The Sword Guy Podcast

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/jessica-finley-2/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Medieval wrestling and Liechtenauer expert Jessica Finley will be familiar to many of you from her two previous appearances on The Sword Guy. (Episode 1 and episode 56). We’re catching up today after my recent trip to Jessica’s training space in Kansas where we filmed the new Abrazare online course. You can find the course at guywindsor.net/abrazare23. In our conversation, we talk about medieval wrestling, and compare and contrast the approaches of Fiore and Liechtenauer. This leads into a wider discussion about why the German sources could be described as a ‘swamp’, and Fiore’s system as a ‘well’. We go deep into Liechtenauer’s Hauptstücke and the Zornhau. You can see the photo of the tree that’s on the wall of Jessica’s Turnhalle here: https://swordschool.com/podcast/jessica-finley-2/ Jessica hasn’t yet written a book about the Hauptstücke, and we talk about why this is and the difficulty of wanting to write both a memoir and a training manual at the same time. The book Jessica refers to is: Among Warriors: a Woman Martial Artist in Tibet, by Pamela Logan. The blog post I refer to is: https://guywindsor.net/2013/11/7-great-martial-arts-as-a-path-books/ Talking about writing books then leads us on to a brand new book idea, which we will start in the first quarter of 2024. Watch this space! Finally, here is the link to the Unarmed Flowdrill, which Jessica mentions right at the end of the interview: https://vimeo.com/851206322/57c7821ffe

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/big-blue-flags-with-marli-vlok/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Marli Vlok is a virologist, historical martial arts instructor and historical flag waver. She was also a competitive target shooter who represented South Africa for a decade. Now based in Ottawa, Canada, Marli tells us about her work finding viruses in the oceans and working on diseases, including Covid, of course. Marli got into historical martial arts through a Groupon voucher, which started her on the path to becoming a rapier instructor. Since moving to Ottawa she has changed up her weapons a bit and also got into historical flag waving. The flags are very big and were used for both battlefield signalling and for raising soldiers’ morale. Some of the moves are very gymnastic and others involve sword actions, or even a sword in one hand, flag in the other. We also talk about target shooting, biathlon, the Neapolitan masters, comparative studies, and driving across Canada with a car full of swords and guinea pigs.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-geekery-and-stunts-with-jared-kirby/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jared Kirby is a fight director and stage and screen combat instructor at the New York Combat for stage and screen. He’s a stuntman on shows such as Law and Order, The Equalizer, Bluebloods, and Gotham. We talk about how Jared got interested in stage combat, and the most dangerous stunt he has ever done. Jared is also Maestro d’Armee with the Martinez Academy, editor of the first published translation of Capoferrro and of the re-publication of Angelo's The School of Fencing and of Vincentio Saviolo’s Of Honour and Honorable Quarrels. He also re-published McBane’s The Expert Swordsman’s Companion, and has co-authored Staging Shakespeare's Violence. We have a geek out about Capoferro’s 1609 treatise, and you can find the pictures on the blog at https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-geekery-and-stunts-with-jared-kirby/ He was one of the founders and organizers of the International Swordplay and Martial Arts Convention, my first international gig back in 2001, which morphed into CombatCon, which he continues to run. Jared gives a shout out to my SwordPeople social media platform. If you haven’t yet joined, click here to join your fellow sword people: https://swordpeople.com/ To find out more about Jared, see: https://www.jaredkirby.com/ Stunt Reel: https://youtu.be/litxb97CQZc Sword Skills Reel: https://youtu.be/HhOAkUmz_08 Books: https://www.amazon.com/Italian-Rapier-Combat-Ferros-Simulacro/dp/178438691X/ and https://www.amazon.com/Staging-Shakespeares-Violence-Fight-Domestic/dp/1526762404/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/cutting-and-calligrams-with-brittany-reeves/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy In this episode, I welcome back Brittany Reeves, who is the head instructor of Mordhau Historical Combat in Mesa, Arizona. She is a seasoned instructor, having taught across Europe and North America with a specialisation in test cutting with sharp blades. She is of course most famous for her first appearance on this show in Episode 22. In our conversation we talk about the value of cutting with sharps, how the cutting tournament scene has been developing in the United States, and issues with sourcing tatami and getting insurance. We talk about potential alternatives to tatami, practising with moving targets, and how competitions are judged. Brittany has lots of cutting videos on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BrittanySaintLeafy We then move on to talk about art history and Fabris. What’s going on with the images of people in the 1601 Fabris manuscript? Why might they look so weird? As Brittany runs her own club, we also discuss her best and worst business decisions so far, and Brittany has a potentially excellent business idea for what to do with $1 million.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/thc-tournaments-and-training-with-david-ito/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy There is a slightly different intro to this episode as Guy is in Kansas being medievally wrestled by Jessica Finley. Hear the noises here! Onto the interview: David Ito is a fire eater, an epee coach and former kendo player who plays with longswords now, based in Toronto, Canada. Of course, his main claim to fame, top of the resume, is he appeared on episode 25 of this show, back in December 2020. With the world reopening David is living the life of a literary swashbuckler: fighting with swords, hanging out with glamorous show people, and attending all the scandalous parties. To find out more about David and his work, you can find him on Instagram @ittoswords, or the Toronto Historical Combatants at www.torontohistoricalcombatants.ca. Our conversation covers David’s training routine – does he really still do 100 burpees every morning? We talk about keeping track of progress and the overlap between training for epee and for historical martial arts. When we last spoke on episode 25, David’s best idea he hadn’t acted on yet was to start his own club. Well, he’s done it! He explains his goals for the club and where it fits within the sword community in Toronto. David has also got into the tournament scene since we last spoke, with great success. He talks about how he trains and even if you don’t have as many hours in the week to train as he does, he has some advice on where to focus if you have limited time.

