Renaissance Swordsmanship: The Illustrated Book Of Rapiers And Cut And Thrust Swords And Their Use (Paperback)

by John Clements (Author) "The rapier sword and its unique method of Renaissance swordsmanship are rarely understood or fully appreciated..." (more)
Key Phrases: true rapier, rapier combat, rapier fighter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This is the most thorough work ever about historical swordsmanship. It is both a general reference and an instructional guide for advanced and beginning sword enthusiasts, students of military history and martial artists. Includes rare historical info and 100 original drawings.

About the Author
John Clements has had a lifelong pursuit of (some say obsession with) nearly all forms of swordsmanship. He started studying historical weaponry in 1980 and has practiced cut-and-thrust swordsmanship for almost 18 years. He has practiced under five different weapon-sparring systems and trained in numerous sword arts. He started fencing at the age of 14, followed by an interest in martial arts, and in 1982 founded the Medieval Battling Club. He has spent time in Europe examining weapon collections, and his writings on swordsmanship and weapon-sparring have appeared in more than six magazines.

John is a member of the British Arms & Armor Association and taught two semesters on swordsmanship and Medieval battling at Western Nevada Community College in 1992. In 1994 he took first place in the Advanced Weapon-Sparring Competition of the U.S. National's Kung Fu Tournament in Orlando, Florida. He lectures on historical weaponry and is an ardent promoter of contact-weapon sparring and study with historical replica swords. He trains regularly in long-sword, sword & shield, sword & buckler, sword & dagger, Medieval spear, and rapier & dagger methods. He now teaches classes and seminars on Renaissance and Medieval swordsmanship in Houston, Texas, with the Historical Armed Combat Association (HACA).

John's first book was Renaissance Swordsmanship: The Illustrated Use of Rapiers and Cut-and-Thrust Swords (Paladin Press, 1979).

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (March 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873649192
• ISBN-13: 978-0873649193
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #583,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What you need to know, September 25, 2000

By	James T. Crouchet (www.io.com/~jtc/history) - See all my reviews

I have spent more than 15 years studying swordplay manuals actually written in the Renaissance and trying out those techniques with my fellow swordplay enthusiasts. While we have written a lot of short papers and booklets on what we have learned, "Renaissance Swordsmanship" is the first real book on this subject. In short, if you are interested in rapier play you need this book in your library.

That said, let me add some cautions:

- This book is only an introduction to the basic concepts and moves so you must realize more advanced techniques exist.

- Mr. Clements has studied several different renaissance masters and borrows freely from all without making it clear what technique come from which master. Instead he gives his own mix of techniques. What may look like a mistake to a student of Di Grassi might actually be correct according to Fabris.

- To master renaissance sword techniques you will eventually have to study the manuals of the period yourself but if you have read this first, that study will be a LOT easier.

- This is NOT a scholarly work, exhaustively researched and accurate in every detail. Use it as a learning resource, not a reference work.

- To really learn some of the material presented here it is necessary to actually pick up the equipment and try the moves described.

- I found "Renaissance Swordsmanship" to be light on the details needed to actually apply the techniques described.

- This is NOT fight choreography which is an entirely different science. It is an attempt to teach you to how real rapier and cut and thrust swordplay works. Real fights are over quickly and seldom entertaining to watch (except to other sword enthusiasts).

- Without the proper safety equipment these techniques are dangerous. Think about it -- with real swords these methods kill.

- These techniques do not work well with modern fencing weapons. If you start with an epee you will quickly find you need to be using reproduction or practice rapiers to do it right. Fortunately, you CAN buy those. (Hey, Amazon -- do you sell swords yet?)

And a few specifics (IMHO):

- Most of the manuals from renaissance masters present very poor, ineffective techniques for the use of two rapiers (i.e. case or brace), probably because actual use of case was rare. The technique presented in "Renaissance Swordsmanship" is similarly weak.

- The footwork and stance portions are particularly light, ignoring or almost ignoring important basics such as slope and circular paces. This is particularly important to the modern fencer who is likely to misapply his modern footwork to renaissance forms.

Finally, I will point out that the renaissance masters themselves disagreed -- hotly -- over the advantages of various techniques and weapons and there are significant disagreements among modern scholars on how to interpret those works. It is therefore not surprising to me that some modern scholars believe what Mr. Clements has presented is just "wrong, wrong, wrong!" In my own review of his book I found very little I did not recognize as coming from one renaissance master or another. Some of those techniques I would present differently, but that does not make them, "wrong, wrong wrong!"

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly light, given the high flown title, February 22, 2001

By A Customer

Mr. Clements' work is an interesting read. It is also a great gift to those interested in Western European historical martial arts, as the library of modern materials dealing with this time period is extremely limited. That is, at root, part of the problem with Clements' work. While he makes an pseudo-scholarly attempt to bolster his work with period sources he is extremely short on citations. Why? Largely, I suppose, because Clements' work is more about the style his group, the HACA, has developed rather than what the period masters have to say.

Ironically, in this sense Clements is guilty of exactly what he accuses the SCA of; making up the techniques to fit his game rather than working to recreate purely historical techniques. (The only difference being that the SCA holds itself out as a spectator sport and makes no pretense of being a pure re-creation of medieval and renaissance combat while Clements and his group do.)

Clements is given to strong opinions, some of which appear to be unfounded, hyperbole, high falootin pretensions, vitrol and some level of personal promotion.

Further, because the field of re-creating medieval martial arts is so new, much of Clements misinformation is accepted by many as valid simply due to the fact that they have few modern works to compare it to. The fact is any serious student of renaissance or medieval martial arts should go "straight to the horse's mouth" and read the period masters.

That being said, Clements work is a boon to modern martial artists simply because it "gets the ball rolling" and adds another work to the scant library available today.

Recommended with reservations.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Digest this information with a large bag of salt, April 1, 2003

By	Stephen Pasker (Grafton, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First, let me say I appreciate the efforts of all who do the research and record their findings on the Western Martial Arts. I know that few of us have the resources or time to do this, so every little bit helps.

That said, I feel John Clements does almost as much damage as he does good. While his techniques can be of value and his explainations are fairly thorough, the prevailing attitude within this book is one of superiority. It is as if Mr. Clements believes his assertions are the only ones worth following. Having had the pleasure of attending workshops by various other Western Martial artists and scholars, I am always impressed with their openess that this is a continually expanding and growing rediscovery of the "lost" arts. Some of them freely admit that what they write today may be reinterpreted by them tomorrow, and that others may have different views. I finished off Mr. Clements book feeling that you were either with him or against him. Unfortunately, because I also partake in stage combat and reenactments, I felt that I was automatically in the "against him" camp. He seemed to feel his was the best or only take on these techniques.

Those interested in pursuing the Western Martial Arts can certainly take some useful information from here, but read it carefully. Note what some of the other reviewers have said about innaccuracies. Read works by other authors. And best of all, attend some of the WMA symposiums and conferences which take place through the country