About 6 weeks ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on the “Matt Easton” prototype sabre. How did it fare compared to their standard sabre offering? Read on and find out. At a Glance Most sabreurs will agree that the ideal sabre is a mythical and elusive beast. The right combination of weight,Read more about Review: Kvetun “Matt Easton” Sabre Prototype[…]

A new translation by Harry R. At a Glance With the advent of Wiktenauer fencing manuals have become easier to come by, but there is still plenty of room for printed translations. One such book by Melbourne’s Harry R. has been released in recent weeks, and provides a fresh new look at Codex 44.A.8 (betterRead more about Review: Peter von Danzig[…]

Abstract (aka TL;DR) Much of early fencing is assumes an accompanying knowledge of mounted combat and general equitation. It may be that there are implicit equestrian ideas taken for granted by fencers of the time which may prove useful in thinking about fencing today. In this post we explore Collected and Extended gaits in riding,Read more about From Equestrian to Pedestrian: Collection & Extension for Fencing on Foot[…]

Decision trees are sometimes derided by practitioners of historical fencing; after all the chaos of a fencing match rarely allows the luxury of time for complex decision making, and even a relatively simple decision tree can have multiple recursive branches and layers.  As a result even a relatively sedate exchange gives precious little opportunity theRead more about Decision Graphs: When You Can’t See the Forest for the Trees[…]

When it comes to Historical Fencing, few things draw more intense community discussion than that of rules and scoring at HEMA events.  This should come as no surprise – everyone’s motives and goals for taking part in Historical Martial Arts are different, and so everyone is looking for the ideal ruleset which captures what it isRead more about Refereeing in Historical Fencing: Consistency & Communication[…]

The video below shows an adaptation of the Zornhut play described below. “If you stand in the right Wrath stance and your opponent strikes from his right to your left, then with a step of your right foot drive with displacement under his blade and over your head, and catch his strike on your flatRead more about Adapting a Zornhut Play[…]

“Even though this art must be learned chiefly through the practice of the body, yet it is certain and true that as with others, students can conceive it in their memory much better when it is assembled, written out, and placed before their eyes in a proper pedagogical order, and afterwards it can also beRead more about A Taxonomy of Technique: Meyer’s 5 Things[…]

An observation often made of late period German fencing (such as that described in the work of Mair or Meyer) it that it uses a surprisingly large number of guard positions.  In fact some criticism can be made that there are in fact too many postures, depending on the fencing background of the reader.  Read more about Guards! Guards! Notes on the Many Postures of Meyer[…]

Just a brief post to provide a link to the material presented at Swordplay 2016 this year in Brisbane, covering a selection of material from Meyer’s polearms.   Swordplay 2016 Workshop-Fundamentals of Meyer’s Polearms