The Medieval Longsword: A Training Manual

If you’re trying to swings swords just make it easier on yourself and listen to Windsor.

Once I decided between systems of swordsmanship, I began to look about for an instructor. The VA advocates tai chi in their materials distributed to veterans. Seeking additional information, I purchased several of these tai chi materials in book form by various authors from Amazon. While all were instructive, some of the tai chi texts were very obviously geared to a selective audience, one author, which shall remain herein nameless, advocated testicular massage as part of the chi raising ritual. He did admit however that if a seeking practitioner were other than male, he had nothing for them and he did kindly offer his apology.It was at this point for some reason that I became interested in the sword aspect of the tai chi system and I purchased a few of the sword tai chi textbooks. One was by a woman (there were only two), but she didn't have anything in the same, shall we say vein, as did the male practitioner whom I first read, thankfully. Her balance exercises with the tai chi sword were exceptionally helpful and led me to realize that an old broken ankle had not healed optimally or rehabilitated properly over time (take an aspirin and drive on, right. Hooah!!).Guy Windsor incorporates the best aspects of what I have seen by the tai chi authors into his accompanying videos and photos. Guy is not perfect, no author is. I contacted him via email with several questions and he responded in a decent and professional way. I can honestly report that I feel that Guy has befriended me even though I haven't met him yet. One of the reasons I like him, honestly, is that he can accept a well meaning insult from an old warrior, and maybe even trade a few kinda well lol.I get the feeling that Dr. Guy Windsor is interested in his pupils as people firstly. His technical approach to training is whole body and he lays out the necessary physical basic training in a fun manner. I can look at his videos and laugh at him, and quite frankly, I do. He has free courses and a sliding scale and is constantly evolving his material as he learns and builds his cred. He listens to input and adjusts accordingly. I like Guy and due to challenges about a lot of things, his Medieval Longsword book was my ultimate choice after looking at many more than a few options in Longsword, cutting, and tai chi sword.

We are history enthusiasts and have a child interested in Western Martial Arts so it is meeting both an intellectual curiosity and physical fitness needs. Guy Windsor is an expert and good teacher. His videos can be found online and are amazing to watch. The pictures in the book are invaluable. When a person wants to really study any martial art it is important to do a little reading. Guy goes into WHY things developed this way and it is super fascinating.

Guy breaks the skills down to manageable parts and presents the material in a fun and engaging manner. I have worked with dozens of physical skills instructors and Guy is one of the best. I really enjoyed his integration of tai chi concepts into the program. For anyone stuck on teleconference meetings, get a copy of the book, and a waster. Turn off the video, and then do something useful while everyone else sits around and talks.

In the second volume of "Mastering the Art of Arms", Guy Windsor provides an excellent introductory on the medieval longsword for the Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) enthusiast. This book focuses on basic longsword tactics and techniques of the fencing master Fiore dei Liberi from "Il Fior di Battaglia" (the Flower of Battle), an early 14th century Italian fencing treatise.Windsor has an objective writing style that is also fun to read and his explanations are easy to follow. Unfortunately, the original 15th-century artwork of fencing plays was not reproduced; however, Windsor illustrates fencing plays with step-by-step photographs captioned by detailed descriptions. He provides sound interpretations of Fiore's fencing plays and includes a solid set of exercises and drills rooted in the Italian master's style. It would have been nice if Windsor waited and combined the Fiore dagger plays with this volume, providing a much more comprehensive edition centering around the Italian tradition. Regardless, this book is a great introductory guide for any HEMA enthusiast seeking to understand Italian longsword basics!

This is an excellent book for those beginning or furthering their practice of Medieval Longsword. I've been practicing HEMA Longsword for a year as of the writing of this review, I refer back to this book frequently for insight on techniques and for drills and material for new students. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is beginning or wants to further their practice of longsword. Guy Windsor is a great writer and presents the material in the order that someone just starting can follow and be successful. It covers conditioning and stretching, the basics of footwork, strikes and parries, then goes into more situations and techniques that build off of the basics. Guy is intimately familiar with the writings of Fiore Dei Liberi and his interpretation of Fiore's work is the most complete and accurate that I've encountered. I recommended this book for anyone that is learning on their own, anyone who already belongs to a club, instructors and new students alike. Great material from a great source!

Excellent book by a leading expert. As always the frustrating thing is that if you do not have the face to face interaction with a real life instructor this book is not going to help you very much as a swordsman. Really difficult to find good instructors in the UK (unless you live in London). If you cant find someone to teach you, don't buy this book

I have an electronic copy of this book. The structure begins from basics which is good, and progresses well through more complex moves. I have noticed the author inserts some new Italian words into movements and postures without explaining what they mean-can be confusing. Other than that, the only thing holding me back from giving 5 stars is that the pictures are all too small which hides detail, and most of the figures in the photos are wearing all black, which further hides details such as positioning of arms etc.Overall, very good book for beginners, but could do with improvements

It arrived this month on 18th of May. All's well!

Good study guide for those following Fiore. Good training suggestions.

Excellent book , easy to follow pictures ,all angles covered.