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I have written often on how Medieval and Renaissance weapon use was devoid of affectation and artificiality in favor of martial lethality. The authentic sources of combat teachings are only concerned with the pragmatic application of principle and technique whatever the self-defense situation. This is in contrast to the focus on aesthetic performance art and theatricality found in pop culture depictions of historical armed combat as well as so ma...

The Bastard sword always gets attention. The name originates from the French term epee batarde which refers to a hand and a half sword or a longsword. The word Bastard was given to it due to its irregular appearance - the sword's tang and grip were made to be effective with one hand but long enough to accommodate two hands, providing better leverage and more power. Although this made the sword more versatile it also made it difficult to categoriz...

As professional swordsmanship teacher, there is a simple question that I'm often asked: why the sword? The meaning of the question is more or less asking how a long-bladed weapon came to exist in so many different forms to become so widespread and valued by fighting men throughout history? It's not an easy question to answer in brief. It's a matter that involves many inter-connected elements of warfare, close combat tactics, metallurgy, physics,...