The Art of Arms
At the Art of Arms we have one solitary vision, to bring the historical martial arts we study as HEMA or WMA practitioners to life by telling the stories of those who lived it. The hours of research, writing, transcription and translation are worth it when we get to see Altoni’s Spiedo section in action at the Baglioni Palazzo, Fiore’s armor techniques displayed on the battlefields of San Giovanni in Persiceto, Liectenauer’s rossfechten techniques thundering across the terrain of southern Germany, the Anonimo’s sword and gauntlet brought to bear in the lists of Mantua; these are the moments where history and martial arts meet, and we’re dedicated to bringing these moments to you our dear listeners. We hope you enjoy!
Episodes
3 days ago
3 days ago
About Aaron:
Aaron was introduced to swords as a participant in the first National Stage Combat Workshop run by Fight Directors Canada in 1993. In 1998, he traded the theatrical for the historical and took up Italian Rapier. In 2002 he began studying the Lichtenhauer tradition as one of the founding members of Anyhau (now Ironwood Sword School in Kingston, ON). In 2005 he also began dabbling in the study the Fiore’s system of Martial Arts. The next year Aaron began his intensive study of Imperial Close Combat techniques of the Great War, which formed the core of MA studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and the topic of his first book Bayonets and Blobsticks, the Canadian Experience of Close Combat 1915-18 (2011). His studies turned back to the Renaissance with the publication of a translation of Nicoletto Giganti’s first Rapier treatise in 2014. Since then, his eye has been cast back into the sixteenth century by his doctoral studies of the duel in sixteenth century Italy. As a consequence, he has begun dabbling in the Bolognese school of fighting arts.
About This Episode:
We had to hold off on releasing this one, because we brought up Joeli’s Liechtenauer research. This recording took place back in January.
If you're curious about the Bolognese Carnival celebrations, go check out the article that I finished after I was done researching the subject.
Carnival 1562
Don't mind our hypothetical posturing about our good friend Johannes Liechtenauer, we were having fun with some exclusive knowledge.
If you're interested in reading a great book that adds a lot of depth to this conversation, be sure to check out The Sixteenth Century Italian Duel by Fredrick R. Bryson {it's available on-line for free here, or on Amazon as a reprint}:
Link
Keep your eyes peeled for an epic breakdown about the brutal duel between Cristoforo Guasco and Niccolò Doria, by Stephen Fratus out in the next few weeks.
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Joeli Takala: The Real Johannes Liechtenauer
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Check out the first installment of Joeli's written research here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/theartofarms/p/studying-the-birth-of-the-liechtenauer?r=1e0ent&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Sunday Mar 31, 2024
Herbert Schmidt: The Medieval and Renaissance Buckler
Sunday Mar 31, 2024
Sunday Mar 31, 2024
Check out Herbert's Books!
The Medieval and Renaissance Buckler
Catalogue of European Bucklers
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Liam H. Clark: A Journey to Stasbourg
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Monday Jan 22, 2024
In this episode of l'Arte Dell Armi, Stephen and Joshua go on a journey across the Alps to visit the Bolognese master Giacomo da Basel--err, Joachim Meyer. We're going to Strasbourg with our brilliant tour guide Liam H. Clark. Have you ever wondered how Fechtshule worked, what other fencing masters were active during Meyer's lifetime or the differences between Marxbruder and Freifechter then this is the episode for you!
Evergreen Historical Fencing Substack
Liams Source Documents
Sunday Oct 15, 2023
Niccolò Menozzi: The Spadone Project
Sunday Oct 15, 2023
Sunday Oct 15, 2023
Do you like big swords? Yea, we know. We all do! Well, if you do, you're probably familiar with The Spadone Project, it's phenomenal, how could you not be? Now meet the man behind the curtain, Niccolò Menozzi! In this episode Stephen and Joshua sit down with Niccolo to tackle the tropes and the misnomers of the two handed sword. We dive deep into the historical use of the weapon on the battlefield and in duels, and discover all of the intricacies that differentiate these beautiful weapons.
Check out and support Niccolò's work here: https://thespadoneproject.com/
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Jean Chandler: Guilds
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Jean Chandler is one of the most dedicated researchers HEMA has to offer. He's absolutely brilliant! He's also a pretty incredible human being. If you want to learn more about guilds, Renaissance commerce, and martial traditions, this is the episode for you!
Check out Jean's website here: https://jeanhenrichandler.com/
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
Dr. Guy Windsor: Teaching, and a survey of Vadi and Fiore
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
This episode marks l'Arte dell Armi's 20,000th download!!! We wanted to extend our heartfelt gratitude to you our listeners for engaging with this podcast! We greatly appreciate you, and look forward to bringing you more content in the future! Stay saucy my friends!
We had the honor of sitting down and talking to Dr. Guy Windsor. This lively discussion highlights teaching, developing teachers, teaching hacks, running a school as a business, before transitioning into Fiore, Vadi, Capoferro and beyond. It was a truly insightful conversation and we're looking forward to having Guy on the podcast again in the near future, we still have so much to discuss. Note that Joshua had to take care of his son through the first part of the episode but managed to pop-in for the second half.
You can find all of Guys work at:
https://swordschool.com/
Take virtual classes with Guy at:
https://swordschool.teachable.com/
Find his books at:
https://swordschool.shop/
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Jack Gassmann: Martial Culture, Context and Crossbows
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Jack Gassmann is both an accomplished academic and historical fencer, a true jack-of-all-trades, he's lived a life full of historical exploration in about every capacity you can possibly imagine, including stunts and film. Stephen and I sat down with Jack and tried to understand what it might've been like to lead crossbowmen on horseback. You won't want to miss this! Stay tuned to the end for a special 20%-off offer on Jack's new table top game, Forces of Virtue!
https://masterstrokegames.com/
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
Bolognese Foundations Part 4: Tactics
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
To attack or not to attack, that is the question!
It would seem there are many different ways to approach the tactics of Bolognese fencing, but is that because of the varied approaches of different authors, or is there a hidden consensus? Martin, Stephen and Joshua discuss measure, tempo, the nature of the guards, provocations, and so much more in this episode of l'Arte Dell Armi!
Sunday Jul 30, 2023
Maestro Wars Episode 4: Rogue Son
Sunday Jul 30, 2023
Sunday Jul 30, 2023
Pope Julius II has turned his covetous eye toward Ferrara. Meanwhile the French under Bayard and his d'Este allies prepare the way in hope of resisting the Pope's forces and his new league of allies, the Holy League. The French army has a few aces up their sleeves in the Bentivoglio and a young, daring captain, named Gaston di Foix, nicknamed the Thunderbolt.
Part 1: Back in Bologa, 1:22
Part 2: The Warrior Pope, 7:38
Part 3: Guido Rangoni's Little Adventure, 15:26
Part 4 and Part 5: Too Close to the Sun, 22:03
Part 6: Showdown in Bologna 31:03
Part 7: Guido's Star on the Rise 42:41
Part 9: Hugo Pepoli and the Exiles of Bologna, 50:18
Part 10: The Lady from Sex, 55:10
Part 11: The Siege of Bologna, 60:18
Part 12: Revolt in Brescia, 69:08
Part 13: Torre del Magnago, 73:00