The Sword Guy Podcast

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/babies-horses-and-a-secret-knife-with-gretchen-settle/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Gretchen Settle models, swordfights and makes stuff. She is getting back into training after giving birth to an incredibly adorable young sword person who looks very good with her little sword. We talk about Gretchen’s background with horses and how she came to get into longsword and ringen with Maryland Kunst des Fechtens. Her love of historical martial arts has spilled over into her modelling work, and here is a link to the ‘Blossfechten’ photo we discuss, which can be found on Gretchen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/COlisAdHtqE/ And here is a photo of the tiny knife Gretchen hid in her garter on her wedding day: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVwUS1WrjFS/ As Gretchen has recently had a baby, we talk about trying to keep up with training when you’re pregnant (not possible if you’ve got horrendous morning sickness) and how you get back into it after having the baby.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/boldly-going-with-stephen-hand/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Stephen Hand is a founder of the Stoccata School of Defence, author of several books, including English Swordsmanship: The True Fight of George Silver and Swordplay in the Age of Shakespeare, and he currently teaches at the Stoccata Branch in Hobart, Tasmania. He has also choreographed a sword fighting movie about Macbeth. We’ve known each other a long time, and we have a little reminisce about what it was like trying to get hold of manuals and equipment back in the olden days of the 1990s. We also talk about what it was like to be in the first generation of instructors in the fledgling historical martial arts community. Steve is known for his work on George Silver, and also Joseph Swetnam, who was well known for being a raging misogynist pig, and a bit of a dick even by the standards of his day. But the most important question is who would win in a three-way fight between Swetnam, Silver and Saviolo?

For transcriptions, images and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/hema-in-mexico-and-inspirational-women/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Mariana Lopez is a historical fencer, coach, artist and one of the founders of HEMA in Mexico, 16 years ago. She is also the co-founder of Esfinges, an international network of female historical fencers. In our conversation we talk about how the HEMA scene in Mexico differs from the U.S. or Europe, and what other countries might learn from the Mexican way of doing things. We also talk about Esfinges, and what it was like to found the network, the abuse she has faced for it, and how hearing from so many women in HEMA has affected her views. Mariana is keen to improve tournament culture, and we hear how she would like to do that – and how her approach differs from Guy’s. She is also looking to set up a scholarship, and towards the end of the interview she explains how it could be done.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to:  https://swordschool.com/podcast/swordbeards-and-violence-with-dr-mark-geldof/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Dr. Mark Geldof specialises in all kinds of historical violence. He has a DPhil in history from the University of Oxford on Change and Continuity in English Elite Conceptions of Violence, 1450-1560 and an M.A. entitled The Heart, the Foot, the Eye to Accord: Procedural Writing and Three Middle English Manuscripts of Martial Instruction. He got into swords through the SCA, and he explains how the knowledge he gained through whacking people with sticks has influenced his work. We talk about the three English sword texts from the 15th century, and how Mark wrote a 122 page master’s thesis with a 22 page bibliography on 400 lines of text. He has plenty of advice for the amateur historian on avoiding pitfalls and making sure that you are studying the best sources. We also talk about why what seems like excessive violence is actually necessary or expected, and how humans can keep going even after they’ve been stabbed in the heart or skewered on a spear, so if you’re going to kill someone, you’ve got to keep going until they are definitely dead. There are lots of useful links for this episode. Firstly, we refer to the episodes with Paul Wagner and Mike Prendergast that you might want to listen back to. And here are the links from Mark: - Link to the Patreon: https://patreon.com/dr_violence - Link to the MA thesis download: https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/ETD-2011-08-77?show=full (note that these transcriptions are not perfect, in this ed. But they are better than what’s been around most often) - Link to the doctoral thesis for those interested: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6d6be72b-b6ea-460f-b222-beb0547465eb - The most current edition of Titus A xxv: https://bl.iro.bl.uk/concern/articles/614dcee4-907c-4ab8-879d-5143b0e5c673?locale=en - Gentileschi Judith and her Maidservant 1: https://discover.hubpages.com/art/Judith-and-her-Maidservant---My-Take - Judith and Maidservant 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_Judith_Maidservant_DIA.jpg - Judith slaying Holofernes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Slaying_Holofernes_%28Artemisia_Gentileschi,_Naples%29#/media/File:Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Judith_Beheading_Holofernes_-_WGA8563.jpg  - See the shownotes on Swordschool.com for the draft of the paper on the Additional ms that’s in submission right now. 

