Wednesday, July 28, 2021

The Art of Longsword Fighting: Teaching the Foundations of Sigmund Ringeck's Style


The Art of Longsword Fighting is a technique guide aimed at teachers and advanced students based on the historical European longsword school of Sigmund Ringeck. Due out later in 2021 from Pen & Sword, it's 248 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. 

This is an interestingly relevant modern primer based on medieval texts and includes quite a lot of in-depth background history and interpretation. The material is presented in a logical and accessible manner. The first section covers actual practice setup and execution - including core concepts and background info on style, safety (lots of good general info here with good takeaways for other styles and forms also), terms, training equipment, and learning new techniques. The second section covers the actual extant medieval writings left behind: general lessons, positioning, anatomy (neck, upper body, abdomen, etc), points of attack, and more. 

The instructions throughout are accompanied by photographs and clear line drawn illustrations. The captions in the photographs are illuminating and the author does a good job of illustrating the differences between different contemporaneous European schools of fencing and martial arts by comparing them to one another with regard to foot and body positions.

Four stars. Obviously this is a niche title - but it is a good choice for public library, re-enactors, SCAdians, RenFaire folks, students of military history, and allied audiences. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.


 

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