Teaching & Interpreting Historical Swordsmanship

“Still I say, that you must never let any of the company's new scholars play if you are not present so that you will be able to amend their mistakes. For in playing with others other than with the master they will learn bad habits which are hard to amend."
Achille Marozzo, Arte dell'Armi, 1578.
Historical swordsmanship and the rich spectrum of European martial arts has captured the attention of students of military history, Eastern martial artists, reenactors, stage choreographers, fencing historians, and tournament combatants. With this rediscovery has come an explosion of schools teaching historical fighting arts. Thousands of new students and teachers clamoring not only for interpretations, but for something even more rare: guidance on techniques for teaching and interpreting the long-lost arts. There are many volumes on performance training, sports philosophy, fencing and martial arts instruction. But to date there are none that take the unique requirements of historical European martial arts into account. For the teacher must be at once an interpreter and teacher, researcher and student. How to deal with the problems of artistic interpretation, translated and incomplete texts, and the larger problem of historical context are all addressed alongside practical advice about conducting single and group drills, structuring practice sessions, developing underlying principles for each system to train skilled swordsmen in both mind and body. The included essays cover the gamut of swordsmanship as practiced today; medieval, Renaissance, Classical. Some essays discuss the finer points of mental preparation while others talk about the practicalities of running a class or study group. All is based on differing blends between research and teaching experience. In this volume many leaders of the historical swordsmanship community from around the world have come together to offer valuable insights to new generations of students and instructors. The reader will find both practical hints on how to teach and philosophical approaches to guide the development of their own drills and practice exercises. The collected wisdom of these teachers would take many decades to accumulate. In this book the reader will find treasured advice from teachers both modern and ancient. The International contributors include Brian R. Price (USA), Stephen Hand (Australia), Christian H. Tobler (USA), Hans Heim (Germany), Milo Thurston (UK), Sean Hayes (USA), Colin Richards (Germany), William E. Wilson (USA), Guy Windsor (Finland), Matthew Galas (Belgium), Gary Chalek (USA), and Luca Porzio (Italy).
Includes:
"The One True Way" -- Brian R. Price
"The Notion of Martial Culture" -- Matt Galas
"Historical European Martial Arts: What's So Martial About This Art?" -- Marlon Hoess-Boettger
"A Few Notes on What Teachers Need to Know" -- Guy Windsor
"The Importance of Principles over Techniques" -- Stephen Hand
"Mental Aspects of Historical Swordsmanship" -- Luca Porzio
"Martial Arts - It's About People" -- Colin Richards
"'Seven Iron Please!': Tools for the Development of Historical Swordsmanship" -- Brian R. Price
"The Importance of Skill Progressions in Studying Western Martial Arts" -- Sean Hayes
"Teaching Historical Fencing in the Salle" -- William E. Wilson
"Between the Verses: Researching and Teaching the Art of Johannes Liechtenauer" -- Christian Henry Tobler
"Versetzen: The First Method of Defense with the Longsword in the Art of Liechtenauer" -- Hans Heim
"Researching & Teaching Historical Fencing" -- Gary Chelak
"In a Few Pages: Fighting Between the Poste of Fiore dei Liberi" -- Brian R. Price
"Brief Instructions upon Sir William Hope's New, Short & Easy Method of Fencing" -- Milo Thurston
Finally, this book goes further in that the insights presented are not limited to historical martial arts. Any teacher of physical arts will find culturally-based, practical solutions to the development of skills for students and the problems faced by their teachers. Softcover, 208pp.