German Wrestling is awesome! Von Baumann for the win.


Hi!

Fair warning- this is the beginning of a launch sequence. Which means a pile of emails in your inbox over the next week or so.

If you’ve been on my list for a while, you’ll know that it’s sadly necessary to send out a sequence of launch emails to generate course sales. This is just because people need reminding. I avoid making the emails too fancy because I don’t want to persuade anyone to buy the course. If Medieval German Wrestling: The Twirchringen of Von Baumann taught by Jessica Finley, is not an immediate “hell yes!” to you, then don’t buy it. And if you can’t afford it right now (even with the 10 month instalments option), then please, don’t buy it.

If you’re not even a bit interested in Von Baumann’s wrestling stuff, then click on this link, which will take you to a post about syllabus design for rapier fencing, and also tell my very clever email system not to send you any more of these emails about the wrestling course (though it will be one of many things I mention in this week's newsletter; but you won't get any of the specific launch emails).

And if you are a Patron, or have bought the Abrazare or Hauptstucke courses, you should already have received an even bigger discount code. If that's not the case, reply to this email and I'll send it to you.

Rather than fill up your inbox with boring reminders, I’m going to make this sequence useful and interesting to anyone who is at all into German wrestling (or any other kind of wrestling). Each email will include the “get it at 40% off for the next x days” offer, of course. But it will also include a video clip from the course itself, and some insight into what it was like making the course and things that I, as a Fiore person, learned from it. The sales page has free previews of the entire first section of the course, so there's a lot of free material to get you started and give you a fair idea of what's on the course and whether it's your sort of thing.

So, let’s start with:

Yay! the course is ready! Here’s a 40% discount on the $250 course price, so it’s yours for only $150, or $15 per month for the next 10 months:

The offer expires at midnight EST, on Sunday February 9th.

About the course

This comprehensive course delves into the fascinating world of medieval German wrestling, exploring the seven Twirchringen (cross-wrestling) plays from the 15th-century Von Baumann manuscript. You’ll learn the core techniques, their counters, and the counter-counters, as well as setting up the plays and joining them together.


This course is ideal for:

• Beginners looking for an accessible introduction to medieval wrestling.

• Practitioners of German or Italian medieval martial arts seeking to expand their knowledge of unarmed combat.

• Anyone with an interest in historical martial arts and the rich traditions of medieval combat.

Course Structure:

1. Introduction: Course overview, safety briefing, and academic materials (transcription and translation of the Von Baumann manuscript).

2. First Twirchringen: The first play, its counter, and the counter to the counter.

3. Second Twirchringen: The second play, its counter, and the counter to the counter.

4. Third Twirchringen: The third play, its counter, and the counter to the counter.

5. Fourth Twirchringen: The fourth play, its counter, and the counter to the counter.

6. Fifth Twirchringen: The fifth play, its counter, and the counter to the counter.

7. Sixth Twirchringen: The sixth play, its counter, and the counter to the counter.

8. Seventh Twirchringen: The seventh play, its counter, and the counter to the counter.

9. Connecting the Plays: Techniques for setting up the plays, and ways to link them together for fluid combat.


And if it’s already a “hell yes!”, you can enrol in the course here:

Please do share that link wherever you like, and with any friends you have who you think might be interested. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

yours,

Guy.

Guy Windsor's Swordschool

Dr. Guy Windsor is a world-renowned instructor and a pioneering researcher of medieval and renaissance martial arts. He has been teaching the Art of Arms full-time since founding The School of European Swordsmanship in Helsinki, Finland, in 2001. His day job is finding and analysing historical swordsmanship treatises, figuring out the systems they represent, creating a syllabus from the treatises for his students to train with, and teaching the system to his students all over the world. Guy is the author of numerous classic books about the art of swordsmanship and has consulted on swordfighting game design and stage combat. He developed the card game, Audatia, based on Fiore dei Liberi's Art of Arms, his primary field of study. In 2018 Edinburgh University awarded him a PhD by Research Publications for his work recreating historical combat systems. When not studying medieval and renaissance swordsmanship or writing books Guy can be found in his shed woodworking or spending time with his family.

Read more from Guy Windsor's Swordschool
Guy's notebooks

Hi!I’m back from Helsinki, having taught a couple of seminars for Gladiolus School of Arms. It was lovely being back in the salle! We did a day of Syllabus Form (longsword), and a crash course in Capoferro’s rapier. Lots of fun. The Form covers a huge amount of material when you start to unpack it- enough that it comprises most of the content of my Advanced Longsword book (the Farfalla di Ferro and the Cutting Drill take up most of the rest). I don’t believe in teaching choreography and...

Wrestling course

Hi! I’m actually writing this last week, as I’m dashing off to Helsinki on Monday 13th, for seminars at the weekend (18th and 19th). So, greetings from snowy Finland! On New Year’s Day I went into my shed to sharpen a scraper, and while testing it for sharpness cleaned a patch of something off my bench top. This lead me to dress the bench. For non-cabinetmakers: dressing the bench means planing it flat, something you need to do every now and then because wood changes shape over time, and it’s...

The Swordschool Training Year Planner

Hi! Happy New Year! I personally think that moving the change of the year from after the Spring Equinox to after the Winter Solstice was a mistake, but no amount of my complaining will change that. Word to the wise though: if you’re in the northern hemisphere it’ll be much easier to make and stick to resolutions in April than it will be now. So take it easy. I have a couple of things that may help: the Swordschool Training Year Planner, and a discount on my online courses. The Swordschool...