Hi, this is just to let you know that the Mastering the Art of Arms subscription, on both Teachable and SwordPeople, has been updated with the new Medieval Dagger course. If you're already enrolled, you should find it in your dashboard. Do let me know if you have any trouble accessing it. If you're not enrolled (yet), you should know that there are now over a dozen online courses in the package, including: The Medieval Wrestling, Dagger, and Longsword courses, Jessica Finley's Haupstucke...
18 days ago • 1 min read
Hi! I got back from Mexico on Tuesday night. Oh my goddess, what a trip. It was a blast from start to finish- though some of that blasting came out of my rear end when my system finally protested the influx of amazing food. Montezuma’s revenge, baby. I’ve written up a pretty thorough review of the first week of the trip here: https://guywindsor.net/2024/09/viva-la-panoplia-y-viva-mexico/ I’m still processing the rest of the trip (and my antibiotics!), so will write it up for the blog later...
21 days ago • 4 min read
Hi! As this goes out, we should have wrapped up the Panoplia Iberica, Mexico edition! And with any luck I’m swanning about Mexico city with a few days to see the place before we head off to Queretaro. If you’re on SwordPeople (and it would be great if you were!) you’ll have seen photos already. It’s a better venue for sharing as-it-happens stuff than an email list. I’m actually writing this last Tuesday, because I doubt I’ll have much time for typing while I’m away. This newsletter is going...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi! Right now you may be confused because I sent an email out yesterday announcing a few hours left to go on this launch... which hadn't started yet.This is because my assistant who normally does these things was away, so I scheduled all the launch emails myself, and hit the wrong button on the last one of them.Sorry. And, this is why I have an assistant!Now, on with the launch... At the end of June I went to Kansas… and came back with footage of a whole lot of my interpretation of Fiore’s Il...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi! as this goes out I’m on my way to Stansted airport to fly to Berlin for the Swords of the Renaissance event, where I’m teaching three classes: Improve your Rapier fencing; Lessons from the Abrazare; and a short “break-out session” on fencing with the rapier and dagger. Should be lots of fun! I’ve attended the last two of these events, and am really looking forward to this one. Between the family trip to London and dashing off to Germany, I’ve been finishing up the video editing for the...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hi, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. The Dardi article I posted about this morning- Michael Chidester, Josh Wiest, and David Biggs all got in touch to let me know that the institution and author apparently don't exist. It's almost certainly a hoax of some kind. Though why anyone would post such a thing on Academia.edu I have no idea. I've deleted the post wherever I can find it, and posted retractions. These things happen- but next time I'll check more carefully before posting stuff. Sorry...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi! On Swordpeople.com yesterday my friend and colleague David Biggs let us know that Italian academics lead by Professor Dottore Giovanni Rossi have found what appear to be parts of a book on swordsmanship by Filippo Dardi himself. Dardi is widely credited as being the founder or precursor of the Bolognese School of swordsmanship, and it's hard to imagine a more exciting discovery. The 11 fragments of parchment were found being used to pad the binding of a 19th century book. What the hell...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi! I’m back from one family holiday (wife, kids, and mother in Corbelles, near Barcelona) and about to head off for a family reunion weeklong extravaganza in London. One highlight of which will be taking my nieces and nephews around the Wallace Collection. I don’t know if it’ll be a highlight for them or not, but for me, certainly! So in the interim I’ve been beavering away at the new Dagger course, adding over 70 video clips- literally every dagger play in Il Fior di Battaglia is now there...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi! I hope this finds you well. I'm at home between trips, and the lovely Katie who normally formats and schedules my newsletters is away on a much-deserved holiday, so please excuse any irregularities as I create this announcement all by myself! This is just to let you know that my new book, Get Them Moving: how to teach historical martial arts is now available at the swordschool shop. It will go live on other platforms (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc etc.) in a few months, but you can get it...
2 months ago • 1 min read