Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods And Techniques

by John Clements

From the author of Renaissance Swordsmanship comes the most comprehensive and historically accurate view ever of the lost fighting arts of Medieval knights, warriors and men-at-arms. Based on years of extensive training and research in the use of European swords, it contains highly effective fighting techniques for the sword, sword & shield, long-sword, great-sword, pole-arm and more. And with more than 200 illustrations and rare historical documents, it is a scholarly reference as well as a hands-on training guide for martial artists of all levels.

Genres: History, Martial Arts, Nonfiction, Medieval, Military History, War, Reference

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Iain · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a cliche, but this is a curate's egg of a book. I think a reader is entitled to approach a text cautiously when they realise the author feels the need not only for an introduction, but also a preface, an author's note, acknowledgements and a warning before actually getting down to business (he adds an afterword, a note to the reader, and an 'about the author' section at the end for good measure). This sort of thing lends itself to two assumptions: first, the writer might be a wee bit pompous: and second, that the book could likely be shorter, and would probably be better for it.

Both of these are true to some degree. When writing about actual fighting instruction, the book is an excellent primer: clear in both the instructions and the illustrations, usually concise, covering a variety of basic stances and moves, and including a nice range of information (separate sections on sword alone and sword and shield, for example, each containing information on fighting against a variety of weapons - other swords, axes, polearms, etc.) There are other sections that are excellent background information too, informative and interesting.

But for all his knowledge of swords, it's the axes he has to grind that Clements struggles with. His particular bugbears (including theatrical combat, two common re-enactment rules, and the reluctance of Eastern martial artists to fight him) each get a dedicated appendix to themselves. Sadly, this doesn't stop him bringing them up with irritating frequency in the text - particularly the first and last. Nor are these the only instance of a point being laboured. It really bogs down the writing and handicaps what should be a great book.

The author's claims that the book is 'scholarly' are also a bit overblown - in fact I was struck by the relative lack of references in the text, though the bibliography is fair. But, authors do tend to make these kind of claims, and unlike the axe-grinding this shouldn't be a problem for the book's main audience - those interested in learning or refining their knowledge of use of the sword.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book--like its predecessor Renaissance Swordsmanship suffers from being an older book in a field of study that moves rapidly, it will always have a fond place in my memory for being the first book to academically confirm what I had begun to realize: "SCA fighting is a modern sport--no medieval knight would recognize a wrap shot!"
As a basic primer for beginners, this should probably be avoided at this point, since the book makes too many sweeping statements that haven't help up well to nearly a decade's worth of research. As an interesting look at an amalgamized approach to Western Martial Arts, it serves its purpose.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Controversial swordsman John Clements has written a love story of swords. The text is an interesting overview of arming swords, longswords, and shields with notable mention of axes, polearms, and two handed swords as well. Interesting insight, but thin on helpful advice for modern day practitioners.

[Christopher Shirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the information is a bit dated, but the vast majority of it is still useful.

[William Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for anyone who reads or writes historical or fantasy fiction. If you love sword fights--and who doesn't--you'll love this book. I first saw it on G.R.R. Martin's webpage. He credited it as one of the sources for his own education on sword-fighting. And, let's face it, G.R.R. Martin writes some darned fine sword fights.

It has been a long time since I read a book that so utterly challenged what I thought I knew about a subject. This book was a fascinating read on a very topical subject. Medieval and renaissance sword-fighting guilds are popping up all over the world as would be students rediscover the long-forgotten Western martial art of sword-fighting. John Clements masterfully presents a lifetime of expertise in an esoteric but utterly engaging subject. He isn't for everybody, and an online glance at the reviews on Amazon show that this is a very hot topic and one in which few acknowledge anyone else a master. Is John Clements a master or just another pretender? Decide for yourself, but in my opinion, he is indeed the real deal. Everything he said made perfect sense. I now realize that so much of what I thought I knew about sword-fighting was just wrong. I'm still no expert, but now I understand it a lot better, and I can use what John Clements has written to make my own fiction more believable--score!

This is one I'm going to read again and study well.

[Fiona Rawsontile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually read about martial arts except when I need to do research for my novels. The only other work I’ve read on a similar topic was a book about boxing, which contained about 10% of the information you can find here. To me, this book is amazing. It’s not something you can learn by going to a school for a training class. It requires studying tons of historical records, pretty much anything that’s remotely related to Medieval swordfights, because, unlike Asian martial-art experts, Medieval fighters did not have the habit or discipline to create detailed documentation. A good comprehension of the social background is also critical for the study.

The illustrations are very clear. Sometimes for a basic posture more than one figure are presented from different angles. Even a layman like me found no problem understanding the principles. The writing is also very good, unlike those scientific papers that merely present facts in a boring way. Font sizes, layouts, everything is reader friendly. This is a classic and I’d like to thank the author for taking all the efforts to do this!

[Rahmat Romadon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku yang mengilustrasikan baju zirah dan pedang yang digunakan pada abad pertengahan, khususnya tentara salib. Hanya satu hal yg bikin penasaran, klo baju tentara salib segitu solidnya dan pedangnya besar2, kenapa mereka kalah dengan tentara Saladdin yg baju zirah dan pedangnya lebih simpel dan ringan? Teknik2 bertarung dengan pedangnya pun sudah mengalami kemajuan - sayang tidak terdokumentasi dgn baik - meski tak sebaik perguruan2 yang ada di Jepang.

[Kakanier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es ist Ok. Hochinteressant ist es allerdings als Dokument der Richtungskämpfe innerhalb der Reenactment-community und als Beispiel für die spezifisch amerikanische Art mit solchen Konflikten umzugehen ist es geradezu erleuchtend. Sinnvoll zu lesen, wenn man wissen will in welchem Kontext man Dawkins "The God Delusion" zu sehen hat.

[Preston Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview. Bit preachy and annoying. I am sceptical about a lot of the broad generalizations and would say that the claim on the book cover that this work is "scholarly" does not hold up for me. But most of the book is worth reading if you are interested in the topic as interpreted by the author who appears to have devoted a lot of time, love and energy on it.

[Ben Clarke · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh... There was a lot of interesting stuff in here and I believe that John is really dedicated to swordsmanship, but every other paragraph is "You must practice with your sword!" Dude, I figured that out from the intro. The several dozen reminders were exceedingly annoying.

[Seamus O'Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to medieval swordsmanship. Gives the reader a firm grounding in the basics of sword combat. A great resource for any student of medieval militaria or for writers of medieval fiction.

[Ulff Lehmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been reading this book on and off for years now, I like it, a lot... but without having a partner to spar with, the exercises are rather dry, pun intended. Still a great book to learn about the anatomy of a sword fight!

[Lance Schonberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting study in medieval sword work. Just enough practical detail to make me want to go out and find a sword. Keeping this around for reference in case I actually come up with one.

[Billy Alguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative. Need training to understand