Recommended Fechtbuch for New ARMA student

[James Brazas]

I am fairly new to ARMA as I have only been training for a couple months.

I have been considering purchasing a modern English translation of one of the Fechtbuchs, but I wouldn't know which one to get.

Right now, our class is going through Ringeck, but I don't think I'd want to buy Ringeck's work as it seems to be less than clear about some of the maneuvers. It also lacks illustrations, making some techniques (like the wrestling at the sword) difficult to decipher.

What would y'all suggest for a new ARMA student?

My criternia are:

Easy to understand

Depth (number, complexity and/or utility of techniques per weapon)

Breadth (number of weapons)

Compatability with what I already know (I hear some fechtbuchs use the same terms as the Leichtenauer tradition, but mean different things by those terms. That could be confusing.)

Personally, I find all sword styles interesting and I'd definitely be interested in Ringen and polearms as well.

[John Farthing]

A good book to consider when you're just starting out, might be 'Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts' (John Clements et. al./ Paladin Press). This book has many good essays and articles which provide a good introduction to our subject. In addition, it features translated selections from many fight manuals (some in their entirety!). The material covered is also diverse enough to provide a 'starting point' in a number of different weapons. There are sections and/or translations which deal with longsword, single sword, wrestling, a variety of hafted weapons, and much more!

[James Brazas]

Interesting.

How much detail does 'Masters of Medieval and Renaissance Martial Arts' go into?

It sounds like it covers a lot of interesting weapons. Does it cover sword-and-buckler or sword-and-dagger?

[John Farthing]

More information on the book is available here: http://thearma.org/member-books/MOMRMA.html

[John Farthing]

In addition to the book I mentioned above, if you are looking for translations of extant fighting treatises, there are many available for free right here on the ARMA website! http://www.thearma.org/manuals.htm
You can also access many more in the ARMA members area!

Good luck, and happy reading!

[James Brazas]

What do y'all think of the Codex Wallerstein? Would that be good for more advanced longsword, dagger, etc.? I've heard good things about it.

Also, what would be a good book for sword-and-buckler or sword-and-dagger? I know that MS 133 is supposed to be a big one for sword-and-buckler. Is there an easy to understand translation of that one?

[Corey Roberts]

Codex Wallerstein has excellent material, but rather poor art, Ringeck also has excellent material but no illustrations, Fiore provides simple easy to understand illustrations of techniques, but limited textual instruction. Some of the more in depth German manuals which are among my favorites Such as Meyer and Mair that have both excellent art and good complete text instructions don't have readily available English language translations for them that you can buy as a modern book.

There are sites online where you can read digital scans of many manuals but they are in their original languages.

Honestly, for the sake of simplicity, just start with Ringeck. Read the text, follow its instructions, he will tell you the basics of the art.