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to:  https://swordschool.com/podcast/patience-and-perspective-with-ginny-beatty/ To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Ginny Beatty is a historical fencer in the SCA in Ohio, USA, and she took up arms in her late forties, having done everything else first: historical cookery, archery, heraldry, and making costumes, armour and weapons. She now loves fencing with a rapier and buckler and explains the importance of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and learning new things to stay young.  We talk about how to keep yourself in shape when you are slightly older. What the challenges are (and the advantages) and how to cross-train. Also, how to win a fencing match against someone taller or more aggressive than yourself. Ginny describes her nutrition plan that keeps her energy up and the importance of proper body mechanics to avoid injury.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/fiore-the-movie-with-alberto-mattea/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Alberto Mattea is an Italian film composer and filmmaker, actor and re-enactor with a deep interest in the Middle Ages. In the historical martial arts world, he is perhaps best known for his short film Fiore, which is, I think, the most accurate representation of the late 14th century ever put on the screen. In this episode Alberto explains how the film got made on a tiny budget of €3,000, how they built the sets, made the costumes and did the special effects. And who made the swords! Listen to the very end of this episode to hear some of the music Alberto composed for the film. We also talk about what TV series Alberto ought to make next, which would change the perception of the Middle Ages in popular culture. You can see Fiore on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_H3dkTiaRA and here is the video with the breakdown of the visual effects that is mentioned in the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja5Q-70XEDA  For more information about Alberto, this is his website: https://www.albertomattea.com/

For transcriptions, photos and more detailed shownotes, please go to: https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-whack-dont-die-method-with-kari-holman/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Kari Holman is a rapier fencer and a licensed therapist. She has also written Psychology and the SCA Fencing Woman: a Manual for Students and Teachers. The moment I read it, I asked if I could include it in my How to Teach course because it's that good. So of course, we talk about teaching women and what’s been going wrong with teaching that leads to so many women dropping out before they reach the higher echelons of the fencing community. We also talk about trauma and PTSD. Kari explains about different types of trauma, whether we are all traumatised, and how similar events could be traumatic or not at all, depending on the context. Kari volunteers as a psychological counsellor at the Midwest FurFest, which currently the largest free convention in the US. We have a very interesting chat about why she’s needed, what happens at these conventions, and why so many thousands of people might want to dress up in a fur suit in the first place.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/becoming-your-best-swordsman-with-robert-childs/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Robert Childs is a well-known rapier competition champion and author of the new book Revelations of Rapier. In our conversation we talk about how he trains for tournaments and what has made him so successful. We talk about judging tournaments and the difficulty of spotting lightening fast thrusts. Robert has synthesised his own eclectic method for rapier fencing, and he explains some of it for us in this episode. He also takes us through his school’s unusual ranking system, in which you have to win tournaments and eventually fight multiple opponents at once in order to progress up the ranks. The best idea Robert hasn’t acted on yet it to develop a team sport called Blood of Heroes, which involves weapons, dog skulls, and working as a team to beat your opponents. It sounds great fun. And finally, Robert is actually building his own castle! If you are interested in finding out more or supporting the project, his Patreon is here: https://www.patreon.com/castleandsword YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/robertchildsrapier

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-importance-of-mixer-taps-with-eleanor-janega/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy I am delighted to announce that Dr Eleanor Janega is back! She was first on the show way back in episode 16, which is one of our most popular episodes. Since her last appearance on The Sword Guy, Eleanor has published a book and been on TV. Time to catch up on what she has been working on! Just to remind you, Eleanor is a guest lecturer at LSC in the Department of International History. She has a Ph.D. in history. She has a blog called Going Medieval that you definitely should check out. She's a co-host of the We're Not So Different podcast. She has a Patreon account, at patreon.com/goingmedieval. And she's the author of The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, which came out last year and of The Once and Future Sex coming out next year. In addition to all of this, she is a presenter of the History Hit TV shows Going Medieval and Exploring the Medieval Afterlife. In this episode we talk about sexism through the ages, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, being a foreigner in Britain and what ‘Britishness’ actually is, medieval ghosts, beer, and quite a few other things too.  

