With thanks, as usual, to Celia, champion photographer to the armoured fighting class. BTW, neither of these gentleman are me. That’s Greg Mele of the Chicago Swordplay guild against Marc Auger of the Barrie Swordplay Guild and Hoplologia in Toronto. You can just see Jon Press, my awesome squire and marathon runner, in the background […]
Blog
Attack, Attack, Attack? Understanding “Vor” & “Nach”
Another excellent blog on the idea of priority and the difference, if I may say so, between the mentality of sport and a real attempt to be in the mindset where the weapons are deadly and you have only one ‘life’ and not three ‘hits’.
My Summer Recreating the Past
That picture is of the Torneo del Cigno Bianco, or the Tournament of the White Swan, held every year in Verona, Italy. This year, the Torneo will be held from 3 June 2016 to June 2016. I’ll be there. I’ve spent a year recovering a shoulder injury, and also making my harness better; that is, […]
Reading Froissart in the Adirondacks
Last weekend, I went to the Adirondacks to visit my dad. His cabin is one of the most comfortable places in the world, despite the lack of running water and electricity, or perhaps because of it. There’s no internet, and there’s time to read. I took Froissart, a very long, very tangled, and sometimes downright […]
The Truly “Universal” Parry
My favorite swordsmanship article this year. Thanks, Greg!
Marathon-Freedom or Death by Christian Cameron
Of course I appreciate such a positive review! I’ll just take this moment to add that the last book of the series, ‘Rage of Ares’ is finished and will go to the publisher Friday, while William Gold III, tentatively titled ‘The Green Count’ is on page 520 today.
Finishing the Long War — On parting with old friends
A long, long time ago, in what sometimes seems like a different world, I sat down, full of passion, to write the book that eventually became ‘Killer of Men.’ And today, in a coffee shop, I sat down to write the last lines in what will probably be the last book of the Long War […]
Faith,Piety and writing about religion
Religion is culture. Culture is religion. Hey, I didn’t create those phrases. But they are useful ways of approaching writing about religion, and understanding religion in fiction and reality. So why does every culture seem to have its own religion? Why is English Protestantism so different from American Protestantism, why is Iraqi Sunni Islam so […]
War, Violence, and Killing Characters
Lodovico di Medici, known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere Everyone knows the trite, oft-repeated slogan. ‘War is Hell.’ And some know Lincoln’s comment, ‘Military glory–that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood–that serpent’s eye, that charms to destroy… ‘ and we’ve all heard ‘Live by the sword, die by the sword.’ The human race […]
The Best books of 2015
I agree that there’s some false advertising in the title. First, I admit that many of my choices are books written before Christ was born; second, that they are purely subjectively the best. Really, what we’re looking at here is my reading habits. These are the books that I liked best in 2015. I’ll start […]
Parmenion Books my 2015 in Review
Source: Parmenion Books my 2015 in Review
Looking for History — Greek fortification and Medieval gun positions
My grandmother was an exceptionally intelligent woman who was passionately interested in antiques. I’m pretty sure I got my love of antiques from her, and possibly even my passion for authenticity and material culture. She was also very cheap. Or rather, she liked a bargain. She had a whole theory on how to search for […]
