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Guy Windsor
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Swordfighting, for Writers, Game Designers, and Martial Artists Paperback – March 15, 2015

by Guy Windsor (Author), Neal Stephenson (Foreword)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 57 ratings
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"Useful, helpful, absorbing, entertaining. Whether you are interested in weaponry or, like me, researching details for a novel, this is the book for you." Helen Hollick, Amazon customer.


Your search for a book that will feed your passion for and deepen your knowledge of swordsmanship ends here.

Guy Windsor's Swordfighting offers insight into this magnificent historical European martial art: you will find answers to your burning questions about swordsmanship, its theory and practice.

This carefully crafted book provides essential information on diverse topics with piercing clarity.

"Whether you are a writer or game-maker seeking the kind of information I sought while writing The Baroque Cycle, or just a general reader with an interest in the arts to which Guy Windsor has dedicated his career, you should find much that is rewarding in these pages." From the foreword by Neal Stephenson, New York Times bestselling and multi-award-winning author.

Made up of a selection of Guy's essays and articles, with a great deal of brand new material, this engaging and revealing book makes this complex subject accessible, enabling you to deep-dive into -

  • Benefits of training
  • Types of weapons
  • Sword fighting principles
  • Historical accuracy

If you are an actor, writer or games designer creating or writing fight scenes, this book provides cutting-edge research on our European martial arts heritage. You will also discover the dos and don'ts of producing a stunningly realistic sword fight.

Swordfighting is not a training manual. For technical instruction on specific swordsmanship styles, you should buy The Medieval Longsword and The Duellist's Companion.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Swordschool Ltd
  4. Publication date
    March 15, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.6 x 9.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    952679348X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-9526793481
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Swordschool Ltd (March 15, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 952679348X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9526793481
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.6 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 57 ratings

About the author

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Guy Windsor

Guy Windsor

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Dr. Guy Windsor is a world-renowned instructor and a pioneering researcher of medieval and renaissance martial arts. He has been teaching the Art of Arms full-time since founding The School of European Swordsmanship in Helsinki, Finland, in 2001. His day job is finding and analysing historical swordsmanship treatises, figuring out the systems they represent, creating a syllabus from the treatises for his students to train with, and teaching the system to his students all over the world. Guy is the author of numerous classic books about the art of swordsmanship and has consulted on swordfighting game design and stage combat. He developed the card game, Audatia, based on Fiore dei Liberi's Art of Arms, his primary field of study. In 2018 Edinburgh University awarded him a PhD by Research Publications for his work recreating historical combat systems. When not studying medieval and renaissance swordsmanship or writing books Guy can be found in his shed woodworking or spending time with his family.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
57 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Peter
5.0 out of 5 stars For any sword-nerds out there
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2015
Verified Purchase
First a disclaimer: I do not do longsword, I am trying to learn from modern fencing backwards and I find any swords fascinating, but I am an ignoramus that is trying to learn.

You can find a good part (not all) of the content of this book for free in the author blog, I prefer to buy the book, help the author and re-read the posts in comfort.

Also I agree to disagree with Mr. Windsor on several points, like considering sugar a poison instead of as a luxury to be enjoyed sparingly, and the egalitarian idea that innate differences (or talent) do not exist and that success is a matter of only practice. Yes practice is perhaps the most important indicator but why some people can do contless hours of training and not others? Also with small children you can see that some can learn faster than others.

That said I find his ideas very fruitful:

1.- That you should train with a deep reward to improving your overall health, the fact that he "repairs" the "defects" that people bring to training is something almost always not done in martial arts and especially in sport competition training. After all there is a fresh supply of young hopefuls so coaches usually don't care much about their charges.

2.- The use of sharps is controversial, it is dangerous and it certainly gives a very different perspective on using a sword. Even the modest use of a point d' arret in fencing will change the way anyone fences.

3.- The reality of using a weapon for it's intended purpose and not for sport is I believe closer with something like the single stick than with a medieval sword that would be impossible to use for real, but it is worthy of deep thought specially if you are writing about it or trying to create a game, and in here you will find a man who lives what he preaches.

4.- The level of scholarship involved is truly amazing, he studies the original sources frequently in the original language, goes into the real world of practice and corrects his ideas and gives the reader and prospective student a distilled and modern way to learn a forgotten art.

5.- From the point of view of some one who is in a place that makes very difficult to get practice material, people interested in pointy arts, teachers and even reading material Mr. Windsor opens a window that is invaluable.

I bought the book and read it quite quickly I might update this review after a more detailed second reading. In any case is (to me) worth the money and the time.

Peter
7 people found this helpful
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Patron_vectras
4.0 out of 5 stars A method for practicing and emulating the art of combat
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019
Approached as a method guide, rather than compendium, this is a fantastic resource for just whom it purports to be for. Even more than that, this is a distillation of the experiences and approaches of a very experienced martial arts teacher written in a strong and enjoyable style. The author is in the business of creating modern martial treatises. Just as the old masters often wound up extolling philosophy and life advice, so too has Guy.

