In From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor demystifies one of the greatest martial arts books of all time, Fiore dei Liberi's Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). This magnificent, illustrated manuscript described how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all. Dr. Windsor has spent the last twenty years studying Fiore's work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, he takes you through all of Fiore's wrestling techniques. Each technique (or “play”) is shown with the drawing from the treatise, his transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book also contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore's life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore's art belongs. From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Wrestling Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi is essential reading for all martial artists, and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance.

In From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor demystifies one of the greatest martial arts books of all time, Fiore dei Liberi's Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). This magnificent, illustrated manuscript described how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all. Dr. Windsor has spent the last twenty years studying Fiore's work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, he takes you through all of Fiore's wrestling techniques. Each technique (or "play") is shown with the drawing from the treatise, his transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book also contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore's life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore's art belongs. From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice: The Wrestling Techniques of Fiore dei Liberi is essential reading for all martial artists, and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance. Please note: This hardcover version has a black and white interior. For the full colour version, please visit my website, www.swordschool.shop.

In From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice, renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor demystifies one of the greatest martial arts books of all time, Fiore dei Liberi's Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle). This magnificent, illustrated manuscript described how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all. Windsor spent the last twenty years studying Fiore's work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, Windsor takes you through all of Fiore's longsword techniques on foot without armour. Each technique (or “play”) is shown with the drawing from the treatise, Windsor's transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book also contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore's life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore's art belongs. From Medieval Manuscript to Modern Practice is essential reading for all martial artists and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance.

Essential reading for all martial artists and historians of the medieval and early Renaissance, this new book from renowned historical swordsman Guy Windsor opens up one of the greatest martial arts books of all time to a wide audience: Fiore dei Liberi's Flower of Battle. In the late 14th century dei Liberi, an Italian knightly combat master, wrote Il Fior di Battaglia, The Flower of Battle. A magnificent illustrated manuscript, it describes how to fight on foot and on horseback, in armour and without, with sword, spear, pollax, dagger, or with no weapon at all. Guy has spent the last 20 years studying Fiore's work and creating a modern practice of historical swordsmanship from it. In this book, Guy takes you through all of Fiore's longsword techniques on foot without armour. Each technique (or "play") is shown with the drawing from the treatise, Guy's transcription and translation of the text, his commentary on how it fits into the system and works in practice, and a link to a video of the technique in action. The book contains a detailed introduction describing Fiore's life and times, and extensive discussion of the contexts in which Fiore's art belongs.

The Flower of Battle is Colin Hatcher's translation of Fiore dei Liberi's art of combat from the early 15th century. The work included high-resolution images and English text laid out in the manner of the original.

“Our favourite writer of instructional manuals”- Neal Stephenson, from his foreword to Swordfighting, for writers, game designers, and martial artists. Guy Windsor’s historical martial arts training manuals are legendary. His first was published in 2004, and he’s been producing them ever since. They generate about half his income. So he is expert in writing, publishing, and marketing books for historical martial artists, and in this book he’ll teach you how to do it. The goal of training manuals is to teach skills. This one will teach you: • How to write well • How to plan your book, or write without a plan • How to get reader feedback as you go • How to avoid procrastination and imposter syndrome • What tools to use • How to write without destroying your body • How to incorporate photos and videos • How to edit your work • What should be outsourced • How to publish: commercial, indy, or something else? • What metadata you need, and how to create it • How to choose your publishing platform • How to market your book • How to find your readers • How to launch • Everything you need to know about copyright and piracy • The best book marketing strategy of all time. Also included: Guy’s article Show Your Work: how to communicate your historical martial arts research with the historical martial arts community. If you’ve ever wanted to write a training manual for historical martial arts (or anything else), this book will show you how to do it. Buy it, read it, and get writing!