Polish and Czech sources on medieval urban violence
Note to reader: This document complements an essay published on the blog Martial Culture in...
Read MorePosted by Jean Chandler | Jul 12, 2021 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research, Research articles |
Note to reader: This document complements an essay published on the blog Martial Culture in...
Read MorePosted by Jean Chandler | Nov 18, 2020 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research, Research articles |
When you first start reading the medieval fencing manuals, one of the curious things you keep...
Read MorePosted by Adam Franti | Dec 1, 2019 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Meyer Articles, Research, Research articles |
The procession arrives at the square. Publicans erects their tents and tap their barrels....
Read MorePosted by Adam Franti | Oct 19, 2019 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Meyer Articles, Meyer Dagger, Meyer Dusack, Meyer Halben Stangen, Meyer longsword, Meyer Rappier, Research, Research articles |
There is a particular tension at play in the modern Historical European Martial Arts community...
Read MorePosted by Christopher VanSlambrouck | Dec 31, 2018 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Reading, Research, Research articles, Study, Study Articles |
“An average, foundational knowledge of the past helps us understand the 14th-16th c. Fechtschulen...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Jul 31, 2018 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research, Research articles |
At least as early as in the early 17th cent, fencing masters swore to care in particular for...
Read MorePosted by Piermarco Terminiello | Mar 23, 2018 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research, Research articles |
This article translates and contextualises the longsword bout detailed in Le tre giornate di...
Read MorePosted by Maciej Talaga | Feb 6, 2018 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Teaching, Teaching & training methods, Teaching Methodology, Teaching Pedagogics |
Ours are fighting systems that are under (re)construction. Those of us who consider themselves...
Read MorePosted by Reinier van Noort | Feb 4, 2017 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
In the mid-19th century, not that long after the Belgian war of independence, an experiment was...
Read MorePosted by Matt Galas | Sep 9, 2016 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Teaching & training methods |
Over the past five years, an increasing number of HEMA tournaments have added a new kind of award,...
Read MorePosted by Arturo Camargo | Jul 16, 2016 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Teaching & training methods, Teaching Methodology, Teaching Pedagogics |
Few men are born brave; many become so through care and force of discipline. – Flavius...
Read MorePosted by Ariella Elema | Mar 11, 2016 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
Part One of this article examined the famous judicial duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques...
Read MorePosted by Ariella Elema | Mar 4, 2016 | Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
According to the website Deadline Hollywood, Studio 8 has hired a screenwriter to turn Eric...
Read MorePosted by Alexander Fürgut | Jan 23, 2016 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Teaching & training methods, Teaching Methodology |
This article describes how full contact martial arts handle sparring intensity like Mixed Martial Arts, Dog Brothers Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Luta Livre, Freestyle wrestling, Kendo and what we can learn from this for HEMA.
Read MorePosted by Chris Slee | Oct 23, 2015 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
The entry on fencing in René François’ 1621 encyclopedia is a rich source of terminology and...
Read MorePosted by Chris Slee | Oct 9, 2015 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
In the introduction to “The Sword and the Centuries” (1901), Alfred Hutton mentions a curious incident. His fencing group in the London Rifle Brigade were invited to Belgium to put on a display of historical fencing. What can we discover about this Belgian event? What follows is an overview some literary detective work that reveals Adolphe Corthey, a man in every way Hutton’s equal and the powerhouse behind late nineteenth century HEMA in France.
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Aug 5, 2015 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Meyer Articles, Meyer Dagger, Meyer Dusack, Meyer Halben Stangen, Meyer longsword, Meyer Rappier, Research articles, Study Articles |
Almost exactly a year ago I was lucky enough to be taken on a small journey that has been a long...
Read MorePosted by Bert Gevaert | Jun 12, 2015 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
Continuing with his four part series on The use of the saber in the army of Napoleon, Dr....
Read MorePosted by Bert Gevaert | Jun 5, 2015 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
Continuing with his four part series on The use of the saber in the army of Napoleon, Dr....
Read MorePosted by Bert Gevaert | May 22, 2015 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
Continuing with his series on The use of the saber in the army of Napoleon, Dr. Bert Gevaert now...
Read MorePosted by Bert Gevaert | May 8, 2015 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
“The sword is the weapon in which you should have most confidence, because it rarely fails you by...
Read MorePosted by Jean Chandler | May 2, 2015 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
Introduction: So what happened to the Second Estate? Most of my own HEMA-related historical...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Feb 10, 2015 | Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles, Techniques & interpretation |
Our personal goals in studying HEMA are varied, complex and individually quite different. For...
