is a landscape designer, a cosplayer, and a historical martial arts practitioner, who lives in Ontaria, Canada. In this episode we discuss making things at all ends of the scale, from the tiny (watchmaking) to the huge (landscape design), with cosplay and armour in between. Kin takes us through the incredible amount of work and craftsmanship that goes into creating costumes for cosplay conventions, and we talk about the similarities between cosplay and historical re-enactment. We also geek out about our favourite historical armour. You can find Maximilian’s flying blasting plates, designed with help from clockmakers, at around 10:31 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_RldJvCWs As promised, you can find photos of Kin’s workspace, his Beserker armour and Monster Hunter armour on the blog page here: https://swordschool.com/podcast/yoghurt-pot-armour-with-kin-chan/ There is an Instagram video with more detailed views of the armour here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVDvjbbjH-f/ and this is the Wanpans Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/wanpansarmoury/ This is the link to the David Ito episode we talk about towards the end of our conversation: https://swordschool.com/podcast/fire-eating-and-fencing-episode25/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/stretto-and-surgery-with-elizabeth-scott/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Elizabeth Scott is a historical martial arts and armoured combat practitioner on foot and on horseback, as well as being a surgeon. In our conversation we cover the obvious risks to your fingers when taking part in armoured combat, which could be highly problematic in Elizabeth’s profession. We talk about the mindset needed for both swordsmanship, surgery, and flying a plane, where failure can mean death. How can these skills be taught in the safest way? We also have a discussion about ‘stretto’ and what Fiore meant by the term. Guy explains his interpretation and why, according to him, stretto is not just a description of measure.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/youve-been-holding-your-lightsaber-all-wrong-with-kyle-rowling/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Kyle Rowling is a fight master, director of the Action Acting Academy, and he is also the man who taught Samuel L Jackson how to use a lightsaber. In this episode we hear about how Kyle became Christopher Lee’s body double, the real ending to the fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and what it’s like to have your own action figure and Lego minifigure. Kyle has body doubled all the Sith characters in Star Wars, even General Grievous, and alongside legendary stunt coordinator, Nick Gillard, taught Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen how to wield a lightsaber. And yes, you’re holding it wrong. Listen in for Kyle’s incredible stories of what it is like to work behind and in front of the camera on Star Wars.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/training-nerds-in-the-desert-with-skye-hilton/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Skye Hilton is a historical martial arts instructor and fitness trainer, best known as The Nerd Trainer, who lives in West Texas, hundreds of miles from the nearest sword school, so when she moved out there from California she started her own school to find people to play with: www.theswordschool.org/. In this episode we talk about the best exercises people can do before starting sword classes, imposter syndrome, “fendente bots”, and taking part in “Forged in Fire: Knife or Death,” a US History network series. Forged in Fire is an obstacle course of increasingly crazy things you have to cut, break, bash, stab and get to the end in order to progress to a harder obstacle course. Here are some photos of Skye with her chopper, cutting through dry bamboo and even a PVC pipe filled with gravel: https://swordschool.com/podcast/training-nerds-in-the-desert-with-skye-hilton/ We also have a good chat about sharpening and how sharp medieval swordsmen were able to get their blades, so this is a good episode for fellow blade sharpening enthusiasts!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/pain-is-the-best-teacher-with-steaphen-fick/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today’s episode is with Steaphen Fick, who is a historical martial arts instructor and a fight choreographer, and also an old comrade in arms since we met in Edinburgh in the nineties. In fact, in this episode you will hear about a certain naked escapade involving swords in Finland in 1999. Click here for a picture of us, fully clothed, from the same trip. Steaphen founded the Davenriche European Martial Arts School in Santa Clara, California in 2000 and it is still going 22 years later. We will be talking about how he managed that, and how he has built it up into having 8700 square feet of space to include swords, archery, axe throwing, and even airsoft. There is a lot in this episode about running a business, which would be of interest to anyone thinking of setting up their own school. Academically, Steaphen is perhaps best known for his interpretive work on Joseph Swetnam. Swetnam may have been a horrible man, but he had useful footwork for when you’re standing on a moving deck of a ship and a different style from the Italians of the same period. We talk about how one would manage Swetnam’s 12 foot lunge, and here is the link to the Max Your Lunge blog post.