The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts

Written by Guy Windsor

Narrated by Kelley Costigan

The warriors, knights and duellists of old depended on their skill at arms for their lives.

You can learn their techniques and tactics too.

From renowned swordsman and teacher Guy Windsor comes an indispensable resource for anyone interested in martial arts, swordsmanship, and history.

Through this book Guy will teach you how to train your mind and body to become an expert in historical martial arts. It includes the seven principles of mastery, considers the ethics of martial arts, and goes into detail about the process of recreating historical martial arts from written sources.

On the practical side, Guy explains how to develop your skills, and lays out the path for students to become teachers, covering the basics of safe training, looking after your body, and even starting your own training group and teaching basic classes.

An accessible, motivating read that includes many suggestions for further study, including courses, books and other resources, this book sets out to answer every question about historical martial arts you may have. Note that this is not a training manual for a specific style: it provides the foundations for every style.

Your journey starts here. You decide where it ends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spada Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9789527157336

Guy Windsor

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.

Reviews for The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts

[julia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dr Guy Windsor has a very personal tone, which made listening to this book easy and exciting! He has done an excellent job in explaining the necessary requirements to start your sword journey and has provided excellent resources along the way! I am looking forward to reading the rest of his work.