English Swordplay Podcast

While Tanya was at the Western Martial Arts Workshop in Racine, WI, she was able to nab an interview with Ian Brakcley, of Hopologia of Toronto, Canada. Ian studies smallsword and conducted a class on such at WMAW. Why are Latin dance shoes more than just a fun fashion statement? Why is dancing great practice for swordplay? Listen and find out!

What's that? Yep, we're still here. In this bonus episode, we invite our listeners in to a group discussion with members of the Black Falcon School of Arms. Don't be surprised if Ben still does most of the talking.

This time, the Three Tanyas discuss their preferences in armor, what makes English armor distinct, and in general make fools of themselves regarding their love of Dr. Tobias Capwell's oeuvre.

Tanya recently returned from the Western Martial Arts Workshop in Racine, WI where Stephen Hand, founder of the Stoccata School of Defence in Australia and author of several books on our favorite subject, was kind enough to sit and talk with her about English swordplay. Why are double hits a sign of bad swordsmanship? Why are the English best? How much would Stephen pay for all the rest? Listen to find out.

This time, we take a general overview of the types of swords we think were used to practice the arts portrayed in the English swordplay sources. What's an artifactician? What does our first listener feedback address? Why are the Three Tanyas laughing more than normal? Listen, and learn!

This time around, the Unified Voice of Ben and Tanya discuss the intended audiences for the early English swordplay texts, and what evidence exists to support our conclusions. 

In episode 3, we all chit chat about our process for interpreting the somewhat esoteric sources that form the basis of our study. Do we talk at length about the Revised Norwood-Tsay Certainty Scale? Did we cut out several minutes of chatter about Bill & Ted? You can only find out if you listen!

In this episode, we do a "flyover" look at the sources of our knowledge of early English swordplay, and try to answer the "who, what, when, where, how, and why," for each text.

For our inaugural episode, the hosts of the English Swordplay Podcast introduce themselves, talk about their introduction to Western Martial Arts, and explain the purpose of the podcast itself.