Photo Credit: Angel Uribe For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/brains-biology-and-better-teaching-with-sara-lewis/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr Sara Lewis is a neuroscientist specializing in the biology of childhood movement disorders, and a longtime historical martial artist starting in the SCA in 1999, where she is known as Perin De La Serena. Since 2016 Sara has been with the Phoenix Society for Historical Swordsmanship, where she has written many articles on improving diversity and inclusiveness in historical martial arts, and has written reports on the challenges facing women rapier fencers in the SCA, which we discuss in the episode and are linked below. Sara has also produced a series of videos on applying the neuroscience of learning motor skills to teaching historical combat, again, links below. We start our conversation, however, by talking about a traumatic injury that Sara received during longsword training. Sara explains what led to the injury, the consequences for her personally, and the (lack of) consequences for the instructor responsible. Here are the useful links from Sara: Video play list: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC3Lv55IrIsikIoCLNbnPhHBOuYWBbMhE Blog articles about improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in historical combat: https://valkyriebootcamp.blogspot.com/ Study on gender differences in recognition: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LP3tbBdqfMkvQit-jr05zkEqC4reo0XP/view Study of variables predicting retention and envisioning success: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MFnDP8XiMGPZ4L4XvNbd--vGX4_U36yZ1GBfIhMsxD0/edit?usp=sharing. The missing stair: http://pervocracy.blogspot.com/2012/06/missing-stair.html

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/wma-hema-the-sca-and-other-abbreviations-with-david-biggs/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy David Biggs is a lawyer, a diplomat and senior historical martial arts instructor with The Tattershall School of Defense. He's known in the SCA as Aeron Harper, where he is a Master of Defense and a Laurel. He's also the organizer, with two previous guests on the show, Lisa Losito and Monica Gaudio, of Lord Baltimore's Challenge, which is one of my favourite historical martial arts events. In our conversation we talk about the distinction, if there is one, between western martial arts (WMA) and historical European martial arts (HEMA), and what prompted him to want to start Lord Baltimore’s Challenge. We also talk about what’s happening in the SCA at the moment, with a scandal around rule-breaking, “half of one percent”, and a petition for change at the very top. David is a fellow woodworker, and one of the things he makes is harps. Head to the blog for pictures!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/hema-for-life-with-dr-marie-meservy/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr Marie Meservy is a neuro radiologist, a psychologist, historical martial artist, sword mom to the Noble Science Academy in Nevada and the organizer of Fraufecht, which is the only American women's event west of New York. In our conversation, we talk about running a school and training students to create the best outcomes. We discuss how to get new people, especially women, to join your club and how to create a good curriculum and feedback mechanisms. Marie has lots of experience in coaching fencers through tournaments, and she explains the best kind of mindset to have when fencing competitively. Speaking of tournaments, we also hear about Fraufecht: why it is needed, when it is, and what happens at the event. Marie shares some of the data on women’s participation at tournaments, and we have a discussion about affirmative action and how to avoid the perception that women need extra help to attain the things they have attained. We also talk about head injuries, AI in medicine and historical martial arts, performing well in exams, and Annie Lennox. If you would like to chat to other swordy folk about this week’s episode, you can find a post on SwordPeople, in the pub. Not on SwordPeople yet? Join us! And here’s the link to Guy’s Get Ready for Rapier series of very short videos, mentioned in the introduction: www.guywindsor.net/grr

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/dressing-up-with-zack-pinsent/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Zack Pinsent is a tailor of bespoke period clothing for men and women, reproducing primarily Regency civilian and military costume. He is vocal on social and political issues while being immaculately dressed. His website is https://www.pinsenttailoring.co.uk/ Zack lives in Brighton and in our conversation he tells us about his plans for a grand Regency ball at the Brighton Pavilion in January 2024. At the time of writing ticket sales haven’t yet opened, but here’s his Pinterest board for you to see the type of dress that everyone will be wearing and what the Brighton Pavilion is like, if you are not familiar with it: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/Zack_Pinsent/brighton-pavilion-ball/ We talk about what men’s clothes ought to be like: how they should fit, the quality of tailoring, the colour palette, the pockets. We also discuss hats and trousers. There’s a bit of sword talk too, of course.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/adhd-speedboats-and-wrestling-in-kindergarten-with-katriina-malkki/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Katriina Malkki is a historical martial artist, dietician with an MSc from the University of Eastern Finland, a Ph.D. student and mum of four plus a lizard. She's an author and also a sea rescue volunteer. In our conversation we discuss nutrition: What does Katriina think of the Paleo diet, fasting, or keto? Top tips from a nutritionist are eat more vegetables and drink less booze! We also talk about ADHD, the symptoms, medication, and living with the condition. We discuss what historical martial arts instructors should bear in mind when teaching students with ADHD, and also what might help an instructor who has ADHD to run their classes. Katriina mentions Adele Diamond and her work on Executive Functions. Here’s an article and a video about it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4084861/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__8mV-7yAaE Katriina has an excellent and novel idea of what to do with €1 million to improve historical martial arts, and it involves very small children.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-people-are-book-people-with-diniz-cabreira/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Diniz Cabreira is a Kunst des Fechtens practitioner at Arte do Combate, a publisher of historical martial arts books, primarily on La Verdadera Destreza in Portuguese, at AGEA Editora, and a graphic designer. He’s currently researching historical martial arts publishing and has a lot of questions for Guy... This is a great episode for anyone interested in book publishing (not just sword books) as Guy shares his wealth of experience in publishing and selling tens of thousands of books over the last twenty years or so. Find out what sells and what doesn’t, what might be the next big thing, and how to get your own book onto people’s shelves.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/bringing-italo-hungarian-sabre-to-taiwan-with-huang-chun-yi/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Huang Chun-Yi is an instructor of classical and military sabre at Lionheart Historical European Swordsmanship in Taipei, Taiwan. She also blogs in Chinese at travelingswordslady.wordpress.com. Chun-Yi’s club is the only one in Taiwan that practises classical sabre, and we talk about what drew Chun-Yi to the Italo-Hungarian sabre, over the longsword or rapier. This is the sabre duel from Potop (The Deluge) that we discuss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP98CcasA-E We chat about the European historical martial arts scene in Taiwan, and you might be surprised to hear that it’s a small, but thriving community, with an annual event and several clubs. We also talk about weightlifting, travel, cats and Moomins.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/you-cant-learn-swordfighting-from-a-book-with-dr-antti-ijas/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Antti Ijäs is a grant-funded researcher, whose recent doctoral dissertation is a scholarly examination of Royal Armouries MS I.33 and includes a complete transcription and translation of the entire manuscript. In our conversation we talk about 1.33 as the first, complete, fight book and its position in the wider fencing context of the time. We compare it to later sources but also talk about much earlier ones, all the way back to the Ancient Greeks. Antti has written an article, Greek Papyri of Pragmatic Literature on Combat Technique (P. Oxy. III 466 and LXXIX 5204) about two papyri fragments of a book on wrestling. Which of course leads us on to talking about Ancient Greek sex manuals… Changing the subject, Antti is also a practitioner of bayonet fencing, and we talk about the development of competing methods in Europe, with the Swedes, Prussians and Saxons (and others) each coming up with their own systems.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/sword-events-should-be-more-like-ikea-with-jana-howson/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Jana Howson lives near Chicago and is a historical fencer, a Ph.D. candidate, mother and spouse, as well as being a Lutheran pastor. She started off with Taekwondo and Karate, and also fences in the SCA. We discuss how on earth Jana balances her time to fit it all in! Trying to do swords with babies and kids in tow can be tricky, so we talk about what can be done to make training and attending events possible for people who maybe don’t have babysitters at home or a great network of friends to help out. We also talk about Jana’s PhD, which is about how geeks make meaning within their fandoms; how their love of, say, Star Wars affects their understanding of the world, and how this same framework could be used within Christian education to reimagine the role of pastor. The theme running through this whole conversation is community and how vital it is. Guy has launched the SwordPeople community to connect people who maybe can’t make it to social events for whatever reason, or for people to organise themselves with things like childcare before an event.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/behind-the-scenes-at-the-sword-guy-with-katie-mackenzie/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy It’s the 150th(ish) episode! So to mark this momentous occasion we’ve got a guest who can’t think of any reason at all why she would want someone to run at her with a pointy sword. Katie Mackenzie is the organising principle behind the show, as well as an excellent author's assistant. She is an author herself, of the very approachable, Easy Fitness for Quitters: How to Become a Happy Exerciser. And she wrote these show notes, so she can say what she wants! In our conversation we talk about the trickier aspects of producing the transcriptions for the podcast, and Katie has a quiz for Guy, to find out what he actually said when the transcription software thought he was talking about “venereal potatoes.” We talk about writing books, climbing, and what Katie thinks of the sword world and the other podcast guests. What would a non-sword person do with £1 million to improve historical martial arts? If you haven’t joined SwordPeople.com yet, do consider it – we discuss what the platform could look like in the future, and how we need the membership to grow to achieve this. Finally, do you ever read the episode transcriptions? (Click the link at the top to find the transcription for this episode.) If you think Katie’s hard work every week is a sensible use of her time, do let Guy know!

