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.
German Wrestling is awesome! Von Baumann for the win.
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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. • 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.
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.
Hi! Hallelujah! At last! After three months of back and forth with the printers (and setting up to print with someone else at twice the price), the Fiore Facsimile with translation is now working properly. Everyone who bought it in December has had their order re-run yesterday, so new copies are being printed and shipped. Now that they have been taken care of, we can open it up for new orders! This book reproduces the Getty manuscript in its entirety, in full colour, and as close as possible...
Hi! It’s been an odd couple of weeks since I last emailed. For some reason I’ve completely stalled on the Dagger book (From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: the dagger techniques of Fiore dei Liberi, to give it its full title). But I am making actual headway on a revised, rewritten, and expanded second edition of Swordfighting for Writers, Game Designers, and Martial Artists. If you have any questions for me to address in the book, or suggestions, or requests for it, please go to this...
Hi! So you made it through the launch-process winnowing, well done! All in all, the launch sequence for Von Baumann triggered 59 unsubscribes, which is about normal- the average number of unsubscribes per newsletter email is about 5. And 116 people chose to click the ‘don’t send me any of that German wrestling stuff!’ link, thus avoiding the temptation to unsubscribe altogether. Hurrah! Other than the excellent folk who chose to buy the course, my favourite response to the launch was this,...