This modern textbook provides an extensive depiction of more than 75 dagger fencing techniques according to 15th-century dagger Master Hans Talhoffer's manuscripts, among other fencing luminaries, from past and present. In the Middle Ages, dagger fighting was part of every fencer's standard repertoire-just as combat training was for swordsmen. The authors have spent years thoroughly researching the techniques and studying and interpreting the old manuscripts in order to subsequently test them in practice. Based on these historical representations-complete with striking medieval drawings-each technique is explained and illustrated in a series of action photographs. The fencing student is thus able to follow the sequence of movements that make up each technique. Valuable tips on equipment and training, plus a glossary of important terms round out this new standard work.

In the sequel to the first volume, which introduced the long sword, Herbert Schmidt explains single-handed sword fighting techniques with a buckler, or small shield. "Single-handed sword" here refers to the sword wielded in one hand, as used throughout almost the entire Middle Ages. This book analyzes historical evidence, taken mainly from the 13th-century German combat manual Manuscript I:33, or "Tower Manuscript," the oldest and most widely trusted European sword fighting manual in existence. Find information on binds, posture, footwork, free fighting, and individual plays taken from the writings of fencing masters Hans Talhoffer, Andre Lignitzer, and Paulus Kal in this modern textbook that allows anyone interested-whether beginner or advanced-to work and improve his single-handed sword fighting skills.

Reach for the Highest Level of Tai Chi Practice You can achieve the highest level of tai chi practice by including tai chi sword in your training regimen. Here's your chance to take the next step in your tai chi journey. Once you have attained proficiency in the bare hand form and have gained listening and sensing skills from pushing hands, you are ready for tai chi sword. The elegant and effective techniques of traditional tai chi sword Tai chi sword will help you control your qi, refine your tai chi skills, and master yourself. You will strengthen and relax your body, calm and focus your mind, improve your balance, and develop proper tai chi breathing. This book provides a solid and practical approach to learning tai chi sword accurately and quickly. Includes over 500 photographs with motion arrows! *Historical overview of tai chi sword*Fundamentals, including hand forms and footwork*Generating power with the sword*12 tai chi sword breathing exercises*30 key tai chi sword techniques with applications*12 fundamental tai chi sword solo drills*Complete 54-movement Yang Tai Chi Sword sequence*48 martial applications from the tai chi sword sequence*10 tai chi sword 2-person matching drills No matter your age, tai chi sword is a wonderful way to improve your health and well-being. Tai Chi Chuan is one of the more popular health activities practiced today. According to the NCCAM div. of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, between 2.3-3 million people practice tai chi in the United States. Recommended by healthcare professionals, practiced for pleasure, fitness, or martial arts; by young and old alike, tai chi creates a vast community of people practicing for many different reasons. Many students expand their practice to include the Tai Chi Sword. It's fun, builds strength, and develops concentration and focus. Tai chi sword is integral to the long-term study of tai chi and qigong. This revised edition of our classic book on Tai Chi Sword includes a new modern, easy-to-follow layout; each movement is presented in 4-6 large photographs with lucid instructions on how to perform them; shows martial applications to help get the angles correct. Other sections offer a brief history of Tai Chi Sword, fundamental training routines, and qigong exercises to connect your Tai Chi Sword practice to your internal health.

Crowood Sports Guides provide sound, practical advice that will make you a better sportsperson, whether you are learning the basic skills, discovering more advanced techniques or reviewing the fundamentals of your sport.

'This is fencing!' is a rally call heard in training centres around the country. Coined by experienced GB fencing coach, Ziemowit Wojciechowski, it embodies the passion, skill and dedication needed to excel at an international level. As one of the world's most renowned foil coaches, achieving Olympic podium success and top world rankings for his fencers, Ziemowit has sustained a long and successful career, which he now unpacks in this comprehensive guide. Using real life examples and case studies, This is Fencing! offers detailed approaches to training, tactics and exercises in the foil, providing key insights into how to create both individual and club training sessions. Key topics include: the core principles of coaching, training and performance; aspects of an individual lesson; detailed examples of footwork exercises; physical and psychological preparation and practical tactical advice during competitions.