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/bringing-fiore-to-a-knife-fight-with-ian-davis/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ian Davis is a historical fencing instructor at Boston Armizare, specialising in Italian fencing from the 14th to the 16th centuries. These days he is almost exclusively interested in wrestling, dagger and harness. Ian has been testing to discover what it actually takes to stick a sword point through historical maille. Here are some videos of his tests: Maille testing round 1 (sword): https://youtu.be/CLDcmiF1u1s Maille testing round 1 (dagger): https://youtu.be/WRE80BpQi7I Maille testing round 1 (spear): https://youtu.be/51KVNtdKBFY This is a full year after the first series: Maille testing round 2: https://youtu.be/RH1zbd0WFPw We also talk about the contentious topic of bringing Fiore into the modern combative self-defence context. How can wrestling techniques from the likes of Fiore, Vadi and Monte help people defend themselves against an assailant with a knife or a gun? Also, how do you square the murderousness of a knightly combat system with the modern legalities and ethical issues of self-defence? Click here to see the Vadi headlock image we mention: https://swordschool.com/podcast/bringing-fiore-to-a-knife-fight-with-ian-davis/ In the final question of the interview, Ian talks about spending a million dollars on getting manuscripts into the public domain. Here’s the link to the Raymond J. Lord collection we discuss: Raymond J. Lord: https://www.umass.edu/renaissance/lord

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/babies-horses-and-a-secret-knife-with-gretchen-settle/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Gretchen Settle models, swordfights and makes stuff. She is getting back into training after giving birth to an incredibly adorable young sword person who looks very good with her little sword. We talk about Gretchen’s background with horses and how she came to get into longsword and ringen with Maryland Kunst des Fechtens. Her love of historical martial arts has spilled over into her modelling work, and here is a link to the ‘Blossfechten’ photo we discuss, which can be found on Gretchen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/COlisAdHtqE/ And here is a photo of the tiny knife Gretchen hid in her garter on her wedding day: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVwUS1WrjFS/ As Gretchen has recently had a baby, we talk about trying to keep up with training when you’re pregnant (not possible if you’ve got horrendous morning sickness) and how you get back into it after having the baby.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/boldly-going-with-stephen-hand/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Stephen Hand is a founder of the Stoccata School of Defence, author of several books, including English Swordsmanship: The True Fight of George Silver and Swordplay in the Age of Shakespeare, and he currently teaches at the Stoccata Branch in Hobart, Tasmania. He has also choreographed a sword fighting movie about Macbeth. We’ve known each other a long time, and we have a little reminisce about what it was like trying to get hold of manuals and equipment back in the olden days of the 1990s. We also talk about what it was like to be in the first generation of instructors in the fledgling historical martial arts community. Steve is known for his work on George Silver, and also Joseph Swetnam, who was well known for being a raging misogynist pig, and a bit of a dick even by the standards of his day. But the most important question is who would win in a three-way fight between Swetnam, Silver and Saviolo?

For transcriptions, images and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/hema-in-mexico-and-inspirational-women/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Mariana Lopez is a historical fencer, coach, artist and one of the founders of HEMA in Mexico, 16 years ago. She is also the co-founder of Esfinges, an international network of female historical fencers. In our conversation we talk about how the HEMA scene in Mexico differs from the U.S. or Europe, and what other countries might learn from the Mexican way of doing things. We also talk about Esfinges, and what it was like to found the network, the abuse she has faced for it, and how hearing from so many women in HEMA has affected her views. Mariana is keen to improve tournament culture, and we hear how she would like to do that – and how her approach differs from Guy’s. She is also looking to set up a scholarship, and towards the end of the interview she explains how it could be done.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/swordbeards-and-violence-with-dr-mark-geldof/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Mark Geldof specialises in all kinds of historical violence. He has a DPhil in history from the University of Oxford on Change and Continuity in English Elite Conceptions of Violence, 1450-1560 and an M.A. entitled The Heart, the Foot, the Eye to Accord: Procedural Writing and Three Middle English Manuscripts of Martial Instruction. He got into swords through the SCA, and he explains how the knowledge he gained through whacking people with sticks has influenced his work. We talk about the three English sword texts from the 15th century, and how Mark wrote a 122 page master’s thesis with a 22 page bibliography on 400 lines of text. He has plenty of advice for the amateur historian on avoiding pitfalls and making sure that you are studying the best sources. We also talk about why what seems like excessive violence is actually necessary or expected, and how humans can keep going even after they’ve been stabbed in the heart or skewered on a spear, so if you’re going to kill someone, you’ve got to keep going until they are definitely dead. There are lots of useful links for this episode. Firstly, we refer to the episodes with Paul Wagner and Mike Prendergast that you might want to listen back to. And here are the links from Mark: - Link to the Patreon: https://patreon.com/dr_violence - Link to the MA thesis download: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/ETD-2011-08-77?show=full (note that these transcriptions are not perfect, in this ed. But they are better than what’s been around most often) - Link to the doctoral thesis for those interested: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6d6be72b-b6ea-460f-b222-beb0547465eb - The most current edition of Titus A xxv: https://bl.iro.bl.uk/concern/articles/614dcee4-907c-4ab8-879d-5143b0e5c673?locale=en - Gentileschi Judith and her Maidservant 1: https://discover.hubpages.com/art/Judith-and-her-Maidservant---My-Take - Judith and Maidservant 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_Judith_Maidservant_DIA.jpg - Judith slaying Holofernes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Slaying_Holofernes_%28Artemisia_Gentileschi,_Naples%29#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Judith_Beheading_Holofernes_-_WGA8563.jpg - See the shownotes on Swordschool.com for the draft of the paper on the Additional ms that’s in submission right now.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/patience-and-perspective-with-ginny-beatty/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ginny Beatty is a historical fencer in the SCA in Ohio, USA, and she took up arms in her late forties, having done everything else first: historical cookery, archery, heraldry, and making costumes, armour and weapons. She now loves fencing with a rapier and buckler and explains the importance of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and learning new things to stay young. We talk about how to keep yourself in shape when you are slightly older. What the challenges are (and the advantages) and how to cross-train. Also, how to win a fencing match against someone taller or more aggressive than yourself. Ginny describes her nutrition plan that keeps her energy up and the importance of proper body mechanics to avoid injury.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/fiore-the-movie-with-alberto-mattea/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Alberto Mattea is an Italian film composer and filmmaker, actor and re-enactor with a deep interest in the Middle Ages. In the historical martial arts world, he is perhaps best known for his short film Fiore, which is, I think, the most accurate representation of the late 14th century ever put on the screen. In this episode Alberto explains how the film got made on a tiny budget of €3,000, how they built the sets, made the costumes and did the special effects. And who made the swords! Listen to the very end of this episode to hear some of the music Alberto composed for the film. We also talk about what TV series Alberto ought to make next, which would change the perception of the Middle Ages in popular culture. You can see Fiore on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_H3dkTiaRA and here is the video with the breakdown of the visual effects that is mentioned in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja5Q-70XEDA For more information about Alberto, this is his website: https://www.albertomattea.com/

