The Ultimate Medieval Martial Arts Package
The Ultimate Medieval Martial Arts Package
Calling all Medievalists!
This bundle contains four full-length online courses, to bring you in-depth teaching from Guy Windsor and Jessica Finley.
The courses can be studied in any order, and the package contains:
Medieval Wrestling
Medieval Dagger
Medieval Longsword
Medieval German Longsword
As ChatGPT says, "Whether enhancing historical knowledge or honing martial skills, this package offers unmatched value."
The techniques covered are directly from the works of the great medieval martial arts masters Fiore dei Liberi and Johannes Liechtenauer. We are clear in our interpretations, staying as close as possible to the original sources, so you can truly master the medieval Art of Arms.
In addition to learning the techniques of wrestling, dagger and longsword, each course contains safety information, how to warm up, mechanics and footwork, how to train, and additional bonus materials.
You can train at your own time and pace, and these courses will provide many months (if not years) of safe, practical, and enjoyable training.
FAQs
FAQs
When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.
Difficulty Level
Difficulty Level
Which Weapon?
Which Weapon?
How to study
How to study
About the courses in this package:
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Medieval Wrestling, with Guy Windsor and Jessica Finley
The great medieval martial arts master Fiore dei Liberi bases his entire system of knightly combat, Armizare (the Art of Arms) on wrestling. His treatise Il Fior di Battaglia begins with four guards, and twenty plays of Abrazare, wrestling.
Join Guy Windsor and Jessica Finley (author of the book Medieval Wrestling) to learn these critically important techniques, as well as how to warm up, the mechanics and footwork, how to train, and how to fall.
We also include extensive safety advice, additional wrestling material drawn from Fiore's dagger and longsword plays, and material drawn from medieval German sources. This comprehensive course will give you the solid foundation that Fiore intended, with a thorough academic and practical examination of the material. Every play includes a transcription and translation of Fiore's words, so you can see exactly where the technical instruction is coming from.
We have included everything you need (other than a partner and a place to practice) to learn Fiore’s Abrazare plays, and to develop some wrestling skill.
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Medieval Dagger, with Guy Windsor
This course covers everything you need to know to be able to fight with and against the dagger as shown in Fiore dei Liberi's Il Fior di Battaglia, from the early 1400s. It is based on my interpretation of Fiore's Art of Arms (Armizare), and follows the same general structure as my book, Mastering the Art of Arms vol 1: The Medieval Dagger.
The course covers:
- Warming up
- Equipment
- Basic footwork and falling practice
- Dagger handling skills
- Basic attacks in four lines
- The Nine Masters of the dagger
- The Five Things you need to know
- Basic defences against attacks in all four lines
- Countering the defences
- Sensitivity drills
- Dagger against Dagger
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Medieval Longsword, with Guy Windsor
This course is ideal for students interested in practising medieval combat, giving you everything you need to become proficient in knightly combat on foot out of armour.
The Longsword course includes:
- A very gentle introduction to warming up
- Sword handling drills
- Basic striking
- Basic defences
- Counter-remedies (how the attacker can counter the defences)
- More advanced striking
- Building up complex drills
- All 54 of Fiore's longsword plays out of armour
- Freeplay
- Advanced training
I have designed the course so that you can do most of it alone, in a small space, with no special equipment, so you can practice anywhere, any time. You will just need a stick (about 70-120cm, 28- 45 inches or so; an umbrella would do) and a belt for some of the stretching exercises.
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Medieval German Longsword: The Hauptstucke of Johannes Liechtenauer, with Jessica Finley and Guy Windsor
In this course we cover all twelve of the Hauptstucke, as well as additional material, to give you a complete grounding in medieval German longsword.
The Hauptstucke are the "Chief Pieces" of the art, and each section includes the theory, and practical applications.
- Vier Leger: the four primary guards: vom tag, alber, ochs, and pflug. We also cover the secondary guards schranckhut, nebenhut, and langenort.
- Vier Versetzen: the four displacements: krumphau, twerchau, shielhau, and scheitelhau. We also cover zornhau.
- Nachreisen: chasing.
- Überlauffen: over-running.
- Absetzen: setting aside.
- Durchwechseln: changing through.
- Zucken: pulling.
- Durchlauffen: running through.
- Abschneiden: slicing off.
- Hende trucken: pressing the hands.
- Hangen, and Sprechtfenster: hanging, and the "speaking window".
- Winden: winding.
We also cover the Five Words: Vor, Nach, Strong, Weak, and Indes.
How to access your course
When you buy the course, you will receive a PDF by email which contains a link to access the course on the SwordPeople platform. If you can’t find the email, please check your spam folder, and if it isn’t there, let us know at help@swordschool.com
Then just click the link in the PDF (or paste it into a browser), create a free account at SwordPeople (if you haven't already), and enjoy the course!
You will also get access our the community of like-minded sword people, so you can chat with others, ask questions, and talk about lovely swords.
"Learning swordsmanship under the guidance of Guy Windsor is an extraordinary privilege. His holistic approach to the art of combat is a result of lifelong research into historical arms and sources, combined with a profound understanding of the human body, and skills gained in decades of martial arts practice. The human being is at the heart of his teachings, and the sword is his chosen path to bring out the best in his students. When training with Guy, expect no less than improving your inner self and your health while gaining proficiency at arms."
Roland Warzecha, Dimicator.com
When I had the chance to be one of the first to participate in Guy Windsors on-line course on how to recreate historical swordsmanship from historical sources I jumped right in. I had studied with Guy and already knew he had done a great job over two decades in researching original sources on historical swordsmanship and fighting and used his research to reconstruct systems of fighting with different weapons, so I trusted that he knew what he was talking about here. I was interested in sword and buckler fighting and wanted to dig deeper into all the different sources and styles of fighting with sword and buckler. The on-line course met and exceeded my expectations. In addition to learning how to approach and interpret the sources in meaningful manner it also taught me how to actually put together a whole system based on a source and, even more important, how to design drills and a syllabus to teach the system to others.
So far I have used the lessons learned from this course to build a core curriculum for an introduction to sword and buckler fighting and have taught this curriculum to at least five other people. In addition to this the course helped me to approach the sources in systematic and logical manner so my knowledge of the context in which the sources were written and the culture for which they were written has increased dramatically. Whether you are planning to reconstruct a whole system of fighting from sources, building a curriculum and drills to teach an existing system or just want to learn more about how to interpret historical sources and use them to build drills I can recommend the course to you!
Mikko, Suomen Historiallisen Miekkailun Seura Ry