Swordfighting, for Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists
About this ebook
Your search for a book that will feed your passion for and deepen your knowledge of swordsmanship ends here.
Guy Windsor’s Swordfighting offers insight into this magnificent historical European martial art: you will find answers to your burning questions about swordsmanship, its theory and practice.
This carefully crafted book provides essential information on diverse topics with piercing clarity.
“Whether you are a writer or game-maker seeking the kind of information I sought while writing The Baroque Cycle, or just a general reader with an interest in the arts to which Guy Windsor has dedicated his career, you should find much that is rewarding in these pages.” - Neal Stephenson, New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning author
Made up of a selection of Guy’s essays and articles, with a great deal of brand new material, this engaging and revealing book makes this complex subject accessible, enabling you to deep-dive into —
- Benefits of training
- Types of weapons
- Sword fighting principles
- Historical accuracy
If you are an actor, writer or games designer creating or writing fight scenes, this book provides cutting-edge research on our European martial arts heritage. You will also discover the dos and don’ts of producing a stunningly realistic sword fight.
Swordfighting is not a training manual. For technical instruction on specific swordsmanship styles, pick up The Medieval Longsword and The Duellist's Companion.
About the author
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 Guy can be found in his shed woodworking or spending time with his family.