For transcriptions, photos and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-whack-dont-die-method-with-kari-holman/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Kari Holman is a rapier fencer and a licensed therapist. She has also written Psychology and the SCA Fencing Woman: a Manual for Students and Teachers. The moment I read it, I asked if I could include it in my How to Teach course because it's that good. So of course, we talk about teaching women and what’s been going wrong with teaching that leads to so many women dropping out before they reach the higher echelons of the fencing community. We also talk about trauma and PTSD. Kari explains about different types of trauma, whether we are all traumatised, and how similar events could be traumatic or not at all, depending on the context. Kari volunteers as a psychological counsellor at the Midwest FurFest, which currently the largest free convention in the US. We have a very interesting chat about why she’s needed, what happens at these conventions, and why so many thousands of people might want to dress up in a fur suit in the first place.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/becoming-your-best-swordsman-with-robert-childs/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Robert Childs is a well-known rapier competition champion and author of the new book Revelations of Rapier. In our conversation we talk about how he trains for tournaments and what has made him so successful. We talk about judging tournaments and the difficulty of spotting lightening fast thrusts. Robert has synthesised his own eclectic method for rapier fencing, and he explains some of it for us in this episode. He also takes us through his school’s unusual ranking system, in which you have to win tournaments and eventually fight multiple opponents at once in order to progress up the ranks. The best idea Robert hasn’t acted on yet it to develop a team sport called Blood of Heroes, which involves weapons, dog skulls, and working as a team to beat your opponents. It sounds great fun. And finally, Robert is actually building his own castle! If you are interested in finding out more or supporting the project, his Patreon is here: https://www.patreon.com/castleandsword YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/robertchildsrapier

