The Art of Arms

The Art of Arms

At the Art of Arms we have one solitary vision, to bring the historical martial arts we study as HEMA or WMA practitioners to life by telling the stories of those who lived it. The hours of research, writing, transcription and translation are worth it when we get to see Altoni’s Spiedo section in action at the Baglioni Palazzo, Fiore’s armor techniques displayed on the battlefields of San Giovanni in Persiceto, Liectenauer’s rossfechten techniques thundering across the terrain of southern Germany, the Anonimo’s sword and gauntlet brought to bear in the lists of Mantua; these are the moments where history and martial arts meet, and we’re dedicated to bringing these moments to you our dear listeners. We hope you enjoy!

Episodes

July 27, 2024 110 mins

Listener discretion is advised, this discussion contains accounts of graphic violence, real life trauma situations, and intense detail that might make some feel uncomfortable.

The following historical accounts of duels, warfare, and civic violence were used during this podcast.

Historical Accounts: Account 1:

The siege continuing in this way, all the soldiers remained close together on the outside towards the castle for a stretch ...

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Your Step-by-Step Guide to HEMA Deification

 

Elite competitor, ardent scholar, artist, and entrepreneur Martin Fabian joined Stephen and Joshua to talk about HEMA.

If you’ve ever wondered what the journey to becoming one of the best competitive fencers in HEMA looks like from an aspect of training, preparation, competition and textual interpretation, this is the podcast for you!

 

https://open.substack.com/pub/theartof...

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About Aaron: 

Aaron was introduced to swords as a participant in the first National Stage Combat Workshop run by Fight Directors Canada in 1993. In 1998, he traded the theatrical for the historical and took up Italian Rapier. In 2002 he began studying the Lichtenhauer tradition as one of the founding members of Anyhau (now Ironwood Sword School in Kingston, ON). In 2005 he also began dabbling in the study the Fiore’s system of Mart...

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Check out the first installment of Joeli's written research here: 

 

https://open.substack.com/pub/theartofarms/p/studying-the-birth-of-the-liechtenauer?r=1e0ent&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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January 22, 2024 109 mins

In this episode of l'Arte Dell Armi, Stephen and Joshua go on a journey across the Alps to visit the Bolognese master Giacomo da Basel--err, Joachim Meyer. We're going to Strasbourg with our brilliant tour guide Liam H. Clark. Have you ever wondered how Fechtshule worked, what other fencing masters were active during Meyer's lifetime or the differences between Marxbruder and Freifechter then this is the episode for you!

 

Evergreen...

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October 14, 2023 111 mins

Do you like big swords? Yea, we know. We all do! Well, if you do, you're probably familiar with The Spadone Project, it's phenomenal, how could you not be? Now meet the man behind the curtain, Niccolò Menozzi! In this episode Stephen and Joshua sit down with Niccolo to tackle the tropes and the misnomers of the two handed sword. We dive deep into the historical use of the weapon on the battlefield and in duels, and discover all of ...

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October 9, 2023 138 mins

Jean Chandler is one of the most dedicated researchers HEMA has to offer. He's absolutely brilliant! He's also a pretty incredible human being. If you want to learn more about guilds, Renaissance commerce, and martial traditions, this is the episode for you!

Check out Jean's website here: https://jeanhenrichandler.com/

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This episode marks l'Arte dell Armi's 20,000th download!!! We wanted to extend our heartfelt gratitude to you our listeners for engaging with this podcast! We greatly appreciate you, and look forward to bringing you more content in the future! Stay saucy my friends!

 

We had the honor of sitting down and talking to Dr. Guy Windsor.  This lively discussion highlights teaching, developing teachers, teaching hacks, running a school as...

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Jack Gassmann is both an accomplished academic and historical fencer, a true jack-of-all-trades, he's lived a life full of historical exploration in about every capacity you can possibly imagine, including stunts and film. Stephen and I sat down with Jack and tried to understand what it might've been like to lead crossbowmen on horseback. You won't want to miss this! Stay tuned to the end for a special 20%-off offer on Jack's new t...

