By AlexBourdas
Recently, I acquired the Book of Martial Power by Steven J. Pearlman. This is a brilliant and very thought provoking book. I don’t agree with all of it, but it is by far the most comprehensive discussion on principles I have ever read. I had thought to do a straight review of it, and I will review it, but I thought it would be more interesting if I also discussed some of the thoughts that reading this book has sparked.
The book concerns itself with principles that are inherent in every single martial art, regardless of whether it is a “soft” or a “hard” martial art, regardless of whether it concerns itself with striking, or grappling, or both. At first when I read that, I was quite sceptical. How could he possibly write about principles inherent in all martial arts in any meaningful way? Further, how many principles could be shared by all the disparate martial arts across the globe? Read More »
By ElizabethThacker
The term ‘influential’ can be both positive and negative, meaning that some definite influences may not be beneficial ones. In history this is exceptionally true as influences, particularly indirect influences, which we see clearly may have been totally unremarkable to contemporaries. For the purposes of this essay, ‘influential’ shall be considered largely as a positive action and shall refer to acts of Queen Matilda which can be seen to aid Stephen. Further complications can be seen in the fact that Queen Matilda can be one of two people when discussing Stephen’s reign: Matilda, Queen of Henry I or Stephen’s own Queen. The controversy surrounding Henry Is marriage to his Queen gave Stephen a basis to claim that the Empress Matilda was illegitimate. These claims were determinedly denied by Bishop Ulgar and the Archbishop of Canterbury himself investigated the claim before declaring the argument untrue. This Queen Matilda also arranged the marriage between Stephen and Matilda of Bologne, and since her contribution to Stephen’s reign was by far the more significant it is this Matilda who shall be the focus.
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By KeithFarrell
- Alex and Keith working with longswords
Do I teach Liechtenauer’s longsword, or do I teach a derivative style of Farrell’s longsword?
The answer to the above question is simple: I purport to be teaching longsword as written by Johannes Liechtenauer, I have not made up my own style of swordplay that I teach to people instead. But the question is interesting, because after all, Liechtenauer probably taught his students in a different way to how I teach mine, and he likely emphasised different things than what I emphasise.
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By GuestAuthor
This week we present an essay by Niamh Brown on early modern literacy.
What impact did the spread of literacy and print have on the traditional oral culture?
In early modern England, literacy rose notably; J.A. Sharpe estimates that twenty per cent of men and five per cent of women were capable of signing their own names in the mid sixteenth century, a figure that had increased to sixty per cent of men and forty per cent of women by 1760. This increase mainly affected the ‘middling sorts’; tradesmen and the yeomanry in particular.1 This spread of literacy and also print culture had a variety of effects upon traditional oral culture. It consolidated previously oral and customary traditions in writing, heightened awareness of English rather than simply local history and heritage, and changed the way in which information was transferred. However, it also gave rise to a backlash from the lower, largely illiterate sorts and exacerbated tensions between those with access to written laws, and those who relied on custom and de facto justice; in short, those who had legal power and those without. This essay will aim to determine the impact on oral culture of literacy in print in a variety of ways. First it will assess the texts to which the literate had access and what changes these texts exerted on those who read them. It will delve further into the impact of the spread of literacy and print, examining both the causes and effects of this spread across the social spectrum, with particular attention to the tensions caused between ‘educated’ and ‘popular’ culture, and will ascertain to what extent these changes affected oral culture in different geographical areas.
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By BenKerr
Hey,
So this week I have decided to post an essay from a book I am working on regarding instruction, mainly as it relates to the practise of martial training. I have had many instructors across a wide range of martial disciplines (army, karate, archery, horsemanship, HEMA…) and as such I have experienced both good and bad instruction. I have been an instructor since I was fifteen and although I have bad habits I do feel I have learned a lot of good habits over the past decade. So the thing I would like to discuss today is a small issue but it is one that has a great effect on the success of a class and sadly has led to many otherwise good classes being extremely disappointing for me…the bane of being stuck with the same partner for a whole class.
