Introduction: Tahtib

Tahtib is an ancient art, possibly dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. Engraved tomb walls at the archaeological site of Beni Hasan on the eastern bank of the Nile appear to show stick fighting practice resembling Tahtib. Although modern Tahtib practice tends to be friendly (and there is a heavily stylized Saidi form that…

Fighting a longstick

Various native forms of stick fighting including: Singlestick (British) Greatstick (British) Jogo do Pau (Portuguese) Juego del Palo (Spanish) Makila (Basque) Bastone Siciliano (Sicilian) Scherma de Bastone (Italian) Stockfechten (German) La Canne (French) Bâton Français (French) Bataireacht (Irish) Shillelagh (Irish). […] Examples of arts involving longsticks include Hutton’s Greatstick, Jogo do Pau, Juego del Palo,…

Rossfechten – Mounted Fencing

Two obvious ideas are the idea of a good “seat”, and an appreciation of distance and feeling. An effective seat is essential not only for balance and stability, but also for effectively communicating with the horse. Correct posture and weight shifting keeps us balanced and in control, and gives subtle cues to the horse. The…

“Longsword Training Guide” by Hugh Knight

This book is a training guide for learning the German Longsword. It contains Formal Partner Exercises, Basic Drills, Structured Partner Drills, and much more. It is intended to be used with the author’s “Knightly Art of the Longsword” to teach the reader how to go beyond mere techniques of the art to actually learning how…

Where’s the axe in a poleaxe?

  Few terms used in the study of medieval combat are as often confused or misused as the word “pollaxe.”Partly, this is due to the fact that modern people want to apply modern rules of logic to medieval subjects, something which is not supported by actually reading what medieval men wrote.They also tend to ignore…

Art of Swordmaking by Maciej Kopciuch

I’m an artist craftsman from Poland. My specialisation are medieval swords 10-15th century. I’m also a painter, sculptor, music composer, writer. Interested in medieval Arts, martial arts and crafts. My approach to swords reconstruction is to be as close as possible to this what I can see in museums. I think that the real, original…

Regenyei Armoury

Péter Regenyei „makes swords as a living history research”. He also learns and teaches in a HEMA school in Hungary. He offers modern weapons, including museum replicas and his own designs, to which the foundations are also historical. The shape and characteristics of these swords are based on historical research. Regenyei makes feders, rapiers, daggers,…

DVD Review: German Medieval Martial Arts, Volume 2: Sword, Buckler & Messer

The DVD explains all the techniques in the context of a system – any technique you can do with the arming sword can be done with the messer. The buckler can be added in and is the icing on the cake. Just like their Poleax DVD, all techniques are presented in a very clear manner,…

Sword and Shield Combat in Norse Sagas

A previous post discussed the subject with regard to treatises and the use of the sword and shield. […] The idea that the shields of this period were weak in some fashion, even though there is evidence of them being destroyed in the same saga, should not be over-stated, the shield was still used as…