Lessons on the English Longsword [ペーパーバック]

Well, I've had my copy for a couple weeks now, and I absolutely love it.

I have to say that I am embarrassed that I only got to trying out the set form flouryshes today, because I was taking so long to read the text and familiarize myself with the history and background of it, between terminology and the pan European thesis.

I'm going to give as in depth a review as I can, without spoiling great chunks of it for everyone. However for the tl:dr version - go get this book. It's entertaining to read, intelligently presented, and an excellent tool in the box for anyone who wants to get more out of their solo practices. When you manage to nail even a portion of the set forms, it feels rewarding and great.

Now, on to the details.

The first chapter is Breaking the Code, and this part was fascinating to me. I first skimmed over the book to get a feel for the general presentation, and jumped to a portion of it I knew I could relate to - the Guards. As expected, these were analogous or identical to guards I've been studying in Liechtenauer, with different yet related names to Italian and German texts. This made me curious, I wanted to know how they went about selecting the names. This kind of question is answered in Breaking the Code. They lay out the way they found evidence for the names, and go into the reasoning they had to use to interpret the evidence available. It's an engaging read, one I've gone over several times as I try to understand it all. The lack of understanding isn't because the material isn't presented clearly - it is. It's just that there's so much of it that it is very much like reading an introductory textbook, rather than a simple survey.

The second chapter goes into training methodology and insights into how the English may have trained. It deals with everything from the basic divisions of a sword (cross, weak, strong, etc) to historic personalities and their expressed role in warfare and training for it. Again, useful on levels of both practical immediate information and more contextual historic interest.

Fundamentals of the Art reads like a basic primer on preparing for swordplay. For months I worked with my group, the Goldsboro Sword Guild, on developing introductory materials to help ease new people through the shock of learning fencing basics. I wish I'd had this chapter, because it covers so many simple things that I ultimately ended up including, but only after much work and discussion. It covers material such as steps, guards, long and short edge, and the like.

Next is a Lexicon, going into the middle English terms that are presented in the book's source texts, as well as commentary on interpretation. While not a comprehensive look at the subject, it does give some good advice for people wanting to go beyond rote practice and into deeper research of the material as presented. For an English major like me, this was a gem to read.

The next sections cover the set-form flouryshes that are presented by the texts. These are illustrated with black and white photographs split between the White Player (the fencer performing the set) and Dark Players (the imaginary opponents, here included for ease of understanding of techniques).

The decision to include the Dark Player is one I really appreciate. Simply seeing the blades put out in the air would be one thing, but having a representative to show why the set-form is being done the way it is makes it intuitive and easy to link the techniques from point to point. When trying to learn the first flourysh from the Ledall, everything was easily discerned and understood thanks to this choice.

Finally there is the Man yt Wol poem, which the book presents as an English answer to the Liechtenauer's verses from the German tradition. This is really a great read, both the poem and the interpretation. It goes into literary criticism which I love, and covers everything from witty sarcasm (and say 'godspeed' indeed!) to fundamentals of the art.

So, the final verdict is that this book has proven so interesting to me that I'm going to begin studying it equally alongside my copy of Ringeck. I started with Ringeck and it would be idiotic to abandon it for the new shiny thing, and it would actually be nearly blasphemous to do so because of the stress that messrs Bradak and Heslop place on studying multiple, mutually supportive sources. Each shall inform my study of the other, and I'm going to enjoy this immensely.

Point of fact, right after this review I'm going out to review the first Flourysh once more.

So, I wish you all godspeed, and good fencing.

I bought this book for my husband who is seriously into swords and fencing. I thought it would be a great book to broaden his knowledge base from traditional German and Italian fencing styles. My husband loved it. He said it was well laid out and easy to follow. Plus, it had great visual aids in it. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is into fencing and wants to learn more about it.

I have a soft spot for this book. I emailed questions to the authors of nearly all the books and works I have read. All of them, to date, have responded and done their best to entertain my thoughts. Authors win me over and the Helsop -Bradak team won me over with their replies to a few of my questions and their good nature.

They have an excellent sense of humor and had a very ambitious plan. Ambitious plans take daring! They took an obscure and short poem from England, and use it to create a complete fighting system. What they came up with is a system that uses universal concepts of longswordsmanship as applies it to the poem. Now this isn't an ordinary poem. The poem's purpose is to teach someone a variety of drills. Interpreting these drills isn't easy.

Helsop and Bradak looked at each line of the poem, then devised how best to visually represent it. In some cases there are two combatants, sometimes three because the poem calls on the fighter to turn and perform cuts, thrusts and so on in another direction. By having combatants in their photographs the directions have context. Without it the photography would have been more a distraction than the vital benefit that it is.

Those familiar with German and Italian longsword will see many similarities to the English system, but also differences as well. While all three cultures are using a longsword, not all three use it identically. Just like various baseball teams don't approach baseball the same way, even though they are bound by the same rules. The English system has terms, movements and attacks that differ with other systems making the book unique.

As for the book itself, it is large, full of photographs, full of explanation and a great buy given the authors took a tiny poem and transformed it into a weighty book. It is a great addition to any Western Martial Art library, and something worth looking at to compare and contrast it with other systems.