The Sword Guy Podcast

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  • HOW YOU CAN HELP

    What began as a side project is swiftly taking over a great deal of my time, and costing me some money, so to support the show I have created a Patreon account here: patreon.com/theswordguy. If you think this show is a good idea, please demonstrate it by throwing some coins in the hat. Every little helps. Thanks to the support of people like you, I’ve been able to get transcriptions done for every episode, and I’m saving up to upgrade some audio equipment. Patrons will get first dibs on suggesting guests to interview, and I also offer some Patron-only content such as audio AMAs with me. I’ll also be asking the Patrons for any questions they particularly want me to ask my guests- so they will also find out who’s coming on the show before anyone else.

    Sound like your sort of thing? Then toddle along to: 

    patreon.com/theswordguy 
  • THE MISSION

    This podcast is a tactic in the service of a larger goal, namely to encourage diversity in historical martial arts. The first rule of the podcast is there must be at least 50% female guests. Fortunately there are no shortage of women practising swordswomanship! But representation doesn’t end there. I have also found guests from a range of martial backgrounds (Airrion Scott started out swinging light-sabres, Siobhan Richardson started out in stage combat), cultural backgrounds (there are guests from Asia, South America, Europe, and North America), and ethnicities.

    My goal is that eventually anyone, from any culture, of any race, sexual identity, height, weight, health status, and any other demographic data point you can think of, can find a historical martial arts role model on this podcast. That may encourage them to take up the Art, and so historical martial arts will become more diverse, and therefore deeper and stronger. This might not make much difference to many people, but I know for sure that it will make some difference to some people, and that is a whole lot more than nothing.

    This is of course an ethical standpoint, but it’s also a practical one. Getting opinions from a diverse range of people makes for better outcomes. Matthew Syed makes the case for this phenomenon in his book Rebel Ideas, which I highly recommend. A rising tide lifts all boats, so if your overall goal is improving the practice of historical martial arts as a whole, it makes sense to get as many different minds on the problem as possible.

    I know that some people will feel that I ought to just interview the “best” hma practitioners. The famous ones, the ones with big followings, the ones with the most books out. (I know it because they’ve written and told me so!) I will, and I do, as you can see from the guest list. But if we only hear from them, we will tend to hear mostly from middle aged white men (like me), because this field was founded mostly by people like me. But it has grown beyond that rather narrow beginning (thank goddess!) and there are very many people out there worth listening to. Some of them don’t even do swords! Such as historian Eleanor Janega, in episode 16.

Podcast

Episode 154 Sword Events Should be More Like IKEA, with Jana Howson

Episode 154 Sword Events Should be More Like IK...

Jana Howson lives near Chicago and is a historical fencer, a Ph.D. candidate, mother and spouse, as well as being a Lutheran pastor. She started off with Taekwondo and Karate,...

Episode 154 Sword Events Should be More Like IK...

Jana Howson lives near Chicago and is a historical fencer, a Ph.D. candidate, mother and spouse, as well as being a Lutheran pastor. She started off with Taekwondo and Karate,...

Episode 131 The episode in which Guy gets challenged to a duel, with Auri Poso

Episode 131 The episode in which Guy gets chall...

Auri Poso is a long time student of Guy’s and one of the first teachers he ever trained. Auri now runs her own school, the Gladiolus School of Arms in...

Episode 131 The episode in which Guy gets chall...

Auri Poso is a long time student of Guy’s and one of the first teachers he ever trained. Auri now runs her own school, the Gladiolus School of Arms in...

Episode 114: You’ve been holding your lightsaber all wrong, with Kyle Rowling

Episode 114: You’ve been holding your lightsabe...

Kyle Rowling is a fight master, director of the Action Acting Academy, and he is also the man who taught Samuel L Jackson how to use a lightsaber. In this episode...

Episode 114: You’ve been holding your lightsabe...

Kyle Rowling is a fight master, director of the Action Acting Academy, and he is also the man who taught Samuel L Jackson how to use a lightsaber. In this episode...

Episode 65: Drawing Swords with Yael Nathan

Episode 65: Drawing Swords with Yael Nathan

Yael Nathan is a comic artist who draws swords as part of her Warriors series. She has also worked with IDW on several Star Wars comics. Find her work at https://elcomics.gumroad.com/# and https://yaeln.com....

Episode 65: Drawing Swords with Yael Nathan

Yael Nathan is a comic artist who draws swords as part of her Warriors series. She has also worked with IDW on several Star Wars comics. Find her work at https://elcomics.gumroad.com/# and https://yaeln.com....

Episode 61: Lightsaber Twirling with Jill Bearup

Episode 61: Lightsaber Twirling with Jill Bearup

Jill Bearup is a stage combatant, YouTuber and a lightsaber twirler. I first came across her work through her YouTube channel critiquing swordfights in TV and movies, which is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRrvZqCL1YsqRA8IpXrhYQQ....

Episode 61: Lightsaber Twirling with Jill Bearup

Jill Bearup is a stage combatant, YouTuber and a lightsaber twirler. I first came across her work through her YouTube channel critiquing swordfights in TV and movies, which is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRrvZqCL1YsqRA8IpXrhYQQ....

Episode 04: Lightsabers and Rapiers, with Airrion Scott

Episode 04: Lightsabers and Rapiers, with Airri...

Podbean Apple Google Spotify This week's guest is the excellent Airrion Scott. I met Airrion at Lord Baltimore's Challenge in 2019, and he was scheduled to teach at an event...

Episode 04: Lightsabers and Rapiers, with Airri...

Podbean Apple Google Spotify This week's guest is the excellent Airrion Scott. I met Airrion at Lord Baltimore's Challenge in 2019, and he was scheduled to teach at an event...