Best Noobie Learning book (for the solo trainer)

[Steve Fitch]

Just wondering if I could get an opinion on what insturctional book to help me start. It needs to be easy, clear, and have great detailed pics...Please!

Thanks all for your help!

[Will Adamson]

To tell you the truth, I'm finding some pretty basic material in the Codex Wallerstein right now. I've only glossed over the first few plates in the past, but my study group has started a more systematic approach and it is already opening up to us in ways that I hadn't imagined. This is a pretty slow process, and requires some basic knowledge first that I don't think any book out there now really offers.

If you absolutely must have a modern book, then JC's Medieval Swordsmanship is you best bet. You won't find the detailed pictures that I think you are looking for, but it gives a good introduction on how to go about training. The ARMA website has many useful nuggets as well, but you have to seek out exactly the information that you're looking for.

If you're looking for particular techniques, it's better to go right to the source. I find Meyer's 1570 work to be the most direct (of the ones that I have) when talking about a particular technique, although I often feel like a High School freshman reading Shakespeare for the first time. Some folks say the same thing (as far as directness of how to perform a technique) about Fiore, but I haven't worked with it.

[Randall Pleasant]

Just wondering if I could get an opinion on what insturctional book to help me start. It needs to be easy, clear, and have great detailed pics...Please!

For an insturctional book on longsword I would highly suggest:

David Lindholm & Peter Svärd
Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword.
Paladin Press, 2003. ISBN 1-58160-410-6




Literature by ARMA members and Consultants:

Sydney Anglo
The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe.
Yale University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-300-08352-1

John Clements
Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods and Techniques.
Paladin Press, 1998. ISBN 1-58160-004-6

John Clements
Renaissance Swordsmanship : The Illustrated Book Of Rapiers And Cut And Thrust Swords And Their Use.
Paladin Press, 1997. ISBN 0-87364-919-2

John Clements
Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts: Rediscovering The Western Combat Heritage.
Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-668-3

Thomas Green
Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia.
ABC-CLIO, 2001. ISBN 1-57607-150-2

David Knight & Brian Hunt
Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair.
Paladin Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-58160-644-7

David Lindholm & Peter Svärd
Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword.
Paladin Press, 2003. ISBN 1-58160-410-6

David Lindholm & Peter Svärd.
Knightly Arts of Combat - Sigmund Ringeck's Sword and Buckler Fighting, Wrestling, and Fighting in Armor.
Paladin Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58160-499-8

David Lindholm
Fighting with the Quarterstaff.
The Chivalry Bookshelf, 2006. ISBN 1-891448-36-6

Jason Vail
Medieval and Renaissance Dagger Combat.
Paladin Press, 2006.

Grzegorz Zabinski and Bartlomiej Walczak.
The Codex Wallerstein : A Medieval Fighting Book from the Fifteenth Century on the Longsword, Falchion, Dagger, and Wrestling.
Paladin Press, 2002. ISBN 1-58160-339-8


Literature by scholars from other groups:

Hans Hans and Alex Kiermayer,
The Longsword of Johannes Liechtenauer, Part I -DVD
ISBN 1-891448-20-X

Michael G. Thomas
Fighting Man's Guide to German Longsword Combat
ISBN 978-1906512002, 2008

Christian Tobler
Fighting with the German Longsword
The Chivalry Bookshelf, ISBN 1-891448-24-2, 2004

Christian Tobler
Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship
The Chivalry Bookshelf, ISBN 1-891448-07-2' , 2001

Luca Porzio and Gregory Mele
Arte Gladitoria: 15th Century Swordsmanship of Master Filippo Vadi
The Chivalry Bookshelf, ISBN 1-891448-16-1, 2002

Guy Windsor
The Swordsman's Companion: A Modern Training Manual for Medieval Longsword
The Chivalry Bookshelf, ISBN 1-891448-41-2, 2004

Tommaso Leoni
The Art of Dueling: Salvator Fabris' Fencing Treatise of 1606
The Chivalry Bookshelf, ISBN 978-1-981448-23-2, 2005

Terry Brown
English Martial arts
Anglo-Saxon Books, ISBN 1-898281-29-7, 2002

Brian R. Price
Teaching & Interpreting Historical Swordsmanship
ISBN 1-891448-46-3, 2002

[Steve Fitch]

WOW!