Before I begin please don’t get me wrong I have enjoyed the vast majority of my training partners and largely am happy with the experience of practising with them. What I do not enjoy is practising for two hours with the same person especially if there are size differences, ability differences or, and perhaps the worst, concentration differences.
I am going to try with this essay to put forward the argument for the switching of partners and the benefits that can come from an instructor ensuring this happens in their class.
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By AlexBourdas
On the 31st of March and the 1st April, the Academy of Historical Arts was proud to host Fechtschule Scotland. This was a two day event specifically for the study of longsword, with instruction given by several different instructors, from various different groups around Scotland (and one instructor from the Netherlands). The aims of the event were to provide focused instruction in German longsword, to promote HEMA in Scotland, and to do this for as cheaply as possible (tickets were only £10). I believe we succeeded in all our aims, and we look forward to hosting Fechtschule Scotland again.
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By ElizabethThacker
Bardic Poetry of Medieval Ireland has been Described as ‘Highly Political and Historical’ and a Contemporary Source of Great Value. What does it Reveal About the Society in which it was Commissioned?
Irish bardic poetry is a complex and difficult tradition which is hard to replicate or to forge. In many respects it is an extension of an essentially oral tradition using a complicated array of rhyme schemes, conventions of syntax and repeated metaphors, motifs, themes and symbols. These stylistic differences are wildly different from the poetic traditions of non-Celtic countries and Ireland’s maintenance of them may stem from the fact that Ireland was never successfully conquered by Rome and so had remained outside of much contemporary European tradition. Not only is Irish poetry an example of a literary tradition however. Its multifaceted nature reveals a great deal about the society which created it and its recurring themes are often those of social commentary. Bardic poetry is also one of the few surviving contemporary sources for Ireland alongside the few, often fragmented, annals, genealogies, records by the clergy and state papers. Read More »
By GuestAuthor
This week, we present another guest post. This post is by Colin Farrell.
The United Kingdom has one of the most well developed Honours Systems in the world that is still in use. One of the key aspects of the Honours system are the Chivalric Orders, originating from the historical Orders of Chivalry which were formalised institutions of Knighthood. Whilst the method of appointment to these orders has changed over the years, and indeed the qualifying factors have also changed, the modern Chivalric Orders still hold their original names and hold to most of their ancient traditions. Unfortunately, clear explanations of the purpose of each Order, and details of membership are rare. I will attempt to provide those details here. For the purposes of determining seniority I am working from the positioning of the most senior grades of the different Orders in the order of precedence.
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By KeithFarrell
Facsimile of the Codex Gigas; image from Wikipedia.
The written word has always been a powerful and important medium through which educated individuals may record information for the benefit of others. For hundreds of years scribes wrote manuscripts, codices were bound together, and all sorts of information were recorded within. But precisely what WERE manuscripts? What made them different from codices? This short article will describe very briefly the meanings of – and differences between – various technical terms with regard to the history of the written word.
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By BenKerr
Hey Encased in Steel readers,
This week it was my turn to write a review of the latest HEMA book I purchased. I went on a wee bit of a bender while in the US and purchased all of Chris Thompson’s books on the Scottish Martial Arts. I figured that since I am instructing in this field more and more often, I should develop a stronger understanding of what others were teaching. I thoroughly enjoyed his three smaller books published by Paladin Press but found that I could finish them in a single sitting. On a related note, I would certainly advise anyone interested in the subject to read “Scottish Martial Traditions” as it is brilliant and can be read in about two hours (I only wish Paladin had done a slightly better job at advertising it so I could have picked up a copy during the writing of my thesis, it would have been a huge help). Two days after making the purchase of these books, I signed on to Facebook and found that Chris had released his next book. I decided I had already come this far I might as well get it as well. So read on to see my thoughts on Chris’s new book: Broadsword Academy
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