In the sequel to the first volume, which introduced the long sword, Herbert Schmidt explains single-handed sword fighting techniques with a buckler, or small shield. "Single-handed sword" here refers to the sword wielded in one hand, as used throughout almost the entire Middle Ages. This book analyzes historical evidence, taken mainly from the 13th-century German combat manual Manuscript I:33, or "Tower Manuscript," the oldest and most widely trusted European sword fighting manual in existence. Find information on binds, posture, footwork, free fighting, and individual plays taken from the writings of fencing masters Hans Talhoffer, Andre Lignitzer, and Paulus Kal in this modern textbook that allows anyone interested-whether beginner or advanced-to work and improve his single-handed sword fighting skills.

In 1599, during the period when the Portuguese crown was united to the crowns of Castile and Aragon, the Portuguese master-at-arms Domingo Luis Godinho wrote a manuscript in Spanish entitled Arte de Esgrima (The Art of Fencing). Although his life is largely a mystery and Godinho's text was never published in his lifetime, today his manuscript is of utmost relevance in the study of Renaissance Iberian fencing. It is the only complete treatise discovered so far describing the 'Common' or 'Vulgar' style of Iberian fencing, first documented in the fifteenth century, but by Godinho's day, displaced by the new system of La Verdadera Destreza (the true skill). The work includes instructions for the single sword, a long-bladed, cut & thrust weapon taught alone and with the use of the shield, buckler, dagger, and cape, as well as paired with a second sword. Godinho's instructions also included the longest known text on the use of the montante, or two-handed sword, a devastating weapon that was used by soldiers and body-guards, in duels and battlefields, in crowded streets and aboard galleys. Translator Tim Rivera provides a detailed introduction that explains Godinho's relationship to earlier masters of the 'Common School' of swordsmanship, and a short primer on the various weapons, guards, parries, footwork and terminology of the tradition.

The most detailed and comprehensive treatise on swordsmanship ever written. Gerard Thibault’s Academy of the Sword offers an extraordinary glimpse into a forgotten landscape of ideas, in which Pythagorean sacred geometry illuminated the lethal realities of rapier combat to create one of the Western world’s only thoroughly documented esoteric martial arts. Translated by the widely respected occultist and scholar John Michael Greer, this stunningly illustrated and precisely detailed manual of Renaissance swordsmanship is a triumphant document of Renaissance culture—as well as a practical manual of a martial art that can still be studied and practiced today.

Perhaps no other weapon represents Renaissance Italian fencing like the rapier. But do we know how it was used and how it was taught? This book takes you to the fencing School, or Salle, of celebrated renaissance rapier Master Nicoletto Giganti of Venice, one among the period teachers leaving instructions on the use of this weapon. More uniquely, his 1606 text The School, or Salle is a veritable training curriculum, with its stepwise lessons and easy-to-follow explanations on the use of the rapier alone and rapier and dagger. This faithful translation of Giganti's The School by internationally-known rapier teacher Tom Leoni includes the complete text, original illustrations, and an introduction on rapier fencing that will make Giganti's text easy to follow. If you are a martial artist, a fencer or have an interest in European martial culture, this book belongs on your shelf.

Camillo Palladini's manuscript for his discourse on fencing is housed in the De Walden Library at the Wallace Collection in London. Previously unpublished and largely unknown, it is of central importance to a modern understanding of Italian rapier play in the sixteenth century. This stunning book, a joint endeavour between the Royal Armouries and the Wallace Collection, reproduces the forty-six red chalk illustrations in the manuscript--only three of which have ever been seen in print--together with a transcription and translation of the original Italian text. Perfect for students of fencing, lovers of Italian art, sixteenth-century researchers, and historical reenactors and interpreters, The Art of Fencing: The Forgotten Discourse of Camillo Palladini showcases a striking example of Renaissance swordsmanship.