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/what-is-a-round-table-with-elizabeth-champion/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Elizabeth Champion is an arms and armour historian specialising in high medieval Round Table tournaments and the Merlin legends. She's also a historical fencer, co-founder of Stratford Swords and an ex-cage fighter. In our conversation we discuss what was a Round Table Tournament. Is it to do with King Arthur, or the arrangement of the tables, or both? If you have come across anything to do with Round Tables in your reading, if you think you might know something, check if it's in Elizabeth’s appendix here: https://swordschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Appendix-Round-Tables-of-England-Scotland-and-Wales-1230-1330-E.Champion-Final.pdf If it's already there, Elizabeth already knows about it. And if it isn't there, send it to me and I'll pass it on to her. Let’s crowdsource this and get to the bottom of it! Elizabeth tells us about her cage fighting days, and the injury she sustained that led to fibromyalgia and chronic pain. She also has autism and ADHD, and is able to give us some useful advice for fellow instructors and practitioners to help make our clubs as inclusive and supportive as possible. As well as all that, listen to this episode for top tips like why you need to put a sock on the end of a stick, how to make an axe safe to carry around the streets using just a brown paper bag, how to bear to watch terrible sword fights in films, and how many Dyson vacuum cleaners a cuirass is worth.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/synthetic-armour-and-smithing-in-france-with-anthony-rischard/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Anthony Rischard is a blacksmith, historical martial arts practitioner and proprietor of Black Armoury, one of the largest suppliers of historical martial arts gear in Europe. In our conversation we talk about how Anthony gave up his office job to become a full time blacksmith in France, and his move into starting Black Armoury. Have a listen to find out why they began producing suits of armour made entirely from synthetic materials and what the benefits of plastic are compared to steel. The last couple of years have been unusually challenging for Anthony’s business, especially with the current supply issues across Europe and the situation in Ukraine. There are a lot of photos to share with you for this episode! Visit the episode page on Swordschool.com to see them: https://swordschool.com/podcast/synthetic-armour-and-smithing-in-france-with-anthony-rischard/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/smacking-people-in-the-head-gracefully-with-riri-nitihardjo/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Riri Nitihardjo is a martial arts (and ballet) practitioner from Jakarta, Indonesia. Riri first got interested in swords when she discovered The Lord of the Rings and wanted to learn how to wield a sword like Aragorn. She became so hooked on Tolkein that she took a linguistics programme at university – though they wouldn’t let her do her graduate thesis on Elvish languages. The historical European martial arts scene is very small in Indonesia, so Riri and her friends started their own club. Five years later and the club, Gwaith-i-Megyr, is still going strong, with no formal structure and no paperwork. We chat about starting new things in your forties and how anyone at any age can get stronger and fitter and learn a new skill. Riri has been learning ballet, which has been really helpful for her sword training. If you are feeling “too old” for something, listen to this episode!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/is-there-anything-daniel-jaquet-cant-do-in-armour/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Daniel Jaquet should need no introduction. He has been extremely active in both the academic and practical aspects of medieval combat research for the last couple of decades or more.  He has a Ph.D. from Geneva University in medieval history, on combat in armour at the end of the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the Renaissance, based on studying combat manuals. So, he has a Ph.D. in actual, proper medieval sword fighting stuff, not just general medieval history stuff. He is a founder and co-editor of Acta Periodica Duellatorum, the only academic journal focussing on historical martial arts.  Daniel is perhaps best known for his work on how well a knight could move in full armour, producing video demonstrations of climbing walls and ladders, doing flips and even chopping firewood in full armour. We don’t just talk about armour, we also cover women fighters in history, and getting the study of historical European martial arts recognised as an academic field of study. And then Daniel’s electricity gets cut off by his neighbour’s builders, which means a rather abrupt end to this episode. There are a few links to share with you, but before all that, you ought to see the video of the obstacle run in armour: https://youtu.be/pAzI1UvlQqw Here is a link to Daniel’s study on moving in armour: Range of motion and energy cost of locomotion of the late medieval armoured fighter: A proof of concept of confronting the medieval technical literature with modern movement analysis. Iron Men exhibit in Vienna (Until 26 June 2022). Fight Like a Girl! An investigation into female martial practices in European Fight Books from the 14th to the 20th century. Daniel’s website is: https://www.djaquet.info/ And his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/danjaquet/featured

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/judging-and-jeopardy-with-rebecca-glass/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Rebecca Glass is a historical martial arts instructor and an avid baseball fan. She has also appeared on the TV quiz show Jeopardy and is a part of the Trivia scene. In our conversation we talk about all three of these interests, plus judging historical martial arts tournaments. Rebecca is highly respected as a fight director, so we talk about what makes a good judge and how to make the right decisions when judging a fight. We start by talking about Liechtenauer’s Zettel, and this is the book Rebecca mentions: Sword, Science and Society, by James Acutt. When we talk about managing your mindset during tournaments (or any sports), this is the book mentioned: The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion: Sports psychology, by Lesley Paterson and Simon Marshall. Finally, we also talk about the ideal alcohol pairing for doughnuts. What do you think would be best? Single malt? Champagne?

