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.
Swordschool turns 24!
|
Hi! Time flies... Swordschool turned 24 years old yesterday! March 17th 2001 saw the very first class I taught as a full-time professional instructor, at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. Not the whole Olympic Stadium. A small room somewhere inside it. I was expecting about 6 to 12 people, and something over 70 showed up. Some of them are still training now. I don’t have a photo of that very day, but digging around through the archives I found some golden oldies. Here’s what a rapier class looked like in (I think) 2002:
And the photoshoot for The Swordsman’s Companion in 2003 was very serious.
And lots of hard work.
And nobody fooled around because it was serious hard work.
The School depended so entirely on the goodwill and trust of those early adopters, who had no good reason to believe I knew what I was doing, but turned up to class anyway. So to celebrate Swordschool turning 24, you can use the code SWORDSCHOOL24 at checkout to get 24% off all digital products (not printed books, t-shirts etc, sorry. They cost too much to produce!). You can find courses at courses.swordschool.com, and books, audiobooks, and print-at-home pdfs of my card game Audatia at swordschool.shop Just use the code at checkout to get the discount. The code expires on March 31st. Thanks for coming along on the Swordschool ride, whenever it was you started! 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.
BOOKS PODCAST COURSES COMMUNITY BLOG Hi! The Gathering of Wolves, in Cardiff last weekend, was a delight. It’s my first event in the UK for a decade (which is weird, right? I’ve literally attended more events in New Zealand than in the UK since I moved here). I taught two classes- one on I.33 sword and buckler, the other on Fiore’s zogho largo/zogho stretto distinction, and gave a lecture on solo training. They were all very well attended (about 40 students in each, I think), and each and...
Hi! On March 17th 2001 I ran the first official class of what was then called “The School of European Swordsmanship, Helsinki”, or SESH, in a small room at the Olympic Stadium, in Helsinki, Finland. So today is our 25th birthday: happy birthday to us! Our classes were held in primary school sports halls: Training in Töölön Ala-aste koulu, 2001 And even outside, when the Finnish weather allowed: Training in Sibelius Park, Helsinki, May 2001 It's fair to say we've come a long way since then! To...
BOOKS PODCAST COURSES COMMUNITY BLOG Hi! I have two mysteries for you this week. First up, what is this? Hint: they come in pairs. The joint, in case you’re interested, is a wedged through-tenon. Not my favourite joint to cut, but this one came out ok. And secondly, this is the St. George Church in Hanover Square, London. Why, as historical martial artists, should we care? Answers by replying to this email… I’ll reveal them in a couple of weeks. I spent a day last week with my friend Sergio...