Recently, I was asked why we teach rapier and longsword together in our Instructor Intensives. The questioner postulated that it was like teaching sky diving and skin diving in the same program. Sure rapiers and longswords are both swords but aren't they as distinct as these two types of "diving"? I think it's a great…
Read More... from An Argument for Training with Diverse Weapons, Part 1
I began my practice of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) without any personal connection to its original historical sources. My real connection was to movies and stories of swordsmanship. I had musketeers and knights running through my mind when I first connected with a group training in rapier fencing. Yet, what I really connected with…
Read More... from How to Connect with the Historical in HEMA
For the past many years my focus in the pursuit of Historical European Martial Arts has been very much on safely exploring the “martial" aspect. I want to get as close to the original martial art as I realistically can without actually putting myself, my training partners, or my students in mortal danger. Yet that is…
Read More... from Ways To Test Your Art — Triangulating on Life and Death