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-importance-of-mixer-taps-with-eleanor-janega/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy I am delighted to announce that Dr Eleanor Janega is back! She was first on the show way back in episode 16, which is one of our most popular episodes. Since her last appearance on The Sword Guy, Eleanor has published a book and been on TV. Time to catch up on what she has been working on! Just to remind you, Eleanor is a guest lecturer at LSC in the Department of International History. She has a Ph.D. in history. She has a blog called Going Medieval that you definitely should check out. She's a co-host of the We're Not So Different podcast. She has a Patreon account, at patreon.com/goingmedieval. And she's the author of The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, which came out last year and of The Once and Future Sex coming out next year. In addition to all of this, she is a presenter of the History Hit TV shows Going Medieval and Exploring the Medieval Afterlife. In this episode we talk about sexism through the ages, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, being a foreigner in Britain and what ‘Britishness’ actually is, medieval ghosts, beer, and quite a few other things too.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/outnumbered-combat-and-catching-imaginary-balls-with-luis-preto/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Luis Preto is a Jogo do Pau instructor and author of multiple books, including a tutorial on multiple opponent combat with one handed weapons. He also has two master's degrees, one in teaching sports and the other in Kineseology. Jogo do Pau is known as Portuguese stick fighting, which shares a cultural heritage with similar combat systems in Europe, but one difference is that in the Portuguese system, the multiple opponent training has been preserved. We talk about why training in outnumbered combat may have been lost in other areas, and how to train for such scenarios in a safe way. Luis explains how it’s actually quite simple to protect your head from being whacked by a big stick. To watch some Jogo do Pau videos, here is Luis’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC45K3e12LNK9EajBvpMtmKg We also talk about teacher training, and how to teach movement through practises that give trainees intrinsic feedback, rather than repeating specific techniques that may not be helpful in the reality of a swordfight. It is all about the context and the motivation. We also talk about how martial arts practitioners can improve their training, and how coaches can get better at coaching.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/medieval-shoulders-trees-and-swords-with-jessica-finley-episode-1-repeat/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy This week’s repeated episode is the very first Sword Guy Podcast episode, with the inestimable Jessica Finley, who may be known to you from her wonderful book about medieval wrestling. Those of you who are enrolled on my Solo Training course may have sweated and grunted through her “solo training for wrestlers” section of the course, and if you know her on her Patreon account, she produces translations, interpretations, previews of books in progress, and videos also for her patrons and you can find her there at www.patreon.com/jessfinley. Birthday Sale You still have two days left to use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fear-is-the-mind-killer-with-kajetan-sadowski-episode-5-repeat/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy As it’s the Christmas holiday period I have decided to repeat a couple of classic episodes, which you may not have heard first time around. The first is with Kajetan Sadowski. Kajetan has changed his name and pronouns since the time of recording, and in the episode you’ll hear me using his old name of Kaja. Kajetan is the author of the must-read Fear is the Mind-Killer, one of my top ten books on martial arts. We also talk about training with two swords, training in high-stress situations, and lots more training besides! Kajetan has been a physical instructor since 2004, teaching figure skating, rock climbing, and mountaineering before coming to martial arts in 2010. He joined the coaching team at Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly in 2012, and created their beginner program shortly afterwards. He currently teaches group and private lessons to students of all experience levels, and runs the school’s self defense program. His website is https://kajaswords.com/ This week’s non-sponsor This week it is to remind you of the mighty wiktenauer.com, which is a gigantic reference source for everything historical martial arts. It’s run by Michael Chidester, who I interviewed in episode 21, and it includes scans, transcriptions, translations and articles and just keeps getting better every day. I use it almost daily and it’s a simply astonishing resource. Birthday Sale - it's still running! Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-yeti-of-chest-protection-with-veronica-young/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Veronica Young is an industrial designer, historical martial artist and founder of Cryptid Combat Wear, and she is also currently running a campaign for making a chest protector for women, which will actually fit and allow for movement. Veronica explains how she developed the prototypes, and how she has worked on the sizing to fit the widest range of people. The Indigogo campaign is running until 6th January, and you can support it here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fencing-chest-protector#/ You might recall from the AMA episode a couple of weeks ago, we had a question about women’s knees, and how to prevent injury from fencing in a Meyerist fashion. Well, Veronica practises Meyer, and she has knees, so I asked her what she does to protect them. It’s all about the inner quads! Veronica has got heavily into tournament fencing, and we talk about the mindset one needs to compete successfully, and about being a minority in HEMA – the stereotypes and the difficulties of different genders fighting one another. We also talk about how to win a fight against someone much taller than you. Birthday Sale Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This week’s non-sponsor It’s Freelance Academy Press, which is a publishing house dedicated to serving the historical martial arts community. It was founded by Christian Tobler (see episode 101) and Greg Mele, and it has a fantastic catalogue of books you might be interested in. Such as my own, The Medieval Dagger, of course, but also their stunning critical editions of the Fiore manuscripts, translations of Bolognese and rapier texts, and works on German medieval combat. There’s really something for everyone. So, if you are looking for something to read, go to freelanceacademypress.com.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/what-makes-a-warrior-with-cain-maxwell/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Cain Maxwell is an instructor of physical culture, who's been teaching physical skills his entire life, from swimming to military firearms to ballroom dancing, even. And now he is teaching mounted martial arts and runs a school called Martial Equestrian, a mounted combat school in Hinckley, Ohio. Cain learned to fight by fighting for real in a rough neighbourhood. In his own words, he had a chip on his shoulder. So he approaches martial arts with the question of whether it would really work on the streets. In our conversation we talk about pedagogy, translation, choosing a source, and martial culture. We discuss the difference between a warrior and a thug. They are both willing to do violence to others, so what is the difference? And can martial arts really teach good character in life outside the salle? Listen to this episode for one of the most unexpected and thought-provoking answers to the question, “What would you do with $1 million to improve martial arts worldwide?” Birthday Sale Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This week’s non-sponsor: Arms-n-armor.com are makers of swords and training weapons. I got my default training rapier from them in 2005 and my longsword in 2004 and they are both still going strong. They also made my sharp rapier and dagger, and my training smallsword. I interviewed smith Craig Johnson in episode 33 and he is not just a great smith, he is also a good friend. So you might think I’m biased, except those swords are still on the rack, scratched and worn. I’ve replaced the leather on the longsword grip at least twice and it’s still going strong after at least 15 years. So, if you are looking for a new sword, go to arms-n-armor.com. For more information about the host Guy Windsor and his work, as well as transcriptions of all the episodes, check out his website at https://swordschool.com/podcast And to support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/furries-bar-fights-and-cryotherapy-with-lisa-losito/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Lisa Losito is a sword mom, historical fencer and an organising brain behind Lord Baltimore's Challenge. Lisa suffers from a chronic illness which affects her training, but she is absolutely passionate about helping others achieve their vision for events within the historical martial arts world. Whether that’s a big event like Lord Baltimore’s Challenge, or small grassroots events with local clubs, Lisa will make sure everyone has what they need, and make sure that everyone is safe. Safety is something we discuss in this episode, both in terms of gear (particularly head protection) and physical and emotional safety within the environment. We talk about the culture change that is needed to prevent injuries like concussion and to keep bad actors out of historical martial arts. Plus, we also find out that Lisa wants to open a salle with a brothel attached. (That’s not exactly true…) Birthday Sale In other news, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This Week’s Non-Sponsor Most podcasts have sponsors who offer discounts to the listeners and money to the host. In the sword world most of the companies and organisations offering products or services to sword people have tiny profit margins and very little cash. So I thought I’d introduce a non-sponsor segment to the show, where I call out producers of good sword stuff and recommend it to our listeners without getting paid for it. The first non-sponsor to the show is the mighty wiktenauer.com which is a gigantic reference source for everything historical martial arts. It’s run by Michael Chidester, who I interviewed in episode 21, and it includes scans, transcriptions, translations and articles and just keeps getting better every day. I use it almost daily and it’s a simply astonishing resource.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/ask-me-anything-with-guy-windsor/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today's episode is a little bit different. It's an Ask Me Anything with me. I sent out a query to my patrons on Patreon and also to my mailing list, and I got a whole bunch of questions that apparently people want answers to, so I’ve answered them. Find out which historical master I would like on my side in a tavern brawl, my funniest moment in teaching, my ideal podcast guest, and more. A couple of useful links From the question about the best rapier fencing system: Link to the Swordschool Wiki where you can find plate 17 and plate 19 from Capoferro: https://www.swordschool.com/wiki/index.php/Specific_Plays_from_Capoferro From the question about the lefty Todesca: Here is the link to Eleanora Rebecchi’s episode: https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-four-virtues-of-sword-making-with-eleonora-rebecchi And my unboxing video: Malleus Martialis Todesca Unboxing.mp4 from Swordschool.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/medieval-banana-hammocks-with-tasha-dandelion-kelly/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Today’s episode is with Tasha Dandelion Kelly, an expert in medieval clothing who blogs at La Cotte Simple and in my opinion, knows perhaps more than anyone else on the planet about how a gambeson should be made. We talk about the Charles de Blois pourpoint, which is constructed in such a way that it gives incredible freedom of movement. You can see pictures of different examples on Tasha’s website – check out the construction around the shoulders: https://cottesimple.com/images/cdb-pourpoint-pattern/ If you fancy making one, Tasha’s pourpoint pattern book is for sale here: https://www.lulu.com/shop/tasha-kelly/the-pourpoint-of-charles-de-blois/paperback/product-1rg4jw2g.html?page=1&pageSize=4 Here is a direct link to the PDF of her article on the red coat armour at Chartres: https://cottesimple.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Charles-VI-pourpoint-article-Tasha-D-Kelly-reduced-size.pdf This is a video summary of the paper about the Lengberg finds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGg8xbUVXT4 In the video you can see the world’s oldest bra, which the priests were not at all happy about. Those naughty women! Lengberg experts Q+A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LnWIveL5l4