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fabris-vs-capoferro-with-reinier-van-noort/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Reinier van Noort is a martial arts instructor and translator of over a dozen historical fencing treatises. He now lives in Norway but is originally from the Netherlands, so we talk about his impressive skills in translating from one foreign language into another. You can find Reinier’s work at www.bruchius.com, and his list of publications here: Publications - Ense et Mente (bruchius.com).   We covered a lot in our conversation as you can see from the following notes:    Jägerstock If you’re subscribed to my newsletter you’ll probably know that I have been working on the Jägerstock as promised in the interview. Reinier’s book that includes the Jägerstock is: The Martial Arts of Georg Johann Pascha. There's also a free translation of the Jägerstock material here: http://www.bruchius.com/docs/Pascha%20Hunting%20Staff%20by%20RvN.pdf. The book version is a newer translation, based on a later text that has a few more lessons, and some better plates. In my newsletter of 18th March I posted my first Jägerstock video: https://vimeo.com/688832535/a4fc0fa994 Please note, I shot it before I’d even finished making the proper Jägerstock, so I’m winging it with a bo staff. I’ve also got a longish video of me actually making the weapon (while musing on matters history and craft), https://vimeo.com/698975685/b526163231 Another on lessons 1-3 with the finished weapon, https://vimeo.com/698975706/2021cc549a   And several more in the works. My current plan is to create a course on my teachable platform (which will be bundled in with the Mastering the Art of Arms subscription, of course), where I’ll post the videos as they are made. And when I have a working interpretation of the whole book (which is 34 lessons, each one of which is a short form), add those to the Solo Training course as a new section, and also release the whole ‘from book to working interpretation’ series as an object lesson in how I go about the interpretation process with an unfamiliar source, style, and weapon.   Fabris and Capoferro After the Jägerstock chat we also have a bit to say about Fabris and Capoferro. As mentioned in the episode, here is Reinier’s Fabris lecture: Longpoint 2017 - Lecture: From Fabris to Pascha - YouTube. Reinier says he has expanded the lineage a bit since the lecture. We have a bit of a discussion about the lunge – read more on how to Max Your Lunge here:  https://guywindsor.net/2022/04/max-your-lunge/  You can see the picture of Guy’s 1610 Capoferro, with the 1609 page stuck over the top of the 1610 page on podcast page on his website: https://swordschool.com/podcast/fabris-vs-capoferro-with-reinier-van-noort/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/rocket-science-and-cosmic-washing-machines-with-naziyah-mahmood/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Naziyah Mahmood is a Scottish astrophysicist, aerospace engineer, aspiring citizen astronaut, STEM ambassador, model, writer, and artist. And of course, she’s mad about swords. In our conversation we talk about Naziyah’s love for the Eastern sword arts, primarily Haidong Gumdo. But there’s a diversion into Ancient Roman twin-sword-wielding gladiators… We also talk about training with a visual impairment, being underestimated, and the importance of self-expression. Here is a link to Naziyah’s film, A New Beginning, produced with Lee Fletcher Photography. There are swords, lightsabers and an absolutely freezing Scottish castle backdrop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbOA6itSiZM  Where to find Naziyah: Blog: https://naziyahmahmood.wordpress.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NinjabiNaz Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naziyahmahmood/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/living-the-nobler-dream-with-christian-tobler/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Christian Tobler is a chivalric combat instructor and author of many books, including Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship, which launched the study of Liechtenauer in the Anglosphere. He also wrote Fighting with German Longsword, In St. George's Name: an Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts, In Service of the Duke, and many more. Not to mention his latest, which is Lance, Spear, Sword and Messer, a German Medieval Martial Arts Miscellany. In 1979, Christian and Carl Johnson founded one of the earliest historical martial arts organisations, The Order of Selohaar, a mystic order of chivalry, to try to answer the philosopher and polymath John Ruskin’s famous question, “Might we not live a nobler dream than this?”. The order is “dedicated to the preservation of honor, nobility, arcane wisdom, and martial excellence in an age where such traditions and values have generally been forgotten.” In our conversation we talk about getting into historical martial arts back in the 80s and 90s. The episode covers writing, researching, social media, and how to interpret the pictures in medieval manuscripts. We also talk about fighting each other, back in 2006. You can find Christian’s books at Freelance Academy Press, as well as the other usual places.