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Arms & Armor Medieval Swordsmanship by John Clements $40.00 / Paladin Press / 1998 Without a doubt, John Clements is the single most well-known figure in the rapidly growing Western martial arts community. It is a shame, then, that his recent Medieval Swordsmanship is only a marginal improvement on his previous work, Renaissance Swordsmanship. Clements has at his disposal a huge collection of historical fencing treatises as well as a number of skilled researchers, writers, and editors. There is, therefore, no reason for tirades against "modern" fencing masters, fantasy roleplayers, theatrical fight choreographers, and others who have caught the author's ire, nor should there be tenuously supported opinions on the nature of medieval swordsmanship. Rather than a work of history or a reconstruction of historical fencing, Medieval Swordsmanship is a record of Clements' opinions and his experiments with reproduction swords. The issue is not so much that the sword techniques Clements demonstrates will not work, but rather that the techniques demonstrate Clements' style of swordsmanship instead of true medieval swordsmanship. Medieval Swordsmanship will no doubt be a useful reference book for those interested in either improving their game in SCA heavy-weapons fighting or in bringing more realism to fantasy roleplaying games and fight choreography (if they can see past the well-intentioned but tiresome tirades). However, for those seriously interested in reconstructing the martial systems of the knights of yore, Clements' work will only confuse the issue. —Ken Mondschein

Click here to order:Medieval Swordsmanship             To order Renaissance Magazine, click here. To order medieval tapestries and other period products, click here.