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/broadsword-for-kids-with-andrew-newton/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Andrew Newton lives in the Annapolis Valley in Eastern Canada. He is a historical fencer and mounted archer and runs the Annapolis Valley Historical Fencing Club, teaching broadsword, sabre and cutlass. Andrew was also an officer in the Air Force, so of course there’s a bit of plane chat. In our discussion we talk about the business end of running a club: how to make money, effective marketing tips, and why even if you’re a non-profit you still need to have a business-like approach. Andrew is running very successful youth classes, for both younger kids and teenagers. He talks about how to teach children and why it’s not that different to teaching adults. We discuss the importance of getting youngsters into HMA. Useful links: Guy’s Farfalla di Ferro drill video: https://vimeo.com/540592226 Sea Winds horse archery: https://www.seawindshorsearchers.ca/ Cateran Society broadsword: https://cateransociety.org/ This is Guy’s lengthy and ultra-geeky post about stretto: https://guywindsor.net/2018/06/freedom-to-strike-a-lengthy-discussion-of-largo-and-stretto/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/how-to-build-a-space-rocket-with-leigh-shocki/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Leigh Shocki works for Blue Origin as an Instructional Designer – she can teach you to build a rocket, even though she flunked maths. You too can work at a space company, even if you’re not a rocket scientist! Leigh is passionate about making both space travel and swords more diverse and we discuss the code of conduct she wrote for Lonin which builds in things like inclusive language and ensuring everyone feels safe: https://www.lonin.org/code-of-conduct/ Leigh also mentions the Esfinges Facebook group for women in HMA which now has 2k members and 6.9k followers of the page. Here are the links for the Beth Hammer episode, the Neal Stephenson episode and the Kaja Sadowski episode we refer to. And then on the space inclusivity side see: https://astroaccess.org/ and https://spaceforhumanity.org/?locale=en Leigh hasn’t trained at her club since she suffered a traumatic head injury in a car crash three years ago. Obviously, there is a high risk of being whacked in the head when sword fighting, and so we talk about how best to return to training whilst minimising the risks to Leigh. It’s worth a listen for anyone who has suffered a concussion or looking to modify their training practice for similar reasons. This is the link to Blue Origin’s New Glenn re-usable launch vehicle: https://www.blueorigin.com/new-glenn/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/podcasting-with-the-sword-whisperers-schwertgefluster/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Michael Sprenger and Alexander Fürgut are the creators of Schwertgeflüster, a (usually) German-speaking podcast about all things HMA. In this episode Michael and Alexander interview Guy, while Guy also interviews Michael and Alexander a bit too. It’s not as confusing as it sounds. We talk about how Alexander can’t get into the correct position for Fabris’s rapier fencing, which Guy diagnoses as possible tight hamstrings. If you also want to work on lengthening your hamstrings, here’s Guy’s trainalong hamstring special. The warmup section is about 25min, then we get into the hamstring stretches… vimeo.com/504380949/d22be1ece5 We also talk about the art and science of making a podcast, what’s wrong with HEMA tournaments, publishing lawsuits, and more. The Schwertgeflüster website can be found at www.schwertgefluester.de and the HEMA event calendar mentioned is hema.events/ Here is a link to the podcasting editing video mentioned in the outro: vimeo.com/755065041/b9eca60702

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-episode-in-which-guy-gets-challenged-to-a-duel-with-auri-poso/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Auri Poso is a long time student of Guy’s and one of the first teachers he ever trained. Auri now runs her own school, the Gladiolus School of Arms in Helsinki/Espoo, Finland. In our conversation we talk about Star Wars, which leads to a disagreement about Luke Skywalker needing a good slap. Whether lightsabers would be a suitable weapon in the ensuing duel between Guy and Auri causes another difference of opinion… We also talk about returning to classes and teaching after an extended break to have children, the challenges of starting a school in a crowded market, taking a summer break to tour Europe’s sword schools, and using €1 million to set up an incredible historical martial arts centre.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/poofy-pants-and-murderhobos-with-adam-franti/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Adam Franti is a member of the Meyer Freifechter Guild and an organiser of the Midwest Historical Fencing League. He also started the Lansing Longsword Guild in the summer of 2017, which focuses on Meyer’s longsword. And he is a fellow podcaster, host of a show called Murderhobos, which covers chivalry, duelling and warfare. We talk about 19th century American military history, and then hop back in time to 16th century Germany. Adam is something of an expert in Meyer’s dusack, and we find out what drew him in to this system. He tells us about the Fechtschule fencing competitions, duelling and warfare in Germany at that time. There are links and photos below to accompany the episode: Adam’s workbook on Meyer’s fencing: https://www.lulu.com/shop/adam-franti-and-joachim-meyer/foundations-of-fencing/paperback/product-mnw2gr.html His dusack video series: https://youtu.be/9XmI4WYqvqw?list=PLYv4p_FmRMfKSI9-9YPg4fI-9BzugzI8G A couple of Adam’s historical lectures: https://youtu.be/HsARLoyFmoI?list=PLGRaseBnVpX6yZU9yHcW9sqY9fJzqrA56 And a direct link to the Murderhobos podcast, with all the episodes we discussed, including Donald McBane and Götz von Berlichingen: https://sites.libsyn.com/411899

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-four-virtues-of-sword-making-with-eleonora-rebecchi/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Eleonora Rebecchi is the creative director at Malleus Martialis, producer of excellent training swords, as well as a practising historical fencer and a graphic artist who has done some lovely covers for Guy. She is also a classically trained singer, which you’ll get to hear in this episode. We talk about how Eleanora and her partner Rodolfo got into designing swords for a living, what goes into the design process, and what qualities a business selling swords needs. Eleonora explains how the aesthetics, ergonomics and dynamics of a sword fit together, which is demonstrated by Guy’s delightful new longsword. Here is the unboxing video so you can see what he means: https://vimeo.com/722218823