Is this worthy to be included in a college literature course? Yes! The content is instructive and studying the piece itself can be so, as well.
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Garrett Bettencourt
5.0 out of 5 stars Lays the Foundation for a Real Understanding of Swordplay
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2019
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I am a fiction writer of action-adventure and a great fan of swordplay in literature and cinema. This book has been an indispensable resource for me in improving my portrayals of swordfighting. Among some of Guy's best insights are:
--The actual, historical documents that DO exist on forgotten European martial arts. In short, knights and duelists had an art--and it was deadly.
--Sport fencing has virtually no resemblance to actual combat techniques.
--Methods and purposes behind martial training is habitually portrayed in fiction with gross inaccuracies. If you want to write a convincing trainer/pupil relationship, this is an excellent book.
--There are a variety of important things to think about in conceiving of a fight scene, from setting, to combatants, to circumstances, to personalities of the fighters.
--As a writer, you can get in the head of swordfighters, adding to the complexity of a scene.

If I had one critique of this book, it's the vignette style in which its written. I felt many of the entries about veracity of historical techniques and training curriculum, while interesting, weren't always pertinent to portraying an exciting action sequence. However, this book is invaluable to inculcating the writer with a foundation of what makes a sword fight. Perhaps that is more valuable than a simple "how to write" book. My skill at writing sword fights has grown an order of magnitude since reading this book, and I even look at famous sword fights in movies with a new perspective.

I highly recommend this book for any writer (or general aficionado) interested in sword combat for any era--consider it an essential primer. I do hope Guy writes much more on this subject!
5 people found this helpful
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Wood C Thrush
3.0 out of 5 stars Read all his work, and then go get in a fight
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2015
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Guy Windsor is not a man to muck about with foils and baskets, a true hack slash and bash instructor. If I had the money I'd travel to Washington just to take his classes and seminars, until then I'll just have to rely on guile and a desire to see the nasty buisness over with quick.
5 people found this helpful
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Charles Kowalski
2.0 out of 5 stars 15% was useful.
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2021
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Lured by the title, I bought this book in the hope that it would help me write more realistic swordfighting scenes in fantasy. I slogged through more than half the book before finding the 15% - between the 57% and 72% marks - dedicated to that purpose. The rest was a collection of blog posts and random musings on everything from why one shouldn't practice medieval swordfighting with aluminum or plastic swords, to the health hazards of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup, to the complicated birth of the author's daughter. All very interesting and sometimes quite poignant, to be sure, but not exactly what the title had led me to expect.
One person found this helpful
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Dana
5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing resources
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2021
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This was exactly what I was looking for. It made a wonderful resources for the sword fights in my current WIP and a great jumping off place for finding specific additional information.
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LC
5.0 out of 5 stars good resources can make or break your efforts
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2017
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If you aspire to be a fiction author, good resources can make or break your efforts. It is clear he knows his stuff.
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Kevin
2.0 out of 5 stars Misses the touch
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2016
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Doesn't actually do what it claims to do: be a guideline for writers and game designers about sword play.

What seems to be is a collection of articles written for a blog. Some of them are interesting. Too many of them are autobiographical, though that might be justified as people will want to know why they should trust his thoughts with no recognizable accreditation.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Paul May
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Australia on January 20, 2017
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Bril! Get it in your head!
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Canadian Guy
5.0 out of 5 stars Insight into the mind and soul of a swordsman
Reviewed in Canada on August 7, 2015
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As a long time HEMA practitioner and full-time novelist, I've always struggled with writing gripping fight scenes. As a swordsman, I know how a fight should go, and as a writer, I know that detailing that would be boring as hell! So how do you find that middle ground? Guy explains that, and many other things.

This books is filled with insightful and reflective articles on a lifetime of martial arts training, specifically, working with the sword. Anyone who wants to understand what it feels like to be a swordsman, to get into that mindset, would do well to study this accessible book. I've yet to meet Guy in person, but he's on my bucket list!
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Edoardo Albert
4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book for teachers of any physical subject
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2020
Verified Purchase
This was a clear example of buying a book for its title: Swordfighting for Writers, Game Designers and Martial Artists. I'm a writer. A lot of my characters wield swords. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't committing any swordfighting faux pas in my stories and seeing that Guy Windsor is one of the leading lights of the contemporary resurgence in HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) I thought he would have a lot to teach me.

He did, but not about writing sword fights. Fellow writers beware. Unless you are really, really useless, there's nothing in Windsor's treatment of how to write a sword fight that you won't already know. However, if you want to peer into the mind and practice of one of the most brilliant pedagogues I have ever encountered, then go for it!

What's clear from reading Swordfighting is that Windsor is a committed, thoughtful and imaginative teacher who has considered long, hard and deeply how to teach swordfighting while remaining committed to the historical principles that guide his vision of swordmanship. As such, the book offers a valuable insight into the sort of pedagogical thinking that should inform any physical teaching (my wife, who is a voice teacher, found it hugely valuable) as well as speaking much about Windsor's own journey as a man extracting an ancient skill from manuscripts and fleshing them in his own practice. Far more fascinating than it has any right to be!
One person found this helpful
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Hannah spencer
4.0 out of 5 stars highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
If your character ever picks up a sword, I highly recommend this book.
The author has widely studied historical swordsmanship and runs a longsword training school. In short, he knows what he is talking about.
The book covers the practicalities of sword fighting and more importantly the character of a skilled swordsman, and the training regime which necessarily focuses on training the mentality rather than the body.
Are your characters fighting in a battle, a duel, a training session or for sport? They are very different. Are they aiming to cause a death? Consider the moral implications.
The book also covers characterisation and the good writing of a fight scene.
The author includes a lot of his personal story but this doesn't detract from what is a very valuable resource for authors. Well worth a place on your bookshelf.
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