Choosing a Sword

by Guy Windsor

*This instalment of The Swordsman’s Quick Guide has been included as a chapter in the author’s book The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts.*This book is for beginners who want to practise swordsmanship, and need to know what kind of sword to buy. It covers what to look for in safe training weapons, as well as the ideal range of length, weight and other specifications for each major European sword type, Arming Sword, Longsword, Sidesword, Rapier, Backsword, and Smallsword.It also covers choosing a supplier.Guy Windsor is a professional researcher and teacher of historical European swordsmanship, and the author of several top-selling books on the subject, including The Swordsman’s Companion and The Medieval Longsword.

Genres: Martial Arts

34 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2015

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 or writing books Guy can be found in his shed woodworking or spending time with his family.

Reviews

[James R Ellison · Rating 3 out of 5]

All pictures missing!

I like having the numbers for weight, length, and balance, but not one of the pictures shows! I'm reading it on an Amazon Fire HDX 7" tablet, so there shouldn't be any picture-rendering problems. I even tried a reboot. This is frustrating! Still a good reference even with only the text.

[Paul A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received this as part of "The Sword-Person's Care Package." Extremely short overviews of different swords, with example specifications provided for each. Some useful advice on purchasing and ordering swords from craftspeople, but again, very brief.