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Colin Richards
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Viking Sword and Shield Fighting Beginners Guide Level 1 Paperback – May 16, 2011

by Colin Richards (Author), Charles Barnitz (Editor), Sandra Richards (Designer)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
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This is a full colour step by step guide for beginners on how to fight safely with a Viking sword and shield. This book is useful for people interested in Stage Combat, Historical European Martial Arts and Re-enactors. It describes techniques, drills and common errors, in a simple but clear way using the unique Timeline system, so that people can follow each step easily and quickly. The author Colin Richards has 34 year experience in fighting with weapons and especially the Viking sword and shield combination. He has taught well over 2500 people in this combat art. The book also includes rules of engagement and a sample fight, and where to obtain good reliable equipment for this activity.
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  1. Print length
    110 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Arts Of Mars Books
  4. Publication date
    May 16, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    8.5 x 0.29 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    3981162722
  7. ISBN-13
    978-3981162721
  8. See all details
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    Viking Sword and Shield Fighting Beginners Guide Level 1

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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Arts Of Mars Books (May 16, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 110 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 3981162722
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-3981162721
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.29 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

About the author

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Colin Richards

Colin Richards

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Colin Richards [1958 -] was born in Liverpool Enghland,brought up in West Yorkshire and spent 33 years learning to fight with medieval weapons. He wrote his first book in 2007, exploring the dagger and wresling system of Fiore dei Liberi, was hailed as a brilliant design for martial arts books, followed by a DVD in 2009, and a further 3 books with a similar design published 2011 - 2014. His publications have a dedicated following made up of people from all over the world.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
26 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Craig Holt
5.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2021
Verified Purchase
After receiving and reviewing this book, I actually have found it worth merit. For anyone looking at this, this book is for a sport version of scandinavian martial arts. It is meant as a trainer for a controlled version of mass battles so that one may engage their opponents safely. It does not include striking with the shield, nor does THIS book provide for thrusts or for striking to the head. This being said, it does include single person drills as well as partnered drills. It includes beginning strikes on a pell which is invaluable training, but as to the rules of this group, strikes are to be held within 8 inches of the target. All of this taken into account, any martial artist worth his or her salt can modify this excellent training easily to include actually striking on the pell and even with a partner if good safety measures are practised. I am enjoying this book and the training it provides as a supplement to the "viking" martial arts I have been pursuing for the last two years. I do intend to purchase the additional two books and continue with them as well. Valuable resources are valuable resources, and that is what this book provides. A means to attempt to recreate a section of martial history and training that has mostly been lost to us but for oral tradition. Be safe, train hard, and have fun. That is what it is all about anyway.
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ME
2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty unimpressive
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2019
Verified Purchase
Pretty disappointed in this book as it leaves out a tremendous amount of information, both in context and in technique. The whole book is just a frame-by-frame series of drills which follow the same pattern of block-strike-block-strike at different angles with an excessive amount of emphasis on"Never" striking towards the head or with the shield, in the interest of safety. The issue I have is that this isn't how sword and shield is fought. The shield is a weapon alongside the sword and they are supposed to be used simultaneously, not this tit-for-tat nonsense. I was expecting a lot more for $35 and found it next to worthless compared to the many excellent youtube videos dedicated to this topic.
One person found this helpful
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Alan
5.0 out of 5 stars How to get started with sword and shield.
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2012
I am not myself a beginner but used this book to help some starting in this activity.
They bought the book and could practice alone or with a friend to supplement lessons.
It is well laid-out with a special system to easily see how footwork combines with sword and shield movements.
Covers all the basics to allow someone to go from buying a sword and shield to a level where they can fight safely and competently.
13 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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ALM
3.0 out of 5 stars Lo dice su nombre "para principiantes"
Reviewed in Mexico on October 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
Me ha llamado la atención mucho el arte de la espada y compré este libro con la idea de crear un grupo de estudio de combate, es algo básico... muy básico, así que espero que el numero dos venga más completo.
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S. Done
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2015
Verified Purchase
Excellent. Part of a 3-book set.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Great if your a complete beginner to martial arts otherwise you might want to skip to the next book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2016
Verified Purchase
I was a little unsure of what to expect with this book but thought I'd take the plunge anyway.

The book is very well laid out with lots of clear photos and descriptions of the actions.

