The Western martial arts have righly had a boost in interest over the last ten or so years, with a number of new students joining the trail-blazers. A number of them have come from the study of Eastern martial arts, myself included. It is great to see examples of the diagrams and text from the medieval and renaissance period being made available to the wider community. Unfortunately, diagrams are not the same as stop-motion phots, or better video. for training. Some interpretation is needed to see how to move to the wards and plays shown in the book. Nevertheless for the keen student this is a great adjunct to some some serious study with skilled practitioners. It is no substitute for finding a good instructor and learning by doing.