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.
Vadi Is Taking Over My Brain (in the Best Way)
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Hi! Thanks to everyone who bought the new Vadi Longsword Course. It was great fun to make it, but even more satisfying when people actually want it. I’m happy to report that Jo York and I are recording the rest of my interpretation this very week! Which leads to a good day at the office: Followed by an even better day at the office! There will be some bonus material added to the Longsword course in due course, and probably an entire separate course with Vadi's dagger plays. We're also thinking about creating a From Medieval Manuscript style book with the translation and interpretation, and a link to a video of each play. I’m renting the hall space by the day, so we’re putting in some long hours cracking elbows and banging spines, and I’m a bit short on emailing energy at the moment :) I’ll be back with a more thorough newsletter in a couple of weeks, including some cool updates on the next round of podcast interviews, and some interesting health and performance related stuff I’ve been working on. But for now, Signor Vadi is taking up all my brain space. At least there's no poison dust to worry about! 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.
BOOKS PODCAST COURSES COMMUNITY BLOG Hi! The big news this week is of course the new book! Here in hardback, paperback, and ebook. From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: the Dagger Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi has landed! It’s lovely when the print proofs arrive and you can sign off on them. And even lovelier when that means you can send out the pre-orders on time! And, doesn’t the new one look very much at home between the wrestling and the sword? Order yours here The book will go...
BOOKS PODCAST COURSES COMMUNITY BLOG Greetings from Helsinki! It’s good to be back, swinging swords in my old salle, and catching up with old friends. Last weekend’s seminars went really well: Angelo Smallsword on the Friday, Vadi Longsword on the Saturday, and Polearms (spears and pollaxes) on the Sunday. One part of me wishes I was better at taking time during seminars to take photos for the socialz, but the rest of me is quite happy focussing exclusively on the students in my class. I did...
BOOKS PODCAST COURSES COMMUNITY BLOG 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...