The Ultimate Medieval Martial Arts Package

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. 

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

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.

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.