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.
Very Exciting News: Dardi Fragments have been found!
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Hi! On Swordpeople.com yesterday my friend and colleague David Biggs let us know that Italian academics lead by Professor Dottore Giovanni Rossi have found what appear to be parts of a book on swordsmanship by Filippo Dardi himself. Dardi is widely credited as being the founder or precursor of the Bolognese School of swordsmanship, and it's hard to imagine a more exciting discovery. The 11 fragments of parchment were found being used to pad the binding of a 19th century book. What the hell were these clowns thinking? But at least they were kept safe-ish. You can find the complete story, and a transcription of the fragments, with a modernised Italian transcription, in this article on Academia.edu: SVELANDO IL MISTERO: Un'Analisi Critica del Presunto Manoscritto Attribuito All the text is there, and from my cursory scan, it seems legit. The first fragment reads: ϯ Parte prima, che tratta del certamen con la spada a due manus come insegna la scuola de magistri Filippo Dardi Spada a due manus, con gioca ampio largo e stretto; et prehensione con la spada realizzeremo anche molte azioni notevoli, affrontando armi ϯ inastate da soli e in compagnia, e in ogni modo che si rendesse necessario utilizzare la predetta spada a due mani: pertanto, starai attento e osserverai l'ordine indicato qui di seguito. Innanzitutto, è necessario che tu affronti il tuo nemico con uno dei movimenti di gioco che riterrai opportuni, fino a quando sarai nelle sue vicinanze. Which, if you'll excuse my quick and dirty translation, is approximately: Part one, which deals with the two-handed sword as taught by the school of master Filippo Dardi. The Two-handed sword, with both wide and constrained play; and in grappling with the sword we will also perform many notable actions, facing polearms alone and in company, and in any way that it is necessary to use the aforesaid two-handed sword: therefore, you will be careful and observe the order indicated here below. First of all, it is necessary that you face your enemy with one of the movements of play that you will deem appropriate, as long as you are near him. I've already spotted a couple of points where I doubt the transcription- I'd really, really, like to see scans of the fragments themselves, but they are unfortunately not reproduced in the article. But it does seem like the real deal to me. So, massive congratulations Prof. Dott. Rossi, and everyone who worked on the fragments (there's a whole team of conservators, if my very quick scan of the article is correct), and huge thanks to David for bringing it to my attention. Sword People for the win! 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! 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...