Category Archives: Sword Geek

Technical historical stuff that only a hardcore sword geek would know or care about.

Bartitsu: The Martial Art for the Steampunk Set by Nick Mamatas

Posted on December 2, 2009 by YBTim

Bartitsu: The Martial Art for the Steampunk Set by Nick Mamatas Here’s a timely article which spans many topics. Fashion, euro-asian fusion martial arts, drama and filmmaking. Fight directors Richard Ryan and Tony Wolf even get a mention.

Posted in Film Fight Direction, For Fight Directors, Sword Geek, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

‘A Terrific Combat’- Part 1: Interview with Miss Esme Beringer

Posted on October 29, 2009 by YBTim

After that I left it alone for a time, but my early tuition came in useful years afterward when Captain Hutton very kindly and generously offered to prepare me for Romeo, which was produced at the Prince of Wales’. … During our engagement at the Palace we were asked to appear in a piece on behalf of the Actor’s Benevolent Fund, which we did, as also later at Drury Lane, the Lyceum and the Alhambra, at Bristol, Brighton and Oxford.

Continue reading →

Posted in For Fight Directors, Sword Geek, Theatre, Training Actors, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sword Geek: Smallsword Glossary 1784

Posted on January 18, 2009 by YBTim

1784 Smallsword Glossary

John McArthur’s dismisses many distinctive and flamboyant characteristics of
Angelo’s style (such as thrusting in Tierce, the Fan Parade (Modern Parry 6)
and complex disarms). McArthur also organises his manual in a progressive
series of lessons. These two points convey the root difference between the two:
Angelo knew his students as civilian gentlemen for whom fencing was in many
cases primarily a beneficial exercise, while McArthur believed that his subscribers,
mainly officers, were going to need a reliable and simple system of fencing
in actual combat. Continue reading →

Posted in For Fight Directors, Sword Geek, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Illusion of Combat

Posted on October 20, 2008 by YBTim

by Anthony Middleton ‘Mis-direction’ is a term familiar to all magicians. It is a principle that could date back as far as Egyptian times, as some magicians argue that the famous ‘cups and balls’ trick is depicted in the hieroglyphics … Continue reading →

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Sword Geek: Why prime, seconde, tierce…? A brief history of the numbers.

Posted on August 20, 2008 by YBTim

Is there any logic to the numbering of the parry positions? Yes and NO.  There was an old numbering system which was used up to the 1880′s which was simple and intuitive.  It had only five positions.  The simplicity and … Continue reading →

Posted in Sword Geek, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment