The Sword Guy Podcast

Living the Nobler Dream, with Christian Tobler

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/living-the-nobler-dream-with-christian-tobler/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Christian Tobler is a chivalric combat instructor and author of many books, including Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship, which launched the study of Liechtenauer in the Anglosphere. He also wrote Fighting with German Longsword, In St. George's Name: an Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts, In Service of the Duke, and many more. Not to mention his latest, which is Lance, Spear, Sword and Messer, a German Medieval Martial Arts Miscellany.

In 1979, Christian and Carl Johnson founded one of the earliest historical martial arts organisations, The Order of Selohaar, a mystic order of chivalry, to try to answer the philosopher and polymath John Ruskin’s famous question, “Might we not live a nobler dream than this?”. The order is “dedicated to the preservation of honor, nobility, arcane wisdom, and martial excellence in an age where such traditions and values have generally been forgotten.” In our conversation we talk about getting into historical martial arts back in the 80s and 90s.

The episode covers writing, researching, social media, and how to interpret the pictures in medieval manuscripts. We also talk about fighting each other, back in 2006.

You can find Christian’s books at Freelance Academy Press, as well as the other usual places.

 

Episode 100: Duelling and a Day in the Life of Guy Windsor

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/duelling-and-a-day-in-the-life-of-guy/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Welcome to episode 100 of The Sword Guy Podcast! In this special episode, Ariel Anderssen (episode 93) interviews Guy about a whole load of stuff, including how Guy got into swords in the first place, the vision up a Scottish mountain that told him to open his school in Helsinki, injuries from duelling, Guy’s best ever sword fight, feminism, getting through the pandemic, and learning to fly. Ariel also asks Guy about his typical week – so if you have ever wondered how Guy spends his time, have a listen.

Here are some photos from the infamous head wound incident:

Thank you for listening, we hope you have enjoyed the last one hundred episodes. If you have enjoyed any of the conversations so far, please do leave a rating and review on your podcast platform, as it really helps other people find The Sword Guy podcast. We have many more exciting guests lined up, so keep tuning in!

If you are interested in the Solo Training Course mentioned in the episode, you can find it here. And Guy’s book about solo training, The Windsor Method, is here.

A Two-Handed Sword to Fight a Griffin, with Marie Powell

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/a-two-handed-sword-to-fight-a-griffin-with-marie-powell/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

It’s episode 99 of The Sword Guy Podcast! Next week we have a special 100^th edition, so look out for that. While you’re waiting, you can enjoy this week’s episode with writer, journalist, editor and author, Marie Powell.

Marie lives in Canada, but a search for her Welsh heritage inspired her to write her latest sword and sorcery epic, The Last of the Gifted. It is based on the events of 1282-1283 in Wales, when the last true Prince of Wales, Llywelyn of Aberffraw, was murdered by the English. His head was chopped off and sent to the king, Edward I, but nobody knows quite who killed him. There are several other mysteries surrounding the story, which we cover in our conversation, and we also talk about swords (both magical and historical), the Unicorn Exception, and giant elephants at Buckingham Palace.

Find out more about Marie and her books:

• Website: https://mariepowell.ca/
• Social Media Links: https://linktr.ee/mariepowell
• Last of the Gifted: Spirit Sight and Water Sight are available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook, with an omnibus edition also available in hardcover
• Spirit Sight - https://books2read.com/u/4XLkN1
• Water Sight - https://books2read.com/u/mgznDR
• Last of the Gifted omnibus: https://books2read.com/u/mVaxqr

• Booklinks: https://mariepowell.ca/young-adult/booklinks/
• Marie's mailing list: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/a8p8d2

 

Mastering Movement with Dan Edwardes

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/mastering-movement-with-dan-edwardes/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Dan Edwardes is a parkour coach and teacher of teachers. He's a founding member and executive director of Parkour Generations, an international organisation of Parkour Instructors with schools all over the world. He's also the author of The Parkour and Free Running Handbook.

