Welcome to Swordschool!

For students of Medieval and Renaissance Italian martial arts.

Where historical accuracy meets practical training.

Books, facsimiles, audiobooks, online courses and t-shirts from world-renowned instructor and pioneering researcher of medieval and renaissance martial arts Dr Guy Windsor.

What's new in store?

20th Anniversary Edition of The Swordsman's Companion

Celebrate two decades of historical martial arts development with the 20th Anniversary Edition of The Swordsman's Companion by Guy Windsor. This seminal guide has transformed the lives of thousands of swordsmanship enthusiasts worldwide, becoming a timeless classic in historical martial arts literature. 

This special edition retains the original's practical approach with detailed instructions, illustrations, and drills, which were state-of-the-art in 2004. The field has moved on considerably, so this book includes access to Guy's fully updated interpretation of Fiore's longsword techniques in The Medieval Longsword.

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  • Do you like the theory?

    Want to know how to research, how to train, or how to write about historical martial arts?

    Theory and Practice 
  • Do you want step-by-step instructions?

    Choose to learn rapier or longsword from a workbook with video links. Make notes as you learn with these specially designed books.

    Workbooks 
  • Interested in the original treatises?

    See facsimiles of original sources, translations and Guy's interpretations.

    Treatises, translations, and academic interpretations 
  • Medieval Longsword

    Are you madly medieval? Check out the medieval combat collection!

    Longsword 
  • Renaissance Rapier

    Do you rave about the rapier? Learn Renaissance Italian martial arts, including the rapier fencing of Ridolfo Capoferro.

    Rapier 
  • Video Courses

    Do you learn best from video? Check out Swordschool's extensive selection of online courses.

    Online courses 

Hardbacks and Facsimiles

Fill your bookshelf with beautiful hardback editions of Guy's works and affordable facsimiles of Vadi and Fiore.

Paperbacks

Workbooks

Learn Armizare or Rapier in these practical ring-bound workbooks, available in left-handed and right-handed versions, to make note-taking easy.

Ebooks

All e-books are delivered instantly by email from BookFunnel for you to read on whichever device you like.

Bundles and Box Sets

T-Shirts

From medieval sword and buckler to the elegant smallsword, and most weapons in between: showcasing famous women in the historical martial arts. Walpurgis? Lady Agnes? La Maupin? absolutely. And now including La Chevalière d'Eon.

And The Sword Guy podcast and Sword People community shirts too!

Latest News: 25 October '24

Hi!

The big news this week is that I have hashed out an arrangement with Freelance Academy Press, publishers of my The Medieval Dagger and The Armizare Vade Mecumthat allows me to sell all versions of these two books on my shopify store. Hurrah!

If you’re not familiar with The Armizare Vade Mecum, it’s a series of mnemonic verses for learning Fiore’s Art of Arms. It began when I was thinking about the verse structure of Fiore’s writing, and noticed that one of the paragraphs on folio 9v has about the right amount of ideas in it for a sonnet. Here’s the prose translation:

I am the noble weapon called dagger, I am very much entwined with the constrained play. And he who knows my malice and my art, of every nuance of armed combat will take good part. And I immediately end my cruel battle, there is no man who can go against me. And who will see me in the feats of arms, I cover and thrust with the wrestling. And I take away his dagger with breaks and binds, and against me no weapons or armour are worth anything.

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