But, it seems to have a fixation for safety. Don't get me wrong, when practicing any martial art safety is always a priority but learning to pull blows is more like stage fighting or something for kids. Admittedly, you could always ignore such directions (especially when striking a wooden dummy) but I would have preferred it if the teachings were focused on actual fighting with suggestions of how to do it "safely".

Also, the listed drills are mostly repetitions of the same basic blows (head, shoulder & thigh) standing, with a half step or a full step.

One last thing...I'm not sure that you would want to parry a sword blow with the edge of your shield, wouldn't the blade get stuck in it?

I've not read the next 2 books in this series, perhaps they will be more along the lines of what I was looking for...
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Cass Clay
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
Very good book for beginners wanting to learn a basic broad sword fighting technique.
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Erdbeerkuchen
1.0 out of 5 stars Viel Geld für ein halbleeres Buch mit zum Teil falschen Techniken
Reviewed in Germany on April 13, 2013
Verified Purchase
Von allen Büchern die sich mit historischem Fechten beschäftigen ist das dass bisher schlechteste Buch das ich gelesen habe.
Da sich immer wieder Bekannte und Einsteiger das Buch kaufen wollen, habe ich mich zu einer Rezension entschlossen.
Auf knapp 110 Seiten soll den Anfänger und Interessierten die Grundlagen des Kampfes mit Schild und Schwert nähergebracht werden. Mit 24,90€ ist das Buch nicht gerade günstig. Leider bekommnt man dafür nicht viel.

Kritik an der gerellen Aufmachung des Buches:
Die Bilder sind mit maximal 5x5cm sehr klein. der Text nimmt meistens auch nicht viel mehr Platz ein, so dass die meisten Seiten gerade einmal halb voll sind. Das Ganze wird mit einem hellgrünen Balken kaschiert, was aber nicht darüber hinwegtäuscht, dass wenn man die Seiten voll gemacht hätte, das Buch gerade einmal halb so dick wäre. Es scheint als ob man so versucht hat, so den teuren Preis zu rechfertigen.

Kritik am Inhalt:
Die Techniken enthalten einige elementare Fehler die zum Teil auch nicht ungefährlich sind.
z.B. Seite 21. Hier schlägt der Autor vor, beim Schild den Daumen außerhalb des Buckels entweder auf das Brett oder den Griff zu legen. Wenn jetzt vom Gegner ein kräftiger Schlag auf den Schildrand kommt, wird die Wucht direkt auf den Daumen übertragen und es kann zu ernsthaften Verletzungen kommen. Der Daumen muss immer in den Buckel. Ich spreche da aus eigener Erfahrung.
Einen weiteren grundlegenden Fehler sind die Grundpositionen z.b. Seite 30 oder Seite 40. Hier sieht man den Kämpfer mit Schwert ab Seite 40 mit Schild in Grundposition, das linke Bein vorne wie man es vom 1 1/2 Händer kennt. Da jedoch bei einem rechten Hieb des Angreifers die linke Seite und somit das linke Beim dem Angreifer am nächsten ist muss das linke Bein nach hinten und das rechte nach vorne. Somit ist der Oberkörper durch den Schild geschütz, und die Beine außer Reichweite des Angreifers. Außerdem hat man mit dem Schwert eine größere Reichweite wenn das rechte Bein vorne steht und bietet beim Fechten ohne Schild dem Gegner eine kleinere Angriffsfläche
Auch hier spreche ich aus eigener Erfahrung und auch in Bucklerfechtbücher ist das rechte Bein vorne.
Nicht ganz ungefährlich ist auch auf Seite 33 das gezeigte Greifen des Schwertes. Auf einem Bild sieht man wie der Daumen in Richtung Klinge auf die Parierstange gelegt wird und zum Teil darüber hinaus schaut.
Hierbei ist die Gefahr sehr groß einen Treffer auf den Daumen zu bekommen.

Offenbar hat der Autor versucht die ihm vertraute Grundlagen des 1 1/2 Händerfechtens auf den Kampf mit Schild und 1 Händer zu übertragen und dabei die elementaren Unterschiede übersehen. Gepaart mit dem künstlichen Aufblasen des Buches durch halbleere Seiten kann ich jedem von diesem Buch nur abraten und deshalb der eine Stern.
Interessierte sollten lieber zu Büchern und DVDs über das Bucklerfechten greifen
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