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/outnumbered-combat-and-catching-imaginary-balls-with-luis-preto/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Luis Preto is a Jogo do Pau instructor and author of multiple books, including a tutorial on multiple opponent combat with one handed weapons. He also has two master's degrees, one in teaching sports and the other in Kineseology. Jogo do Pau is known as Portuguese stick fighting, which shares a cultural heritage with similar combat systems in Europe, but one difference is that in the Portuguese system, the multiple opponent training has been preserved. We talk about why training in outnumbered combat may have been lost in other areas, and how to train for such scenarios in a safe way. Luis explains how it’s actually quite simple to protect your head from being whacked by a big stick. To watch some Jogo do Pau videos, here is Luis’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC45K3e12LNK9EajBvpMtmKg We also talk about teacher training, and how to teach movement through practises that give trainees intrinsic feedback, rather than repeating specific techniques that may not be helpful in the reality of a swordfight. It is all about the context and the motivation. We also talk about how martial arts practitioners can improve their training, and how coaches can get better at coaching.    

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/medieval-shoulders-trees-and-swords-with-jessica-finley-episode-1-repeat/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy This week’s repeated episode is the very first Sword Guy Podcast episode, with the inestimable Jessica Finley, who may be known to you from her wonderful book about medieval wrestling. Those of you who are enrolled on my Solo Training course may have sweated and grunted through her “solo training for wrestlers” section of the course, and if you know her on her Patreon account, she produces translations, interpretations, previews of books in progress, and videos also for her patrons and you can find her there at www.patreon.com/jessfinley. Birthday Sale You still have two days left to use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022.      

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/fear-is-the-mind-killer-with-kajetan-sadowski-episode-5-repeat/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy As it’s the Christmas holiday period I have decided to repeat a couple of classic episodes, which you may not have heard first time around. The first is with Kajetan Sadowski. Kajetan has changed his name and pronouns since the time of recording, and in the episode you’ll hear me using his old name of Kaja. Kajetan is the author of the must-read Fear is the Mind-Killer, one of my top ten books on martial arts. We also talk about training with two swords, training in high-stress situations, and lots more training besides! Kajetan has been a physical instructor since 2004, teaching figure skating, rock climbing, and mountaineering before coming to martial arts in 2010. He joined the coaching team at Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly in 2012, and created their beginner program shortly afterwards. He currently teaches group and private lessons to students of all experience levels, and runs the school’s self defense program. His website is https://kajaswords.com/ This week’s non-sponsor This week it is to remind you of the mighty wiktenauer.com, which is a gigantic reference source for everything historical martial arts. It’s run by Michael Chidester, who I interviewed in episode 21, and it includes scans, transcriptions, translations and articles and just keeps getting better every day. I use it almost daily and it’s a simply astonishing resource. Birthday Sale - it's still running! Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022.      