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August 6, 2023 110 mins

To attack or not to attack, that is the question!

 

It would seem there are many different ways to approach the tactics of Bolognese fencing, but is that because of the varied approaches of different authors, or is there a hidden consensus? Martin, Stephen and Joshua discuss measure, tempo, the nature of the guards, provocations, and so much more in this episode of l'Arte Dell Armi!

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July 30, 2023 84 mins

Pope Julius II has turned his covetous eye toward Ferrara. Meanwhile the French under Bayard and his d'Este allies prepare the way in hope of resisting the Pope's forces and his new league of allies, the Holy League. The French army has a few aces up their sleeves in the Bentivoglio and a young, daring captain, named Gaston di Foix, nicknamed the Thunderbolt. 

 

Part 1: Back in Bologa, 1:22

Part 2: The Warrior Pope, 7:38

Part 3: Gu...

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July 22, 2023 102 mins

Put on your blue suede shoes, it's time for some Dardi Dancing!

 

In this episode of Bolognese Foundations Stephen, Martin, and I discuss footwork! 

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En garde! 

In the first installment we learned how to travel between point A and point B, in this episode we'll talk about what those points are, what they mean, and what they're good at. The Cuts and thrusts take you between different guards, but all of your actions will begin and end in guards, so let's learn what those guards are all about. 

For those following at home, check out this written supplement: Bolognese Foundations: P...

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April 23, 2023 116 mins

Bill Grandy has done it all, and been really good at all of it too; he has one of the most complete perspectives of anyone I've had the pleasure of talking to on this podcast. So, what did we talk about? A little bit of everything! Armor, wrestling, messer, sidesword, rapier, push of pike, you name it, we probably covered it in this miraculous episode. 

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So, you've heard about the magical powers of the Bolognese Sauce, and you want to get cooking, but when you open up the books all you see is a bunch of really odd Italian words mixed up in sentances with weird grammer and sometime illogical phrasing. You really want to read the text's of Marozzo, Manciolino, dall'Agocchie and the Anonimo, but you don't know how to get started, or maybe you have started but you need some resources t...

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March 26, 2023 92 mins

Kats, poisonous gas, trebuchets, armored vehicles covered in spikes, and magic--lots of magic; Konrad Kyeser's Bellifortis is an imaginative book that inspired the likes of Hans Talhoffer, and perhaps even Leonardo da Vinci. It's full of recreations of some of history's most obscure innovations, but these oddities weren't left to print, they were brought to life on the Renaissance and Medieval battlefields, and that's what we wante...

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March 19, 2023 105 mins

Lucio Malvezzi, Tadeo del Volpe and Fra Leonardo Prato all prefer to go to battle with the Stucco, or the Estoc, or the Tuck. We wanted to learn more about fighting with a sword in armor, so we turned to the expert, Jess Finely!!!

 

The Book we discuss in the podcast with the wedding throwdown is, On the Practice or Art of Dancing, by Barbara Sparti.

Follow Jess on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/jessfinley

Check out here swo...

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Dr. Patrick Bratton is an accomplished fencer, and a professor at the United States Army War College. Naturally, we discussed fencing, fencing strategy, before digging deep into the battle of Polesella, and the grand strategy of the Venetian Empire. This was an amazing conversation that could've gone on for 3 or 4 more hours, you've gotta check it out, we'll definitely have him back very soon!

 

Check out Dr. Bratton's school here:...

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February 15, 2023 110 mins

Episode III.ii

The Siege

Guido Rangoni is in Padua surrounded by the largest army assembled in Italy since the Roman Empire. Among the enemy ranks are the crown of German aristocracy, the flower of French Chivalry, an assortment of famed Italian Condottiere, and a core of cutthroat mercenaries comprised of Landsknechts and Gascons; totaling almost 40,000 men. Defending Pad...

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