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Hi! It’s a great week for Vadi fans. My comprehensive new course “The Philippo Vadi Longsword Course” is now live on both Teachable and Swordpeople, and my friend Michael Chidester has also just launched his new crowdfunding campaign for a very high-end and beautiful facsimile of Vadi’s treatise, De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi. This was a coincidence, and not ideal from a marketing perspective, but it does open up possibilities for co-operations and collaborations. For instance: Michael is offering a $25 discount (that’s over 10% off) on his facsimile for anyone who buys my course. We’re working out the technical details, and I’ll put the discount code in the course materials as soon as I have it. Speaking of discounts- you can get 40% off the price of the course, in one payment or spread over ten equal payments, while the launch period lasts. You can find the course here: https://swordschool.teachable.com/p/the-longsword-of-philippo-vadi?coupon_code=VADITASTICLAUNCH&product_id=6204895 If that discount code link isn’t working, go to courses.swordschool.com and use the code VADITASTICLAUNCH at checkout. As usual, I’ll be running a series of launch emails. Each one will include a free sample video. If Vadi isn’t your thing, you can click this link, which will send you to one of my blog posts, about forging a Viking knife, and also tell my very clever email system not to send you any more launch emails. So what is the course, and what does it cover? This isn't just another sword course. I've meticulously reconstructed Vadi's complete system from his treatise "De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi," presenting it in a logical progression that takes you from complete beginner to confident practitioner. Every martial art is a way of moving and a set of tactical preferences. In this course I have included a lot of movement drills, and a large range of technical and tactical drills: everything you need to become proficient in Vadi’s art. (Except the equipment (swords, masks, etc.) and a training partner (because that would be illegal). But I do expect you to share your course with at least one training partner.) You will get over 75 video clips, organised into 8 sections:
As you can see, we cover not only all of Vadi’s longsword plays, but also basic sword training, how to get into the plays tactically, and how to become skillful in their application. Curious? Here’s a sample video, on one of my favourite Vadi-style sword exercises: https://vimeo.com/1071694407/00636f0565 Here’s the discount link again: https://swordschool.teachable.com/p/the-longsword-of-philippo-vadi?coupon_code=VADITASTICLAUNCH&product_id=6204895 If that discount code link isn’t working, go to courses.swordschool.com and use the code VADITASTICLAUNCH at checkout. Yours, Guy |
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 Happy New Year! I guess I'm supposed to do a review of 2025 and a bunch of resolutions for 2026. I might get round to it, but haven't felt any particular urge to so I haven't yet.Maybe that's my resolution for 2026: Don't do things just because there's a general expectation that I should. Or not. So moving on, let's consider this question: What comes first, the treatise or the tournament? For some historical fencers the answer is obvious- we’re here to...
BOOKS PODCAST COURSES COMMUNITY BLOG Hi! I know, I know, this was supposed to go out yesterday. But I’m running late for one good reason and one bad one. The good reason: My brother and his family came over from Abu Dhabi last Saturday to stay at my mum’s, so I went up to visit on Sunday. I spent the vast majority of the week getting the shit kicked out of me training martial arts with his two young kids. I brought a big bag of swords for them to have a go with, though we spent most of the...
BOOKS PODCAST COURSES COMMUNITY BLOG Hi! Yes I know we’re not due another newsletter until next week, but I have a long blog post for you, a new podcast episode, and a question, so why wait? Let’s start with the question… (with apologies to the Spice Girls for the terrible subject line) What do you want? I’m thinking about what I produced over the last year. It wasn’t the publishing explosion of 2024, but I did produce two full length courses (Vadi Longsword and Vadi Dagger), created the...