Dan also has a background as a swordsman. He lived in Japan for five years, and was one of very few westerners to train at the Katori Shinto-ryu, the oldest and most respected sword school in Japan. It’s the only school that still requires you to do the blood oath, the Keppan, which you can hear about in this episode.

Parkour is seen by many as pretty dangerous, but Dan explains the difference between danger and risk, and how he has had to retrain people’s perceptions of parkour. We also find out what Dan does to keep his joints healthy and how his body copes with all the impact.  

You can find more information on parkour and coaching training at www.danedwardes.com and at www.parkourgenerations.com.

 

The Last Duel, or was it? With Ariella Elema

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-last-duel-or-was-it-with-ariella-elema/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Dr Ariella Elema is a finder of the forgotten, the hidden and the obscure. She's an academic and archivist and an armizare practitioner in Toronto. Her Ph.D. thesis, Trial by Battle in France and England, should give you some clue as to why I invited her on the show. But it also won the Canadian Society of Medievalists’ Leonard Boyle dissertation prize, which is very impressive.

In our conversation we talk about trial by combat, trial by ordeal, and the film, The Last Duel. Was it actually the last duel? There are some fascinating insights from Ariella on how a trial by combat would come about, who got to participate in such trials, and how they didn’t necessarily end with any fighting taking place. You need to listen to hear Guy’s take on the German version of the trials: “It's like medieval, gimp-suited, mud wrestling, basically.”

Here are some images of the Baculus Cornutus:

Alençon, Bibliothèque municipale MS 96, folio 63v. From the second half of the twelfth century.

British Library, Smithfield Decretals, MS Royal 10 E IV, folio 96v (detail). Circa 1300-1340.

York Minster Cathedral, Saint William Window, Corpus vitrearum medii aevi no. 010564. Circa 1414.

Here is a video lecture Ariella did for Middle Ages for Educators, called Anatomy of a Duel, about the case of Jean de Carrouges versus Jacques Le Gris, a lawsuit that occurred in Paris in 1386. It’s the subject of the book The Last Duel by Eric Jager, and also of the movie The Last Duel directed by Ridley Scott. This will spoil the movie for you. (Please note, it’s a discussion of a prosecution for rape and some fairly graphic violence.)

https://youtu.be/kxQa1Su-0F4

 

Ariella is on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ariellaelema

 

 

Frog DNA and Indonesia with Pradana

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/frog-dna-and-indonesia-with-pradana/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Pradana Pandu Mahardhika lives in Bandung, Indonesia. He describes himself as a freelance translator/interpreter, amateur tailor, and professional procrastinator. In this episode we talk about how Pradana set up a historical martial arts club, Gwaith-i-Megyr, which was founded in 2016. He had been fencing as part of an informal group for a while, but when he decided to get some wooden swords made up, he found that the enthusiasm was really high, mainly from members of the Tolkien society. There are only three or four formal clubs in the whole of Indonesia, so it is still a small scene, and growth has of course been stalled by Covid. 

We have an interesting chat about languages. Did you know the formal variety of Indonesian has no tenses? Pradana is fluent in four languages, but unfortunately he doesn’t have the knowledge of the Malay Arabic script that would enable him to translate some 16^th century Malay sources on using arquebuses. If you have that skill, please get in touch!

More information on the Malay sources can be found here:

• https://www.academia.edu/7070689/Manuskrip_ilmu_bedil_Sumber_etnosejarah_teknologi_senjata_api_Melayu
• https://mowcaparchives.org/items/show/61
• https://jantungmelayu.com/2018/08/kitab-ilmu-bedil-melayu/

It turns out that the treatises aren’t available online, yet.

Pradana is also an archer and a tailor, with ambitions to become a pilot, so we talk about making medieval clothes and flying planes too. Here is a photo of Guy in his wedding suit which he had specially tailored to enable him to wear a sword.

Photo credit: Georgia Bertazzi

Pradana’s blog on military history, fiction writing, historical fencing, and other unrelated subjects is at sillynewsboy.wordpress.com.

