The Rapier Part Three Develop Your Skills: Left Handed Layout

With this workbook you can take your skills to the next level. We will cover how to train: how to take things you already know, and make them actually work under pressure. To become a swordsman/swordswoman/swordsperson, not just someone who knows some sword moves. This is the heart of swordsmanship, and its most sophisticated element.

You will learn how to systematically add depth and complexity to the basic drills you already know, bridging the gap between choreographical drill practice, and free fencing. You will learn how to keep your practice in the optimum band between too-easy and too-hard, and you will learn the basics of coaching, which is all about creating that optimum level of difficulty for your partner.

This version is laid out for left-handers, with space for written notes on the left-hand page. If you are right-handed we recommend choosing the version laid out for you. All technical exercises are shown in the videos for both right-handers and left-handers.

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 Guy can be found in his shed woodworking or spending time with his family.