Hi!
Lots going on this week: the new Fiore film is raising funds; the Historical Fencing Research company has released its findings on tip safety; the Fiore facsimile books are printing and shipping as we speak; and I even made it briefly to the Wallace Collection (for the millionth time).

The NEW Fiore Movie

Have you seen the short movie Fiore? It’s a ten minute film with extraordinary historical accuracy and detail, about Fiore dei Liberi. It came out in 2022. I interviewed the film maker Alberto Mattea in episode 145 of The Sword Guy. (There’s a link to the film on youtube in the shownotes.) I reviewed it at the time:

“I loved FIORE. It manages the almost impossible feat of being both historically accurate and entertaining, with appeal for anyone who likes sword fights, as well as for Fiore specialists. It is by far the best depiction of the period I have ever seen, with extraordinary attention to detail in the clothing, furniture, food, even the process of making manuscripts. I’ve spent my life studying Fiore’s works, and it was wonderful to see the master’s words come alive on the screen.”

Well, they are doing a sequel! And they are raising funds on Indiegogo right now. You can find the project here. They are asking for a tiny amount of money, so every little helps. If you’d like to support the project, please do!

Fiore Facsimile

In case you missed the announcement in the last email, our new facsimile of Il Fior di Battaglia, and its companion volume, are now available to buy at swordschool.shop. It’s a thing of beauty!

The book reproduces the Getty manuscript in its entirety, in full colour, and as close as possible to the size of the original.

The second half of this volume is a second reproduction of the manuscript with the original Italian text replaced by my English translation. This recreates the experience of reading the original Italian as closely as possible. The book also includes an introduction to Fiore and his life and times, the provenance of the manuscript, and suggestions for further study.

This way, you get the original, and the translation, in one volume… for the same price as the original facsimile-only edition.

If you buy the facsimile you will get a free ebook copy of the companion volume, which includes a complete transcription of the manuscript. Or you can order it as a paperback too (with a discount if you get them both together).

NEW IN: Audatia Print and Play decks

We have finally figured out how to distribute my card game Audatia on the swordschool shop. We haven’t quite cracked the physical deck problem yet, but you can get PDFs to print at home to build your decks. You can also get super-spiffy desktop wallpaper images, like the one you see here:

You can get the entire collection (four character decks, plus the armour and Liechtenauer expansion packs and wallpapers) at a hefty discount here: https://swordschool.shop/products/audatia-bundle​
Or browse the whole collection here: https://swordschool.shop/collections/audatia​

The Science of Safety in Historical Martial Arts

The Historical Fencing Research safety project (see The Sword Guy episode 198 with Jamie MacIver) has released its preliminary results.

This from Jamie:

• Phase one of the Safety Tips research has concluded
• Report being published March 16th
• Main conclusion: Rubber Tips significantly increase the risk of pushing on a mask
• Large Thermoplastic tips greatly reduce the risk of puncture without increasing risk to pushing on a mask
• If you want to be sent a copy of the full report sign up to the mailing list and it will be sent to you: https://historicalfencingresearch.com/support-our-work/ (select "Safety & Equipment Research)
• Planning for Phase 2 to further explore these result is already underway - again sign up to the mailing list to stay informed

As a backer of the project I got early access, and can confirm it’s well worth a read. Plus, it costs you nothing to sign up to their mailing list…

Paradoxes of Historical Martial Arts

A paradox is an absurd or contradictory statement that is nonetheless true. At least that what it is now: when George Silver wrote his Paradoxes of Defence, published in 1599, it meant something contrary to popular opinion (which is why we don’t find his opinions paradoxical).

The opposite of a true statement is often another true statement, and I've been thinking a lot about the many contradictory but true statements that apply to HMA (such as #2: “Expertise matters. Do not trust experts”). So, I'm writing a series of "paradoxes of historical martial arts", that I'd like your views on. Each paradox in the series is framed as two true statements that contradict each other. You can find them on Swordpeople.com in The Salle space, with the hashtag #paradoxesofhma
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What I’m Reading

I’m currently re-reading Traitor’s Blade, by Sebastien de Castell. It’s volume 1 in his Greatcoats series, and perhaps my absolute favourite of his many awesome books. Read it if you haven’t already. I picked it up again because Sebastien writes the best sword fights in the business, and I was looking for examples to use in the book I’m working on (the new Swordfighting for Writers). I could have flicked through it, or used the search function on my e-reader, but thought I’d better just read the whole thing. You know, for research. It’s work, honest.

I’m near the end of volume 1, and will probably just read through the entire four book series. For research.

cheers,

Guy
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