 

 

 

Laser Focus, Thought Control, and Jousting with Sarah Hay

The Sword Guy Podcast episode 95

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/laser-focus-thought-control-and-jousting-episode95/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Sarah Hay has been jousting since 2008. Just ten years later she won the Queen's Jubilee Horn at the Royal Armouries’ Easter jousting tournament in Leeds. In this episode we find out how Sarah’s passion for jousting came about, her background with horses, getting your own armour, and the vital role that mindset plays in her success.

Sarah casually dropped into conversation that she “controls her thoughts”, and we dig a little deeper into this. It’s a useful listen if you are interested in improving your performance in any area, or just looking to get rid of that negative voice inside your head.

If you would like to see pictures of Sarah in her armour and taking part in tournaments, check out her Instragram @sarahjousts. 

The Toby Capwell episode mentioned can be found here: Episode 76 and the episode on jousting with New Zealand jouster, Callum Forbes, is here: Episode 40.

 

 

 

Harps and Sharps with Andrew Lawrence-King

The Sword Guy Podcast episode 94

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/harps-and-sharps-episode94/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Dr. Andrew Lawrence-King is a historical musician, harpist, continuo player, baroque opera director, winner of a Grammy in the category of best small ensemble performance. He is also a rapier fencer and Tai Chi practitioner. And I should mention his crowning professional achievement is, of course, providing the harp music for my George Silver Paradoxes of Defence audiobook.

In our conversation we talk about the similarities between researching historical music and historical martial arts. We discuss the search for the one, perfect instrument and the challenges of recreating historically accurate music or swordplay using instruments/swords made with modern techniques.

We also talk about the benefits of getting involved in music or martial arts for those of us who didn’t fit in at school, giving us confidence and a way to move our bodies that doesn’t involve traditional sports, whatever shape we are in.

Andrew’s blog is https://andrewlawrenceking.com and he is on Twitter @Il_Corago.

 

 

 

Startling Burglars with Ariel Anderssen

The Sword Guy Podcast episode 93

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/startling-burglars-with-ariel-anderssen/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Ariel Anderssen is a model, actor, author, property investor and is perhaps best known for her career as a BDSM model and performer. She is also mad about swords, both for using in stage fight and for collecting.

We cover a lot in this conversation, including talking about whether stage combat or martial arts training would be any use in a “real life” fight, and how Ariel sees BDSM and sword fighting as virtually indistinguishable from one another. After all, they both often involve black leather and giving someone a good thrashing…

Photos:

Guy’s 1796 pattern cavalry sabre:

Guy’s smallsword:

Here is the link to the Zorro movie with the superb fight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB8tiSMCwRE

 

To find out more about Ariel, you can find her on her website, YouTube and Twitter.

 

 

 

 

Monte with Mike

The Sword Guy Podcast episode 92

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/monte-with-mike-episode92/ 

To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

Mike Prendergast is the founder and head instructor of the Historical Combat Academy in Dublin and translator of Pietro Monte’s Exercitiorum Atque Artis Militaris Collectanea, which is otherwise known as the Collection of Renaissance, Military Arts and Exercises. He also teaches in an SCA group called Dun in Mara.

In our conversation we talk about how you don’t have to be an expert or a professional teacher to set up your own club, which is something many of you may be interested to hear about.

We then get into talking about Pietro Monte – who he was, what he taught and how he died. Mike has been working on translating the Exercitiorum and his 2018 draft of the translation can be found at www.mikeprendergast.ie/monte. The complete version will be available soon, so watch this space.  

Temperantia

Mike's sword Temperantia is pictured above, and below next to a longsword:

On a slight tangent, towards the end of the episode, there’s also a discussion about using NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) in strategic coaching and martial arts training.

Useful links

For more on the SCA and Buhurt, have a listen to the episodes with Stephen Muhlberger, Dayna Berghan-Whyman and Beth Hammer.

Mike’s website: http://mikeprendergast.ie/