Read MorePosted by Jean Chandler | Feb 7, 2015 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
The 14th Century: Famine, war, plague and demographic collapse. The rise of the vernacular and...
Read MorePosted by Andrea Conti | Jan 10, 2015 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Meyer Articles, Meyer Rappier, Research articles, Study Articles, Techniques & interpretation |
There are many reasons why I devote much of my time and my energies on what Joachim Meyer has...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Nov 7, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Every now and then I get the question why I don’t take part in tournaments. The answer to...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Oct 30, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Little is known of any indigenous martial arts traditions of Scandinavia, and while the Icelandic...
Read MorePosted by Robert Geißler | Oct 24, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Teaching & training methods |
This article is to some extent a reply to Γιώργος Ζαχαρόπουλος’s article in which he points out...
Read MorePosted by Jürg Gassmann | Sep 27, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
Below are three versions of the Fencing Ordinance of the Swiss town of Solothurn, first the...
Read MorePosted by Andrea Conti | Sep 27, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Historical overview of the Vadi family Chronology from the X to the XIX centuries House on which the Prestige of Aristocracy was bestowed, raised the banner of Nobility Editor’s note: Philippo di Vadi Pisano was a 15th...
Read MorePosted by Bert Gevaert | Sep 12, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
“Now’s your change, Charles – after them with the sword!’ With a thunder...
Read MorePosted by George Zacharopoulos | Aug 29, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Well I guess this is the “hot potato” of the HEMA community! I am sure that a lot of other people before me and surely a lot of others after me will deal with the subject. First of all I have to let you know that I never...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Aug 1, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Meyer Articles, Meyer Dagger, Meyer Halben Stangen, Meyer longsword, Meyer Rappier, Research articles, Study Articles |
We all share the same love for our personal and shared discoveries of a forgotten European martial...
Read MorePosted by Jürg Gassmann | Jun 6, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
In the early 1550s, the Nuremberg Meistersinger Georg Hager wrote: Wer brauchen wil die löblich kunst, von einem meister sol ers leren, Nicht von einem winckel[1] fechter; sunst hatt er die kunst nicht mit eren[2]. Which...
Read MorePosted by George Georgas | May 23, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
‘…With this, he drew the sharp blade at his side, a powerful longsword, and gathering his limbs...
Read MorePosted by George Georgas | May 9, 2014 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture |
Original article by Eytichios Tzirtilakis. Translation into English by George E. Georgas Once upon a time in the Byzantine Empire, the wooden swords were commonly used as weapons. From the time of the legendary Byzantine hero...
Read MorePosted by Jean Chandler | Apr 11, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Anglophones are taught from an early age to believe firmly in the notion of the inevitability of...
Read MorePosted by Krist Martens | Jan 31, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
The end of a new year and the beginning of a new year is for many people the ultimate occasion to launch new resolutions: losing weight, stop smoking, not spending too much money on certain things etc., etc. Some of us...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Jan 21, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Looking at the recent “sexistic HEMA banner debate” I really feel a concern about how...
Read MorePosted by Mike Cartier | Jan 17, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Teaching & training methods, Training methods |
Fencing with the Sword is nothing other than a discipline, wherein your force strives together with your sword in placement so that one with the other, using care and agility, artfulness, delicacy and manliness, are at need the...
Read MorePosted by Mike Cartier | Jan 10, 2014 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Teaching & training methods, Training methods |
“Fencing with the Sword is nothing other than a discipline, wherein your force strives...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Oct 20, 2013 | Fencing Culture |
With no little shame, and for lack of time, I would today just very briefly like to suggest a...
Read MorePosted by Iacopo Venni | Oct 16, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Neither a real weapon, nor a simple cloth: the cape in Italian martial arts. The cape is an item of clothing, subject to the rules of fashion and climate, and cannot be described appropriately by measures and rules, therefore it...
Read MorePosted by Jean Chandler | Oct 9, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Another excellent lecture by Jean Chandler, held at the IGX in Boston, USA...