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/how-to-teach-historical-martial-arts-with-guy-windsor/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy This episode of the podcast is a little bit different because I'm not interviewing anyone. I'm here to talk to you about how to teach. I believe that teaching historical martial arts or anything else is a skill, and as such it can be studied and taught. In other words, you're not born a good teacher, you become one through mindful practise. So the question, I guess, is how do you set about that in a systematic and useful way that will lead you to your desired result? Well, I have a course. Of course I have a course; I always have a course. I am releasing this week my course on how to teach. Now, before you just dash off and buy it, because you're just that sort of excellently supportive listener to the show, I think it would be a good idea if you listen to some excerpts and get an idea of what the course is all about and then decide whether it's really for you. Listen to the episode or read the transcript for exclusive extracts from the course. And to buy the course itself, you can find it at guywindsor.net/teach, where there is a 40% discount offer - only valid until Wednesday 5th of October.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/from-katanas-to-creating-the-metaverse-with-neal-stephenson/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Neal Stephenson is a best-selling author, futurist, tech geek and swordsman whose works include Cryptonomicron, Seveneves, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash. He has also co-written several other books and graphic novels which we discuss in this episode. His latest book, Termination Shock goes into depth and detail about Sikh martial arts, which he had to research during the Covid lockdowns. Of course, Neal’s main claim to fame is that he wrote the preface to my own Swordfighting for Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists. We cover an enormously wide range of topics in this episode, from fountain pens to working with Jeff Bezos building rockets. If you want to find anything in particular, the timestamps and related links are listed below: [03:07] How Neal got into swords. Neal’s club in Seattle is Lonin. [08:12] Ellis Amdur and Japanese martial arts. [14:31] Bartitsu [17:53] Silver and McBane. Note: It was Captain John Godfrey's 1747, A Treatise Upon The Useful Science of Defence, where he said that “The Small-Sword is the Call of Honour, the Back-Sword the Call of Duty.” [28:50] Indian Club training [37:46] Sword fights in fiction and how to write one [43:48] Working with Charles C. Mann on Cimarronin. The Manila Galleons. We mention Da’Mon Stith and episode 23 of this podcast. For the photo of Ellis Amdur sticking an eight foot spear into Neal’s chest, see: https://swordschool.com/podcast/from-katanas-to-creating-the-metaverse-with-neal-stephenson/ [52:40] Fountain pens [55:38] How Neal plots, writes and edits his books, and how he co-writes with another author [1:01:09] How Neal’s books changed culture – e.g. influenced the development of the Kindle (see Fiona image here: https://swordschool.com/podcast/from-katanas-to-creating-the-metaverse-with-neal-stephenson/ Fiona is a character in The Diamond Age. Amazon used the codename ‘Fiona’ for their Kindle project.) [1:03:47] Working with Jeff Bezos at Blue Origin finding better ways to power space rockets [1:14:05] Bullwhips [1:15:41] LAMINA1 and building a new open platform for metaverses [1:28:28] The best idea Neal hasn’t acted on yet [1:32:14] What Neal would do with $1 million to improve historical martial arts

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/elementary-my-dear-windsor/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Ashley Polasek is a historical martial artist who started with Lichtenauer and now teaches Bolognese swordsmanship. She is based in South Carolina, but spends much of her time travelling for her day job working with one of the world’s most successful playwrights. Ashley is an expert in Sherlock Holmes. She was a consultant on the first Enola Holmes movie and is a member of the exclusive ‘Baker Street Irregulars’. Her PhD is in adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, and it is fascinating how the character pops up in so many different versions, and yet they are all recognisably Sherlock Holmes. Even Sherlock Gnomes. (As she is so keen on adaptation, I’m sure Ashley won’t mind that the misquoted title of this episode, “Elementary, my dear Watson,” was never actually said by Sherlock in any of the books.) We also talk about how having no vision in one eye affects Ashley’s swordfighting, training to be a Ninja Warrior, women’s hips, and getting swords into schools.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/teaching-horses-martial-arts-with-the-horsemen-of-eire/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Alessia Pagani and Jack Gassman run Horsemen of Eire, an equestrian training school and medieval combat academy outside Wexford in Ireland. Alessia specialises in natural horsemanship and Jack takes care of the swords. In this episode we talk about what’s natural about ‘natural horsemanship’, and its origins in American cowboys and medieval training techniques. There is a blog post here with pictures of the single and double pillar training techniques we discuss: https://dariocaballeros.blogspot.com/2013/09/antoine-de-pluvinel-images-from.html Alessia spent time living and working as a cowgirl in Arizona and she explains how Rossfechten (swordfighting on horseback) is similar to herding cattle. Teaching horses to fight is not dissimilar to teaching humans to fight, when you understand their motivations and characters. As Jack says, horses intimately understand violence and will beat the shit out of each other over “you looked at me funny”. We also find out why there is so much unarmoured longsword in Liechtenauer, why it helps to be a dancer, and how many plates you have to spin to run a business involving horses. Audiobook Bundle Special Offer! Don’t forget to check out my audiobook bundle for The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts. This includes the ebook and the audiobook version, narrated by Kelley Costigan. You can find it at guywindsor.net/tsg22. That link will get you 20% off the list price until 15th September 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/support-vector-machines-are-cool-with-kari-baker/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Kari Baker is a data scientist and swordswoman from Arizona who writes appallingly advanced data analysis articles for Sword STEM. In our conversation we discuss how data helped increase women’s participation in events and whether we can predict a double in tournaments. You can find Kari’s Sword STEM articles here: http://swordstem.com/author/kbaker/ If you have any interesting research questions, or datasets you want to ask questions of, send them to Guy or pop over to the Sword STEM Facebook page. Audiobook Bundle Special Offer! As mentioned in the introduction to this episode, check out my audiobook bundle for The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts. This includes the ebook and the audiobook version, narrated by Kelley Costigan. You can find it at guywindsor.net/tsg22. That link will get you 20% off the list price until 15th September 2022.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/movement-matters-with-katy-bowman-episode-54-repeat/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Bestselling author, speaker, and a leader in the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman has been changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. Her eight books, including the groundbreaking “Move Your DNA” and “Movement Matters” have been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide. Bowman teaches movement globally and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology to academic and scientific audiences. Her work has been featured in diverse media such as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, the Seattle Times, and Good Housekeeping. One of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and an America Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement”, Katy has worked with companies like Patagonia, Nike and Google as well as a wide range of non-profits and other communities, sharing her “move more, move more body parts, move more for what you need” message. Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington State, where she lives with her family. In our conversation we talk about form, feet, injuries, and Jess Finley’s ‘hooky’ acromion process (it’s part of your shoulder). When you use swords, or do any other sport, the movements – or lack of – that you do all of the rest of the time when you are not doing swords create your ability to move freely and effectively with a sword in your hand. What is your body doing when it is not doing swords? We mention Ruth Goodman’s book, How to be a Tudor. You can find out more here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/287/287072/how-to-be-a-tudor/9780241973714.html and listen to our podcast episode here: https://guywindsor.net/2021/04/fire-and-cauldrons-episode44/ If the section on barefoot shoes inspires you, check out Freet shoes https://freetbarefoot.com Use this code at checkout: THESWORDGUY10 to get 10% off- and if you do, I’ll also get a small commission. Yay! The author mentioned when we are talking about Finland is Robert Holdstock, the Mythago Wood series. We also discuss sedentary culture, what it’s doing to us and our kids, and how we might improve our environment to make movement more likely. Human movement is at an all-time low and our children are currently facing both a movement and nature deficiency, with physical, mental and environmental consequences. The good news is, while the problem feels massive, the solution is quite simple…and fun! Katy’s forthcoming book, “Grow Wild: The Whole-Child, Whole-Family, Nature-Rich Guide to Moving More” is out in the UK on 24th June, SRP £24.99, published by Propriometrics Press; distributed by Chelsea Green Publishing. On Bookshop UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/grow-wild-the-whole-child-whole-family-nature-rich-guide-to-moving-more/9781943370160 On amazon UK.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grow-Wild-Whole-Child-Whole-Family-Nature-Rich/dp/1943370168/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29X0ZIYTB1DAG&dchild=1&keywords=grow+wild+book+katy+bowman&qid=1615844073&sprefix=grow+wild%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-1 Katy’s web/social media links: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com https://www.facebook.com/NutritiousMovement/ https://www.instagram.com/nutritiousmovement/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fiore_dinosaurs_erin_fitzgerald/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Erin Fitzgerald is a historical martial arts practitioner at the Chicago Swordplay Guild, but her day job takes us much further back in time: to the time of the dinosaurs. Erin is a Fossil Preparator and in our conversation she explains the painstaking process of safely transporting fossils back to the lab and cleaning them up ready for studying. After talking about dinosaurs we skip forward a few tens of millions of years to medieval times and talk about Erin’s love of armoured combat and medieval longsword. Erin is also an artist and created a magnificent painting of Fiore’s Segno, to be hung on the wall in the Chicago Swordplay Guild. Here is a blog post from Tasha Kelly about it: https://cottesimple.com/manuscript-interpretation/coloring-segno-della-spada/ Visit the website to see the Segno from the Getty manuscript, Erin’s painting, and the other photos accompanying this episode. https://swordschool.com/podcast/fiore_dinosaurs_erin_fitzgerald/ What’s the book that shall not be named? Medi*val Sw*rdsmanship by J*hn Cl*m*nts