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/duelling-and-a-day-in-the-life-of-guy/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Welcome to episode 100 of The Sword Guy Podcast! In this special episode, Ariel Anderssen (episode 93) interviews Guy about a whole load of stuff, including how Guy got into swords in the first place, the vision up a Scottish mountain that told him to open his school in Helsinki, injuries from duelling, Guy’s best ever sword fight, feminism, getting through the pandemic, and learning to fly. Ariel also asks Guy about his typical week – so if you have ever wondered how Guy spends his time, have a listen. Here are some photos from the infamous head wound incident: Thank you for listening, we hope you have enjoyed the last one hundred episodes. If you have enjoyed any of the conversations so far, please do leave a rating and review on your podcast platform, as it really helps other people find The Sword Guy podcast. We have many more exciting guests lined up, so keep tuning in! If you are interested in the Solo Training Course mentioned in the episode, you can find it here. And Guy’s book about solo training, The Windsor Method, is here.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/a-two-handed-sword-to-fight-a-griffin-with-marie-powell/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy It’s episode 99 of The Sword Guy Podcast! Next week we have a special 100th edition, so look out for that. While you’re waiting, you can enjoy this week’s episode with writer, journalist, editor and author, Marie Powell. Marie lives in Canada, but a search for her Welsh heritage inspired her to write her latest sword and sorcery epic, The Last of the Gifted. It is based on the events of 1282-1283 in Wales, when the last true Prince of Wales, Llywelyn of Aberffraw, was murdered by the English. His head was chopped off and sent to the king, Edward I, but nobody knows quite who killed him. There are several other mysteries surrounding the story, which we cover in our conversation, and we also talk about swords (both magical and historical), the Unicorn Exception, and giant elephants at Buckingham Palace. Find out more about Marie and her books: Website: https://mariepowell.ca/ Social Media Links: https://linktr.ee/mariepowell Last of the Gifted: Spirit Sight and Water Sight are available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook, with an omnibus edition also available in hardcover Spirit Sight - https://books2read.com/u/4XLkN1 Water Sight - https://books2read.com/u/mgznDR Last of the Gifted omnibus: https://books2read.com/u/mVaxqr Booklinks: https://mariepowell.ca/young-adult/booklinks/ Marie's mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/a8p8d2

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/mastering-movement-with-dan-edwardes/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dan Edwardes is a parkour coach and teacher of teachers. He's a founding member and executive director of Parkour Generations, an international organisation of Parkour Instructors with schools all over the world. He's also the author of The Parkour and Free Running Handbook. Dan also has a background as a swordsman. He lived in Japan for five years, and was one of very few westerners to train at the Katori Shinto-ryu, the oldest and most respected sword school in Japan. It’s the only school that still requires you to do the blood oath, the Keppan, which you can hear about in this episode. Parkour is seen by many as pretty dangerous, but Dan explains the difference between danger and risk, and how he has had to retrain people’s perceptions of parkour. We also find out what Dan does to keep his joints healthy and how his body copes with all the impact.   You can find more information on parkour and coaching training at www.danedwardes.com and at www.parkourgenerations.com.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-last-duel-or-was-it-with-ariella-elema/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr Ariella Elema is a finder of the forgotten, the hidden and the obscure. She's an academic and archivist and an armizare practitioner in Toronto. Her Ph.D. thesis, Trial by Battle in France and England, should give you some clue as to why I invited her on the show. But it also won the Canadian Society of Medievalists’ Leonard Boyle dissertation prize, which is very impressive. In our conversation we talk about trial by combat, trial by ordeal, and the film, The Last Duel. Was it actually the last duel? There are some fascinating insights from Ariella on how a trial by combat would come about, who got to participate in such trials, and how they didn’t necessarily end with any fighting taking place. You need to listen to hear Guy’s take on the German version of the trials: “It's like medieval, gimp-suited, mud wrestling, basically.” Here are some images of the Baculus Cornutus: Alençon, Bibliothèque municipale MS 96, folio 63v. From the second half of the twelfth century. British Library, Smithfield Decretals, MS Royal 10 E IV, folio 96v (detail). Circa 1300-1340. York Minster Cathedral, Saint William Window, Corpus vitrearum medii aevi no. 010564. Circa 1414. Here is a video lecture Ariella did for Middle Ages for Educators, called Anatomy of a Duel, about the case of Jean de Carrouges versus Jacques Le Gris, a lawsuit that occurred in Paris in 1386. It’s the subject of the book The Last Duel by Eric Jager, and also of the movie The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott. This will spoil the movie for you. (Please note, it’s a discussion of a prosecution for rape and some fairly graphic violence.) https://youtu.be/kxQa1Su-0F4   Ariella is on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ariellaelema