Teaching and Interpreting Historical Swordsmanship by Brian R. Price

by Brian R. Price

Historical swordsmanship and the rich spectrum of European martial arts has captured the attention of students of military history, Eastern martial artists, reenactors, stage choreographers, fencing historians, and tournament combatants. With this rediscovery has come an explosion of schools teaching historical fighting arts. Thousands of new students and teachers are clamoring not only for interpretations, but for something even more guidance on techniques for teaching and interpreting the long-lost arts. There are many volumes on performance training, sports philosophy, fencing and martial arts instruction. But to date there are none that take the unique requirements of historical European martial arts into account. For the teacher must be at once an interpreter and teacher, researcher and student. Problems of artistic interpretation, translated and incomplete texts, and the larger issue of historical context are all addressed alongside practical advice about conducting single and group drills, structuring practice sessions, developing underlying principles for each system to train skilled swordsmen in both mind and body. In this volume, many leaders of the historical swordsmanship community from around the world have come together to offer valuable insights to new generations of students and instructors. The reader will find both practical hints on how to teach and philosophical approaches to guide the development of their own drills and practice exercises, treasured advice from teachers both modern and ancient. Contributors include Brian R. Price, Stephen Hand, Christian H. Tobler, Johann Heim, Milo Thurston, Sean Hayes, Colin Richards, William E. Wilson, Guy Windsor, Matthew Galas, and Luca Porzio Finally, this book goes further in that the insights presented are not limited to historical martial arts. Any teacher of physical arts will find culturally-based, practical solutions to the development of skills for students and the problems faced by their teachers.

Genres: Martial Arts, History

Paperback

First published July 30, 2005