The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe Hardcover – August 11, 2000

This is by far one of my favorite books, if not, my Number 1 favorite. I study martial arts of all types, it is my obsession, having books and training in Martial Arts from all over the world. I am also an MMA fighter, but that doesn't stop me from studying self-defense and street combatives that are geared towards fighting outside the ring.This relates to the book because the Europeans have always taken scientific approaches to Combat, and I only want to learn things that work, and for that matter, I was/am interested.Though the Asian culture has a lot of Martial Arts that are useful and worthy for combat (such as Muay Thai, Judo/Jujutsu/Karate/ect) it also has a lot that aren't.European Martial Arts though, are not flashy, or questionable in effectiveness, and are downright brutal but extremely calculated. The media has portrayed our ancestral warriors as dumb brutes, while the teenage Japanese anime cartoons have brainwashed everyone into thinking the Samurai was the best swordsman that ever lived.Though we can't truly know for sure, the Knight was a big, strong, athletic warrior with a powerful armor and knowledge on all types of weapons, and most importantly, he carried a knowledge on hand to hand combat and how to use a dagger In a way that would make Krav Maga practitioners blush.All that being said, this book does a perfect mix of explaining things from a Historical point of view, and also teaching the techniques it covers. It's spread into different chapters, and in my opinion, it almost reads like a basics guide to being a Knight. Historians, martial art buffs, or people who do re-enactment or actual sword fencing/fighting, this book is for you.

This book should have broad appeal to those interested in Renaissance history, military history, and HEMA / SCA / LARP martial artists. Keep in mind it is a history book, not a martial arts training manual. The book is about such training manuals and their authors, and the aforementioned practitioners will be familiar with many of the books and masters at arms that are written about.It is the best type of academic writing - it would be satisfactory to the author's fellow professors but is enjoyable to the layperson as well. The writing is also suffused with a subtle wit that is not out of place with the subject matter.The book is comprised of ten chapters each dealing with a particular aspect of the subject. The book is meant to be read from cover to cover but each chapter can stand on its own as an essay quite well. The author makes some keen insights that only a true fan or practioner of the subject would be capable of making.This broad survey of civilian weapons training from 1200-1600 in Europe goes a long way towards filling the gap in literature on this inexplicably forgotten aspect of Western history. Considering the enduring popularity of knights it is certainly strange that the particulars of their training has been lost in the mists of time, despite the survival of many books detailing such training. It is also a forgotten era in sequential art history, as many of the training manuals were illustrated in what would now be recognized as a comic book fashion.

Although scholars may disagree on a few conclusions (which happens to any substantial tome), this is a very thorough, beautiful, and well-made collection detailing the world of masters, duels, and Western Martial Arts.It is not a light read, but is not meant to be.It also won't teach you much about how to be a martial artist, that also is not its purpose.It is an excellent source of information, with an admirable and welcome host of citations and drawings from dozens and dozens of original manuscripts.

This book is an excellent reference for Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe.This book not only covers all the "big names" in HEMA, like Joachim Meyer, Ringneck, I.33, et al., but other lesser known works that span hundreds of years.If you want to know about how they fought in the past, and how they taught fighting in the past, this book is a great addition to any HEMA library.

This was a requested gift. well packaged. no damage. He has really enjoyed reading about the martial arts. nice looking book as well.

accurate description,excel. communication, excel. very fast shipping-outstanding

excellent product. Has many references and descriptions of tools used in the art of the tournament.