Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods and Techniques

I am a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and am an authorized rapier fighter in the Middle Kingdom (which includes my home state of Michigan). I purchased this book based on reviews here, to aid my rapier fighting techniques since I am a relatively new fighter.

[The Postitives]

The book has excellent diagrams of weapons and fighting techniques. Even more, he explains such things as the "why" behind the differences of period rapier fighting and its modern successor, sport or Olympic fencing. He also shows how the differences of various grips upon a rapier or sword will impact a combatant. He covers cut-and-thrust swordsmanship with the same depth. Each weapon and technique is clearly explained. Many diagrams have human figures displayed in the appropriate stance. While sparse, they are very effective.

[The negatives]
As noted in an earlier review, Mr. Clements does spend time debunking those he disagrees with. However, I interpreted this as someone who was taking the time to explain why they were doing this (swordsmanship) to someone coming from another discipline. I didn't find it condescending or irritating.

While Mr. Clements does an excellent job with showing you various stances, parries and cuts, they will probably quickly lose their luster once you have practiced them. There are no further drills to practice or techniques to learn once you have figured out what he has shown you.

[Conclusion]
This book is excellent for someone with little or no experience in re-creating swordsmanship. I highly recommend it. The only thing keeping me from rating it a full five stars is that it has no provision for you once you have advanced past what it has to teach. Still, it was a worthwhile purchase.


Excellent...   February 2, 2003
This was an excellent book. I was getting nervous when it was on order that I wouldn't like it as much as I hoped. I was pleasantly surprised. There are numerous diagrams and my husband and I can now properly play with our swords. The book also goes into swords while used with shields. A very helpful book.


Good resource, but not great   January 22, 2003
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

First, I would like to complement Clements because his book does contain a wealth of knowledge and was one of the first widely accessible books on the subject I ever came across.

He has spent a great deal of time in developing his skills and knowledge about Western fighting techniques and it shows. You can learn a lot from this book. However to do it you will have to wade through some of Clement's literary shortcomings.

He has a tendency to be overly critical of anyone who he disagrees with, wasting way too much space in his book talking about what he feels others are doing wrong. I would much prefer he spend more time discussing what he is doing right. I've read several other papers written by Clements and this is a consistent complaint of mine with his work. Another conclusion is that Clements is very impressed with himself and wants to share that with everyone.

Still, he has a great deal of knowledge to share on this topic and with this book has given us a widely distributed and affordable tome. When he is sticking to details he has a lot to offer.


Outstanding, Practical Insight to Medieval Sword Combat   October 28, 2002
 6 out of 10 found this review helpful

This reference contains far more than is implied by the title. Topics covered in addition to the expected use of one-handed sword and shield, and hand-and-a-half swords, are fairly in-depth treatments of shield construction, techniques used against spear, halberd, and flail. Extended treatises provided on the nature of medieval combat, modern re-creations of medieval martial arts, and comparisons with Japanese style sword arts, and fantasy-like re-creationists as well, ie, ones who play "sword tag". The reference is heavily illustrated and presented in a straightforward, pragmatic manner. I very highly recommend this book, as the single most useful reference on what is in fact a much more complex topic than "conventional wisdom" suggests - a flawed depiction which portrays medieval swordsmanship as nothing more than savage hacking and beating.


A beginner's guide   August 3, 2002
 8 out of 10 found this review helpful

I must say before I begin that John Clements is a very talented and knowledgeable martial artist. His years of experience have made him reliable, and perfectly authorized to write this text.

However, this book is, as he says, nowhere near being the only source for any researcher of medieval swords. In fact, it is more of an introduction for beginners to start their studies upon. It offers many fundamental concepts essential to Western Swordsmanship, and gives readers a starting point in learning European martial arts. Many of the points he makes, especially regarding bodily movement, balance, and the like, are self-evident to somebody already involved in martial arts, especially in Western Martial Arts.

The only drawback to this book was that, in an effort to rid the world of common myths, and to dispel many misconceptions about WMA, Clements was very redundant. However (and this can be good or bad) he sprinkled different facts all through the book, so a reader cannot skim over parts without fear of missing something.

Overall, I'd say that this book is worth a look for anybody interested in WMA, but a beginner would definitely find it much more useful than would a veteran. It does provide a good reference for certain tidbits; the name of a guard, or the execution of a strike. As always, a book is no substitute for a bona fide teacher, especially in the world of WMA, where our knowledge and understanding of the principles and concepts adopted by our fencing forefathers is always changing and expanding.

UPDATE: It's been several years since I first started studying historical European martial arts, and several years since this book came out. Many, many advancements have been made since then, and much of the information in this book is outdated. As a jumping point for a beginner, it may be a worthwhile read, but there have been a lot of really spectacular books on the same subject in the last couple years, so you may be better off starting elsewhere.