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/the-yeti-of-chest-protection-with-veronica-young/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Veronica Young is an industrial designer, historical martial artist and founder of Cryptid Combat Wear, and she is also currently running a campaign for making a chest protector for women, which will actually fit and allow for movement. Veronica explains how she developed the prototypes, and how she has worked on the sizing to fit the widest range of people. The Indigogo campaign is running until 6th January, and you can support it here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fencing-chest-protector#/ You might recall from the AMA episode a couple of weeks ago, we had a question about women’s knees, and how to prevent injury from fencing in a Meyerist fashion. Well, Veronica practises Meyer, and she has knees, so I asked her what she does to protect them. It’s all about the inner quads! Veronica has got heavily into tournament fencing, and we talk about the mindset one needs to compete successfully, and about being a minority in HEMA – the stereotypes and the difficulties of different genders fighting one another. We also talk about how to win a fight against someone much taller than you. Birthday Sale Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This week’s non-sponsor It’s Freelance Academy Press, which is a publishing house dedicated to serving the historical martial arts community. It was founded by Christian Tobler (see episode 101) and Greg Mele, and it has a fantastic catalogue of books you might be interested in. Such as my own, The Medieval Dagger, of course, but also their stunning critical editions of the Fiore manuscripts, translations of Bolognese and rapier texts, and works on German medieval combat. There’s really something for everyone. So, if you are looking for something to read, go to freelanceacademypress.com.      

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/what-makes-a-warrior-with-cain-maxwell/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Cain Maxwell is an instructor of physical culture, who's been teaching physical skills his entire life, from swimming to military firearms to ballroom dancing, even. And now he is teaching mounted martial arts and runs a school called Martial Equestrian, a mounted combat school in Hinckley, Ohio. Cain learned to fight by fighting for real in a rough neighbourhood. In his own words, he had a chip on his shoulder. So he approaches martial arts with the question of whether it would really work on the streets. In our conversation we talk about pedagogy, translation, choosing a source, and martial culture. We discuss the difference between a warrior and a thug. They are both willing to do violence to others, so what is the difference? And can martial arts really teach good character in life outside the salle? Listen to this episode for one of the most unexpected and thought-provoking answers to the question, “What would you do with $1 million to improve martial arts worldwide?”   Birthday Sale Don’t forget, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This week’s non-sponsor: Arms-n-armor.com are makers of swords and training weapons. I got my default training rapier from them in 2005 and my longsword in 2004 and they are both still going strong. They also made my sharp rapier and dagger, and my training smallsword. I interviewed smith Craig Johnson in episode 33 and he is not just a great smith, he is also a good friend. So you might think I’m biased, except those swords are still on the rack, scratched and worn. I’ve replaced the leather on the longsword grip at least twice and it’s still going strong after at least 15 years. So, if you are looking for a new sword, go to arms-n-armor.com.   For more information about the host Guy Windsor and his work, as well as transcriptions of all the episodes, check out his website at https://swordschool.com/podcast   And to support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/furries-bar-fights-and-cryotherapy-with-lisa-losito/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Lisa Losito is a sword mom, historical fencer and an organising brain behind Lord Baltimore's Challenge. Lisa suffers from a chronic illness which affects her training, but she is absolutely passionate about helping others achieve their vision for events within the historical martial arts world. Whether that’s a big event like Lord Baltimore’s Challenge, or small grassroots events with local clubs, Lisa will make sure everyone has what they need, and make sure that everyone is safe. Safety is something we discuss in this episode, both in terms of gear (particularly head protection) and physical and emotional safety within the environment. We talk about the culture change that is needed to prevent injuries like concussion and to keep bad actors out of historical martial arts. Plus, we also find out that Lisa wants to open a salle with a brothel attached. (That’s not exactly true…) Birthday Sale In other news, it was my birthday on November 30th and as has become traditional, I have a present for you. You can use the code, GUYTURNS49 to get £5 off any of my books at swordschool.shop and 30% off any course at courses.swordschool.com. The code will work until the end of December 2022. This Week’s Non-Sponsor Most podcasts have sponsors who offer discounts to the listeners and money to the host. In the sword world most of the companies and organisations offering products or services to sword people have tiny profit margins and very little cash. So I thought I’d introduce a non-sponsor segment to the show, where I call out producers of good sword stuff and recommend it to our listeners without getting paid for it. The first non-sponsor to the show is the mighty wiktenauer.com which is a gigantic reference source for everything historical martial arts. It’s run by Michael Chidester, who I interviewed in episode 21, and it includes scans, transcriptions, translations and articles and just keeps getting better every day. I use it almost daily and it’s a simply astonishing resource.