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.
Veni VADI Vici, as Julius Caesar did not say
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Hi! Oh my did my last email ever fall foul of the deliverability gods. It had about a quarter of the expected open rate, and several regular subscribers got in touch to say it had landed in the "this is crap" folder. I had a word with support and I think it's the link formatting that's done it. So, if you're looking for the new Vadi course, it's here. The discount will expire on Monday. The point I was trying to make in my last, totally useless, email was that the course covers the full breadth of Vadi's sword material, and everything you need to know to start training (so, basic stuff like footwork and sword handling), but it also includes a lot of depth. For instance, a 26 minute video on Fixing Fenestra, in contrast to the 1 minute video showing you what Fenestra is. I don't dare add the video links, so I've made the short Fenestra video (and a bunch of others) free to preview on the course sales page. The longer one is for course members only. 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. If you just don't like clicking links in emails (and who can blame you?), then go to courses dot swordschool dot com, find the course (it's the first one in the list), and use the code VADITASTICLAUNCH at checkout. Please do share the link and discount far and wide, with anyone you think may be interested in the course. Fingers crossed that this email gets through! yours, Guy P.S. I don't even know whether the original "Veni, vedi, vici" dispatch actually happened. Wikipedia says "according to Appian, [Caesar] used the phrase in a letter to the Roman Senate around 47 BC after he had achieved a quick victory in his short war against Pharnaces II of Pontus at the Battle of Zela (modern-day Zile, Turkey)." And I do know that when I had Veni VADI Vici on the back of a T-shirt, people kept thinking I'd made a spelling error. Despite the very clear image of Vadi right over it. It's almost like they didn't recognise him! |
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! I have to confess my mojo has been at a pretty low ebb for the last couple of months. There’s no obvious reason why, but I haven’t written a word in any of my current book projects, and while I did manage to edit and publish the new Vadi course, that was about it for creative juices flowing. I’m inclined to associate this with the very annoying cholesterol results I got back from a routine health check at the end of March, which lead me to drop alcohol altogether for a month. Clearly my...
Hi! Exciting times at Swordschool this week... first up, renowned historian, curator, arms and armour expert, and jouster Dr. Toby Capwell has released his famous lecture "The Scoliotic Knight: Encounters with Richard III" on video for the first time. The discovery in Leicester of the grave of King Richard III (1452-85) raised many new questions. The skeleton’s severe scoliosis revealed that the twisted physique of William Shakespeare’s ‘Black Legend’ was based on fact. But how could someone...
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...