Robert Childs' book seeks to bestow not just mechanical advice, but also to provide a philosophy of fencing that shows the swordsman not only the how, but why. There are a number of "how-to" rapier manuals now available; both those written centuries ago and now presented in modern English translation, or those composed by modern maestri of the sword in emulation of those by-gone works. But there has always been the parallel tradition of the martial treatise. It is this category of work that 30+ year fencer and currently top-ranked rapier fencer, Rob Childs, emulates. After explaining the basics of his own, eclectic system of rapier combat, he walks students through a wide variety of topics: how to choose the proper sword for you; how to fence students of different sizes; physical qualities and emotional temperaments; how to adapt your approach to different contexts (casual matches, competitions and medals matches) while maintaining martial reality; the use of sound, body displacement to deceive the opponent, and the most common tells fencers give and how to train them out of yourself-while using them against your opponent. Interwoven with personal anecdotes, you will gain both a look into the mindset and training paradigm of a world-class competitor, the sort of advice athletes for generations have sought from highly-skilled coaches, and be entertained at Childs' own adventures through the evolving world of historical swordsmanship. Although centred on the rapier, this work is really about fencing writ large and will be of value to anyone who has held a blade and heard the words 'en garde'! Illustrated with colour photographs throughout.

With the exciting sport of fencing steadily becoming more mainstream in the UK, US and around the world, parents are spending thousands each year to help and encourage their children to train and excel in this unique Olympic sport. Fencing can be a mysterious world to the uninitiated, and parents and young fencers will have many questions about the sport, the fencer's potential and the dos and don'ts. From Last to First aims to answer all these questions and many more. Written by a team comprising Jon Salfield, a leading Youth Development and High Performance coach (London Olympics 2012), and Daniela I. Norris, an experienced author and fencing-parent of an international youth fencer, with input from Strength and Conditioning and Psychology experts, and a foreword from a multiple champion and highly-regarded author, it is meant for anyone who wants to know how to support their young fencer from the start of their fencing adventure, all the way through to success at international competitions.

Fencing, Form and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage reveals an underexplored archive of Italian, English and German fencing texts, which were designed explicitly to teach tempo and judgement. This intervention in Shakespeare and Jonson scholarship provides critical new insights into the plots, pacing and characterisation of drama and attends to the ethical and pedagogical work displayed and accomplished by fencing and dramatic devices. It yields a robust theory of active waiting and brings the imbrications of appropriate timing and ethical decision-making to the fore.

Following the success of Jeffrey L. Forgeng's translation of Joachim Meyer's The Art of Sword Combat the author was alerted to an earlier recension of the work which was discovered in Lund University Library in Sweden. The manuscript, produced in Strassburg around 1568, is illustrated with thirty watercolour images and seven ink diagrams. The text covers combat with the longsword (hand-and-a-half sword), dusack (a one-handed practice weapon comparable to a sabre), and rapier. The manuscript's theoretical discussion of guards is one of the most critical passages to understanding this key feature of the historical practice, not just in relation to Meyer but in relation to the medieval combat systems in general. The manuscript offers an extensive repertoire of training drills for both the dusack and the rapier, a feature largely lacking in treatises of the period as a whole but critical to modern reconstructions of the practice. The translation also includes a biography of Meyer, much of which has only recently come to light, as well as technical terminology, and other essential information for understanding and contextualizing the work.

Christian Tobler makes a deep dive into the fighting traditions of the late 14th and early 15th centuries, particularly as recorded by Johannes Liechtenauer (1300-1389). It was a time of plague, of the Hundred Years War, of the Peasants' Revolt, but also a time when the origins of the European Renaissance were formed. In the later years of this turbulent time a shadowy figure named Johannes Liechtenauer systematized lessons for swordsmanship, wrestling, armoured and mounted combat. Recorded in cryptic, rhyming verses, it fell to masters of the 15th and 16th century to record, clarify and expand the grandmaster's instructions in an extensive body of fencing manuals. As the world of the knight receded into history, these texts - many extensively and beautifully illustrated - were forgotten by all but German-language antiquarians and fencing historians until the last decade of the 20th century, when they were rediscovered by a new audience of martial artists and historians. No author has done more to reveal this lost world of German knightly martial arts to a modern audience than Christian Tobler. Lance, Spear, Sword and Messer is a rich collection of Tobler's work, containing extensive material on topics as diverse as the two-handed sword, spear, poleaxe, wrestling, and the use of long shields, combined with thought-provoking analysis and historical commentary that will occupy the mind-and challenge the preconceptions-of students and historians of medieval German martial arts. In addition, the martial career-in arms and in the literature of arms-of Emperor Maximilian I, often called "the Last Knight," who was himself a devoted student of the tradition, serves as a capstone of this collection. Maximilian's literary output, including a planned but unwritten fight book, was a similar capstone in his own lifetime at the waning of the Middle Ages and start of the Northern Renaissance.