With that...what would be a good bood about the history of the knight, etc. Nice pics, information, etc.

I am really interested in the early knights too.

[John Farthing]

In addition to Randall's excellent suggestions, the ARMA website offers a mountain of reading material, including (but certainly not limited to) book and video suggestions and training tips!

[Jaron Bernstein]

To tell you the truth, I'm finding some pretty basic material in the Codex Wallerstein right now. I've only glossed over the first few plates in the past, but my study group has started a more systematic approach and it is already opening up to us in ways that I hadn't imagined. This is a pretty slow process, and requires some basic knowledge first that I don't think any book out there now really offers.

If you absolutely must have a modern book, then JC's Medieval Swordsmanship is you best bet. You won't find the detailed pictures that I think you are looking for, but it gives a good introduction on how to go about training. The ARMA website has many useful nuggets as well, but you have to seek out exactly the information that you're looking for.

If you're looking for particular techniques, it's better to go right to the source. I find Meyer's 1570 work to be the most direct (of the on

hIes that I have) when talking about a particular technique, alt

hough I often feel like a High School freshman reading Shakespeare for the first time. Some folks say the same thing (as far as directness of how to perform a technique) about Fiore, but I haven't worked with it.

Hi Will,

The Albrecht Durer book is (according to our very own Bart W.) a better illustrated (duh!, given the artist )version of Wallerstein. Just match up the pictures from CW to the Durer ones and keep the same text.

[Jaron Bernstein]

Just wondering if I could get an opinion on what insturctional book to help me start. It needs to be easy, clear, and have great detailed pics...Please!

Thanks all for your help!

I will suggest just 4 to get you started.

1. Dobringer - available for free on this site. A very good conceptual overview of the Lichtenaer tradition.

2. JC's Medieval Swordsmanship

3. The 2 Svard/Linholm Ringeck translations/interpretations. These are 2 books for different sections of the same manual.

Dobringer gives a conceptual framework and Ringeck gives you something concrete to work on with sword in hand.

Meyer is also another good place to start.

[Will Adamson]

Hi Will,

The Albrecht Durer book is (according to our very own Bart W.) a better illustrated (duh!, given the artist )version of Wallerstein. Just match up the pictures from CW to the Durer ones and keep the same text.

But that would require work Jaron!

Thanks, I'll give it a whirl.

[Randall Pleasant]

In addition to Randall's excellent suggestions, the ARMA website offers a mountain of reading material, including (but certainly not limited to) book and video suggestions and training tips!

Indeed! With 52 posts I just assumed that they had been reading what's on this web site. Hopefully he has.

[LafayetteCCurtis]

With that...what would be a good bood about the history of the knight, etc. Nice pics, information, etc.

I am really interested in the early knights too.

I don't think it's a good idea to read up on knights without studying the broader context of medieval warfare, so I'd simply recommend the De Re Militari society's bibliography here:

http://www.deremilitari.org/biblio/recentbookspage.htm

ARMA's own list of recommended books is also worth checking out:

http://www.thearma.org/RecommendedList.htm

[Steve Fitch]

With that...what would be a good bood about the history of the knight, etc. Nice pics, information, etc.

I am really interested in the early knights too.

I don't think it's a good idea to read up on knights without studying the broader context of medieval warfare, so I'd simply recommend the De Re Militari society's bibliography here:

http://www.deremilitari.org/biblio/recentbookspage.htm

ARMA's own list of recommended books is also worth checking out:

http://www.thearma.org/RecommendedList.htm

Thanks for the reply.

I was actually just looking for reference of the "lifestyle" of the typical fighting man/knight. Also reference for the style, armor, tunic, etc for different times from the Normands and up, etc.

Like this: http://www.amazon.com/Norman-Knight-AD- ... 1855322870

and this: http://www.amazon.com/Normans-Elite-Dav ... gy_b_img_b