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Hi!

I’ve got a mixed bag for you today. First up, the best answer I’ve ever come across as to why we don’t see any punches in pre-modern martial arts, written by Maxime Chouinard (whom you may recall from episode 27 of The Sword Guy).

It would do you no favours to summarise his article. If you’re interested in the question, go read it here:

https://hemamisfits.com/2025/10/05/a-paucity-of-punches-why-was-punching-so-rare-in-pre-modern-martial-arts/

On Becoming a Cat

I took a week off from data recently. It was awesome. 100% would recommend, even though it didn’t have quite the effect I was expecting. It did give me a new baseline from which to have a more productive relationship with the data-enabled tools I use. (My pens and planes have never given me any trouble.) The TL:DR: Be a Cat.

I’ve written up the details here: https://guywindsor.net/2025/10/on-becoming-a-cat-my-7-day-data-detox/

Moving Like Fiore

The seminar last weekend here in Suffolk went very well. The hall was full (a bit too full for some of the exercises), and every student seemed to be engaging well with the material. Most ‘sword’ seminars don’t spend the first two hours on basic mechanics, but those two hours certainly paid off. We managed to cover a lot of ground, though of course in a single day one can only scratch the surface. Hopefully they all enjoyed it enough they’ll bug the organisers for another one! I completely failed to take any photos or video, because I was concentrating on the students actually present.

It was especially nice to meet a whole lot of sword enthusiasts from the area. And may I just say, Fiorists: the best rear-weighted guards of the day were from our German guests. So get practising!

If you’re interested in organising a seminar on any subject I’m qualified to teach, just ping me an email to discuss it. Don’t be shy.

Alison Balsom’s Hummel Concerto

I mentioned a while ago on this list that Alison Balsom, perhaps the greatest classical trumpeter of this century so far, is retiring in her mid 40s. I finally got round to watching her last performance, at the Last Night of the Proms, and it’s electric. By far the most expressive performance of this piece I’ve ever heard. It’s as if she’s been freed by her retirement to just go for it. You can watch in on the BBC iPlayer (use a VPN if it’s not available in your area) here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002jmy0/bbc-proms-2025-last-night-of-the-proms

Or on the radio: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002j624

In either case, scroll to about 24 mins 30sec in for the beginning of the concerto.

Helsinki, Finland, October 31st, November 1st and 2nd:

Join me for a varied weekend of workshops I’m teaching for the SHMS: Angelo Smallsword on the Friday night, Vadi’s Longsword on Saturday, and Fiore’s Pollax on Sunday. Details and sign-up instructions are here. Scroll down for details in English.

On the Podcast: Staying Fit for Fencing, with Liz Scott

Elizabeth Scott is a historical martial arts and armoured combat practitioner on foot and on horseback, which is extremely cool, as well as being an orthopaedic surgeon, which is arguably even cooler. Her latest venture is Sprezzatura Sports, a company providing health and fitness training for sports fencers and historical martial artists. Of course, her main claim to fame is having appeared on this show before in episode 114.

Things have changed for Liz since our last conversation in 2022, as at the time of recording, she was preparing to move herself, her dog, and maybe her horse over to the UK to start a master’s degree in Sport, Strength and Conditioning at Loughborough University. It’s just Liz doing the degree, not the dog or the horse.

In our conversation we talk about recovery from injury, how to stay injury free and take care of our bodies as we age. We also talk about training for historical fencing, training for tournaments, and dealing with both the mental and physical sides of tournament fencing.

Liz is a mounted combat enthusiast, and we discuss vaulting onto your horse – while in full armour – and how this was an essential part of the medieval training, despite seeming pretty impossible to us modern folk.

cheers,

Guy

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P.S. just a reminder: you can pre-order From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Dagger Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi now!