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.
Notebooks, Physio, and even a spot of Wrestling!
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Hi! 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 calling it martial arts, so we established what every move was actually for (pair technique, attribute training, or change of direction to make the form fit in a smaller space), before adding it to the form itself. And of course we connected every step to The Book! I also saw Erick Ellison, my physiotherapist in Helsinki. The man who fixed my 3-year knee problem with one goddamn exercise. He took a crack at the 15+ year problem of my left shoulder (the one that stopped me getting to 50 push-ups before my 50th birthday, but I got under enough control to get to 51 in time for my 51st). Seems like there was a tendon out of place. I can now get it back in place when it pops out, and have an exercise to keep it there. Proper healing will take time, but that annoying twinge that was stopping me progressing with my rotator cuff strengthening program? Gone. Goddamn it. He also spent some time on my neck, which has given me trouble since I was a teenager. I have four really specific exercises for that now… and I can turn my head properly for the first time in I don’t know how long.Goddamn that too. So, if you’re suffering from anything physical, FFS go to Helsinki and see Eki. Fysio Sakura. I don’t care where on the planet you live, it’ll be worth it. So long as you actually do your exercises, of course. I haven’t skipped a day on any of them for any reason, because health actually matters more than emails. Bye Bye TwitterI’ve deactivated my Twitter account. One red flag too many, and though it was incredibly useful for finding podcast guests, I just couldn’t justify it any more. FB is hanging on by a thread… but SwordPeople.com is going strong! If you want to find me on the socialz, that’s really the only place that works. Medieval German Wrestling: von Baumann lives!As you may have spotted on Wednesday, we are in the midst of the ever-so-exciting launch of the new Medieval German Wrestling: The Twirchringen of Von Baumann course, taught by the awesome Jessica Finley. 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.The course sales page has the whole first section set as a free preview, so you can check out what all the fuss is about here:
What I’m readingWhile I was in Helsinki I picked up a copy of Roland Allen’s The Notebook (no, not the novel, or the film). It’s subtitle is “a history of thinking on paper”. It is utterly fascinating. The book is about the development of the notebook (i.e. a book you write in yourself) in European history, and it covers everything from the development of paper as a cheaper thing to write on than vellum, to wax tablets, to Italian accounting practices, to Leonardo da Vinci’s famous notebooks, to Darwin, to the modern Moleskine (and where it actually comes from). It’s bloody brilliant. I use notebooks all the time, and am sufficiently fussy about them that I often bind my own. Allen’s The Notebook has inspired me to bring some order to the galaxy: I’m currently going through the last 25 years of my notebooks, and cataloguing them, so I know what notebooks contain what notes. Details of a seminar in Osnabruck, 2012? check. What we covered in a beginners’ course in 2008? check. Outline doodle for what became Swordfighting for Writers, Game Designers, and Martial Artists? check. But it’s a pretty big job… My favourite notebook that I’ve made myself? This early effort of mine: A6 size, hardback, with reindeer leather cover. But the best notebooks I own? No question, it’s these two: One decorated by my younger daughter, and one hand made by my elder, many moons ago. No contest :) cheers, 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! When I get to the end of a major project I usually clear my desk and have a general tidy up. It’s then very likely that I’ll spend some time making something physical. There’s something about editing video that makes doing woodwork a psychological necessity. Pretty much the moment I hit “Publish” on the new Vadi course I went out to my shed and got to work cleaning and sharpening my most-used chisels. As I was slotting them back into their rack, I thought it was about time I upgraded...
Hi! There’s a knotty question which I’m sure keeps you up at night. Who would win in a longsword duel, Fiore or Vadi? Well, Fiore was a famous soldier, commander of the artillery on the walls of Udine, with streets named after him. And who claims to have fought five grudge matches against other fencing masters. Vadi… we’re not 100% sure. There’s some evidence to suggest he was governor of Reggio from 1452 to 1470, and he probably lived from 1425-1501. But no record of him ever teaching...
Hi! I hope you’re getting some time off for Easter this weekend. And lots of Easter eggs. We all need to keep moving to burn off some of that chocolate, so here’s a short gentle warm-up routine from the new Vadi course: https://vimeo.com/1071693384/0c6d4215e2 Yes it’s very gentle, because I’ve made the course fit for absolute beginners, as well as much more advanced students. So I include everything from how to hold the sword, through basic actions, techniques and counters, up to quite...