Midieval Swordsmanship by John Clement
Jun. 15th, 2025 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanjuI've been looking into historical forms of swordplay partly for my own education, but also as background information for Highlander fanfic. I mostly write about Michelle Webster, who appeared in a single episode of the Highlander tv series, but who grabbed my attention. I've played her in a number of online RPGs, and written a little fic over the years. I've got quite a lot of headcanon about what she's been up to for the thirty years(!) since that Highlander episode in 1995.
For instance, she fights--when she has to fight--with sword and buckler (a small round shield held in one hand). I've looked into youtube videos and other sources for how one uses that style. I also recently discovered Midieval Swordsmanship by John Clement. It's a scholarly work in which he describes a lot of what is known--from surviving instructional manuscripts and art--about how swords and shields were used in real life combat, both in battle and in duels. It's very thorough, and I'm slowly working my way through it, and it includes lots of simple line drawings to help illustrate positions and lines of attack.
There's a section specifically about fighting with sword and shield, which I found especially useful, even though it's about standard shields and not bucklers, as well as extensive sections on longswords, and on sword & shield vs sword and shield, longsword vs longsword, and sword & shield vs longsword.
I started with a pdf I found on internet archive (the book was published in the 1990s), but it's not the best scan. A lot of pages have curving and blurring of the words at the edges of the paragraphs. So I bit the bullet and ordered a physical copy from Amazon, which I should receive tomorrow. But even so, the book has been very informative, going into considerable detail about how real fighting swordwork varies from theatrical or sport swordplay (which is influenced by both the use of non-edged weapons and the usually limited targets, both of which dramaticaly alter how one fights).
It also mirrors what a friend of mine, who teaches self-defense and combat (he trains LEOs and martial artists all over the world), told me in an intro class I attended. He'd have students pair up and then do very slow-motion sparring. The point was to take turns taking a SINGLE action that both defended you from your opponent's attack and attacked him. It's HARD if you aren't trained. You quickly find yourself in an untenable position. There isn't time in a real fight to defend separately and then attack, or to think about it much. You have to move and defend and attack all at once.
And that's what Clement describes in the book. Footwork to move in and out of range and evade strikes, and using the sword (and/or shield) to block some lines of attack and to parry/counterattack all at once. It's fascinating and also a whole lot to keep in mind.
I have a polypropylene gladius and buckler (and a real gladius, for that matter) already. I may buy a polypropylene longsword as well, so I can play around with the forms described and illustrated in the book. I'd like to do more, but there's no one without driving distance to work with. The nearest HEMA groups are far too far away for that.
For instance, she fights--when she has to fight--with sword and buckler (a small round shield held in one hand). I've looked into youtube videos and other sources for how one uses that style. I also recently discovered Midieval Swordsmanship by John Clement. It's a scholarly work in which he describes a lot of what is known--from surviving instructional manuscripts and art--about how swords and shields were used in real life combat, both in battle and in duels. It's very thorough, and I'm slowly working my way through it, and it includes lots of simple line drawings to help illustrate positions and lines of attack.
There's a section specifically about fighting with sword and shield, which I found especially useful, even though it's about standard shields and not bucklers, as well as extensive sections on longswords, and on sword & shield vs sword and shield, longsword vs longsword, and sword & shield vs longsword.
I started with a pdf I found on internet archive (the book was published in the 1990s), but it's not the best scan. A lot of pages have curving and blurring of the words at the edges of the paragraphs. So I bit the bullet and ordered a physical copy from Amazon, which I should receive tomorrow. But even so, the book has been very informative, going into considerable detail about how real fighting swordwork varies from theatrical or sport swordplay (which is influenced by both the use of non-edged weapons and the usually limited targets, both of which dramaticaly alter how one fights).
It also mirrors what a friend of mine, who teaches self-defense and combat (he trains LEOs and martial artists all over the world), told me in an intro class I attended. He'd have students pair up and then do very slow-motion sparring. The point was to take turns taking a SINGLE action that both defended you from your opponent's attack and attacked him. It's HARD if you aren't trained. You quickly find yourself in an untenable position. There isn't time in a real fight to defend separately and then attack, or to think about it much. You have to move and defend and attack all at once.
And that's what Clement describes in the book. Footwork to move in and out of range and evade strikes, and using the sword (and/or shield) to block some lines of attack and to parry/counterattack all at once. It's fascinating and also a whole lot to keep in mind.
I have a polypropylene gladius and buckler (and a real gladius, for that matter) already. I may buy a polypropylene longsword as well, so I can play around with the forms described and illustrated in the book. I'd like to do more, but there's no one without driving distance to work with. The nearest HEMA groups are far too far away for that.