Read MorePosted by Jean Chandler | Oct 2, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
French fencing guilds of Paris, Lille, and Amiens in the 16th and 17th century Translated by Pierre Pichon Edited by Jean Chandler, SDA NOLA, New Orleans & Roger Norling, GHFS/MFFG Finally we have here English translations...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Sep 16, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
On this day Sep 16 1920 one of our greatest HEMA Pioneers, Egerton Castle died. Together with men like Cpt Alfred Hutton, Baron de Cosson, Archibald Corble and Kpt Emil Fick and some 50 more men around Europe, he struggled to...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Aug 27, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
With all due respect to those who have opposing views regarding the new USFCA Master title, and to Ken Mondschein, Jerry Benson, Walter Green of of Salle Green and Jeff Lord, Tom and John Farmer of the Knoxville Academy of the...
Read MorePosted by Piermarco Terminiello | Aug 5, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Armed civilian conflict was a reality of early modern life, both arranged duels and spontaneous violence. Many masters speak lucidly of deadly combat, or claim direct experience of it, which should not surprise given their...
Read MorePosted by Jens Peter Kleinau | Jun 29, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
At various points discussions have surfaced again and again, which question the chronology of the fencing styles and schools of late medieval and renaissance times. The question, who could have been the first fencing master and...
Read MorePosted by Fran Terminiello | May 5, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
I sought this article out of simple curiosity and was intrigued and surprised by the content. At...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Apr 19, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Psychology & Mentality, Teaching & training methods |
“If you want to learn how to fight properly and effectively with the long sword, so that you...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Apr 3, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
Here is an excellent lecture on Fiore Furlano de Liberi, Ludwig von Eyb and more, by Michael Chidester, held at Fechtschule America 2013. Well worth watching, no matter if you focus more on the “Italian” or...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Apr 1, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
This short movie shows a glimpse of the world of the Collegiate Fencing, the still living child of the Fechtschule tradition. For more reading, look at the excellent article An overview of German collegiate fencing traditions by...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Feb 23, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Meyer Articles, Meyer Halben Stangen, Meyer longsword, Research articles, Study Articles |
On this day, 443 years ago, Fechtmeister Joachim Meyer published his magnificent fencing treatise...
Read MorePosted by Piermarco Terminiello | Jan 18, 2013 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
The relative benefit and importance of competition in modern HEMA is a frequent subject of...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Jan 1, 2013 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture |
In Sweden we have a saying; “A loved child has many names” and looking at what is...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Dec 18, 2012 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Today we raise our glasses to the memory of the 19th cent. HEMA-pioneer Cpt. Alfred Hutton...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Dec 10, 2012 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
On this day, December 10, 433 years ago, Paul Hektor Mair was hung at the age of 62, convicted of embezzlement of the city of Augsburg’s funds. He had spent the money on a lavish lifestyle, often throwing big parties with...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Nov 16, 2012 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
In my opinion the dussack doesn’t quite get the recognition it deserves in the historical...
Read MorePosted by Falko Fritz | Oct 24, 2012 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Techniques & interpretation |
When we hear how people describe the art of fencing in the Middle Ages, we often hear them say that it was all about fighting to the death, or at least to harm the opponent in a way that he couldn’t continue fighting. Preferably...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Sep 26, 2012 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Study Articles, Training methods |
“Ey fåår Fächtare Krantz förn ändas Manlige Strijden. The Fighter shall not receive the...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Jul 17, 2012 | Articles, Fencing Culture, Research articles, Study Articles |
This article is written to accompany the recent article about the mysticist, and possibly even fencer and a Freyfechter, Heinrich Agrippa. If you haven’t read the article, it is suggested you do so, before...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Jul 9, 2012 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (15 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German knight, an ambassador, magician, occult writer, theologian, astrologer, and alchemist, and as it appears a soldier and...
Read MorePosted by Hans Jornlind | Apr 15, 2012 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
For some time now I have searched and collected information about the Swedish fencing Master...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Apr 19, 2011 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
The famous Augsburg family Fuggers are still considered to have been one of the wealthiest...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Feb 16, 2011 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture |
What kind of steel longsword should one choose for sparring? There are of course many aspects to...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Feb 10, 2011 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
What was it like in a German 16th Century Fechtboden? Here is a glimpse written by Prof. Dr. G Panconcelli-Calzia in 1926, based on his studies of the manuscript entitled “Codex Guelf 83.4 August 8°, which still resides in...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Jan 26, 2011 | Articles, Fencing Culture |
How did one train soldiers and horses for war in the 17th century? These images give a small...
Read MorePosted by Roger Norling | Jan 26, 2011 | Arms & Armour, Articles, Fencing Culture |
A simple reply would be long enough to reach your opponent. Stupid answer, I know… But the...
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