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fire-and-cauldrons-with-ruth-goodman-episode-44-repeat/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ruth Goodman is a social and domestic historian working with museums, theatre, television and educational establishments. She has presented and consulted on several highly successful television series for the BBC. She has also written several excellent books we’ll be talking about today, including The Domestic Revolution, How to be a Tudor and How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England. In this episode, Ruth and I talk about some of the lesser known, but nonetheless fascinating aspects of life in the Middle Ages, without what we think of “essential” cleaning products, or temperature controlled ovens. Yes, people did get their clothes properly clean, and they were able to bake excellent cakes, pastries and bread. Ruth explains how they did this, and the type of learning that has been largely lost nowadays. In our wide-ranging conversation, we also cover the importance of sheds, leaving kids in forests, giving knives to toddlers, and understanding fire. Ruth has a special passion for medieval cauldrons. We also talk about how people would have dressed and moved at this time, all of which is very relevant if you are interested in martial arts from this, or any other period of history. We discuss how to research when there aren’t many sources available – as it turns out, there are many ways to skin a rabbit.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/finding-your-niche-with-mila-jedrzejewska/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Mila Jędrzejewska runs Audatia Creative, a professional services company for businesses in the historical martial arts space. In this conversation, we hear what led Mila to start up her own business, why she focuses on our particular niche, and how Guy and Mila are working together. Mila describes her experiences of sexism in the sword world and racism in the business world and we discuss the privilege of being able to work in a fulfilling job that you love. For the question, ‘What would you do with £1 million to improve historical martial arts worldwide?’ Guy gives his own idea of what he would like to do with the money. Would you be interested in a dedicated historical martial arts online platform, a “Swordbook”, if you will? Guy’s vision is a not-for-profit online space with zero tolerance for trolling, mansplaining, disrespectful behaviour of any kind, where you can talk about swords (or watch cat videos) with fellow swordy folk. If you follow Guy on social media, look out for a poll in Instagram Stories on the subject. Also, as you will hear, Mila is looking for someone to join her team, so if you have graphic design and social media experience, and you are mad about swords, get in touch with her: https://audatiacreative.com/contact/

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/tameshigiri-training-with-asante-lawla/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Asante Lawla is a London-based inventor, corrective exercise specialist and a martial artist who is currently working on an edge alignment device to help people learn to cut better. He practises an Indian battlefield martial art called Shastar Vidiya, which translates as ‘the science of weapons’. Finding that getting hold of the materials needed for cutting training to be expensive, time-consuming and messy, he developed a prototype for a new type of tameshigiri trainer. It uses lasers attached to your sword which makes marks on a target so you can see your edge alignment – something you cannot do with tatami mats or water bottles. Asante has a crowdfunding campaign that runs until the end of August 2022. See here for all the details of the tameshigiri trainer, how it works and the status of the campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tameshigiri-trainer#/ https://vimeo.com/721797796 The yoga practice Asante refers to early on in the episode is this one: https://www.shastarvidiya.org/teaching/sanjam_kiriya_variyam.html Asante’s Shastar Vidiya Brixton Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShastarVidiyaBrixton

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/combat-theory-and-the-incas-with-john-lennox/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr John Lennox is one of the founders of the International Swordsmanship and Martial Arts Convention in Lansing, which moved to Vegas to become CombatCon. He's an instructor with the Historical Martial Studies Society and with the School of Two Swords. John has a Ph.D. in the relationship between stage combat and personal combat from the late 16th century onwards, and we talk about stage combat throughout history and how actors were trained to fight on stage. For more on this, see John’s book, Stage Combat Swordplay from Shakespeare to the Present. The actor in Shakespeare’s troupe who was a master fencer was the famous clown Richard Tarleton, who was given his master’s status on Oct. 23rd, 1587 by the London Masters of Defence (Berry, 33). Sloane’s MSS 2530 states: Mr tarlton was a lowed a mr the xxiijth of octobere vnder henrye nayllore mr 1587 / -ordenary grome off her majvstes chamber” (Berry, 53) Changing the subject somewhat, we also talk about Rumi Maki, the ancient Inca martial art. John takes us through the five elements of this Peruvian ‘stone fist’ system, but how ancient is it, really? How can we even tell whether any modern interpretation of a historical martial art is the real deal? John’s second book is on Combat Theory. In our conversation he takes us through his thoughts on breaking down melee combat into its component parts. You can find John’s book here: Combat Theory: the Foundations of the Fight. This is the podcast episode with Dori Coblentz where she proposes using Guy’s imaginary millions on childcare at events: episode 67.