Modern fencing's origins come from the elegant, and deadly rapier of the late Italian Renaissance. Several schools of rapier fencing existed, amongst which one of the strongest and longest lasting was the Roman-Neapolitan-Sicilian School of swordsmanship (Scuola Romana-Napoletana-Siciliana ). Arising from the early, northern school, the southern school dates to the seventeenth century, in Rome, then spread throughout the south of Italy and evolved uninterruptedly until the nineteenth century, when it merged with the more modern traditions of fencing. Historical Fencing Manual: Rapier-Fencing in the 17th and 18th Centuries, is a true, modern fencing manual for training in this tradition, written by a modern master of the art. The texts of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century masters are broken-down, synthesized and arranged into a concise, modern pedagogy, opening a gateway to the southern Italian school for the very first time. Beginning with fundamentals of stance, footwork, attack and defence, the text also covers complex provocations, disarms and grapples, and use of the left-hand dagger-a complete course under one cover!

Comprehensive, detailed instruction in the use of the two-hand sword, rapier and dagger, broadsword and buckler, rapier and cloak, and dagger and cloak, along with 59 illustrations, including diagrams and rare woodcuts, of classic fencing positions. Valuable information for scholars, sword-play enthusiasts, general readers and anyone interested in this age-old form of self-defense.

Growing up in Maplewood, New Jersey the only Black, Muslim-American in hijab, in middle school Ibtihaj discovered fencing, a sport traditionally reserved for the wealthy and elite. Though she would start fencing later than most at 12 years old, she had an undeniable talent-the sort that would soon put her on the international stage. But Ibtihaj saw something more in her Olympic journey: an opportunity to take action, to stand up and make a Muslim-American woman of color impossible to ignore. Ibtihaj's path to Olympic greatness has been marked with hateful opposition and near-debilitating challenges-bigotry from teammates at Duke University and Team USA, death threats, and social hardships as a Muslim-American. In Proud, her exhilarating emergence from young outsider to national hero and outspoken activist is a timeless, uniquely American tale of hard work, determination, and resilience that hasn't been told.

This open access book is the first publication to provide a comparative framework for the study of martial culture and historical martial arts in Europe and Asia, in particular in Italy and China. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of martial studies, contributors to this volume include historians, archeologists, art historians, scholars of fencing literature, metallurgists, as well as contemporary master swordsmiths and masters-of-arms in historical martial arts. Assembling researchers from these diverse fields, this book offers a multi-perspectival and dynamic view of martial culture across time and space. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary significance of this book cannot be overemphasized. Whereas a number of contributors are internationally recognized and, indeed, leading authorities in their respective fields; for example, Jeffrey Shaw has been a world-leading new media artist and scholar since the 1970s, while Ma Mingda is a well-known historian and the contemporary founder of Chinese martial studies; and while there are significant overlaps in their research interests, this book brings their research within a single volume for the first time. Equally significant, the book is structured in such a way to reflect the various core aspects of martial studies, particularly in relation to the study of historic sword culture, including history, culture, philosophy, literature and knowledge transmission, material culture, as well as the technical aspects of historical fencing. As one of the first titles on martial studies, this book becomes a reference not only for scholars taking an interest in this subject, but also for historians; scholars with interest in Chinese and/or Italian history (particularly of the Medieval or early modern periods), the history of international relations in Asia / Far East; anthropologists; scholars of martial (arts) studies and researchers in sword-making and/or historic metallurgy.