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By Paul Wagner June 2015 It is a curiosity that British fencing sources are all but devoid of instructions on knife or dagger fighting. Continental medieval and renaissance sources generally spend a considerable time on defence from the dagger, both with a dagger and unarmed, yet no British source even mentions it, apart from a … Continue reading English Knife Fighting – The Alehouse Dagger

Coming into 2015 we were looking at running classes on Spadone, and we needed a simple affordable simulator that students could train with. Whilst we could have used wooden batons, the ability to them in antagonistic drills would be limited. Enter the humble shinai which with a little bit of work can be turned into … Continue reading Converting a Shinai Into a Spadone

Why a shinai? The "singlestick" or "cudgel" was a traditional training tool for the practice of English backsword, as well as being a weapon in its own right. Sporting singlesticks were made from light ash saplings, kept soaking in a trough of water to keep them flexible, and given leather or wicker basket-hilts. Armour consisted … Continue reading Making a Basket Hilted Shinai

Despite common perception, armour was in fact not uncommon in the Highlands up until the 17th century, at least for the elite of the clan warriors. There are a number of written references describing Highland armour: 1) In 1322, at the seige of Roxburgh, Donald of the Isles came with a great body of men … Continue reading The Highland Cotun