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Christian Henry Tobler




Location: Oxford, CT
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PostPosted: Thu 05 May, 2011 8:13 pm    Post subject: New Titles from Freelance Academy Press!!         Reply with quote

Now in living color, Captain of the Guild is here!



We are pleased to present a Freelance Academy first: collector's edition of a little-seen and underappreciated masterpiece of the Liechtenauer tradition!

In the late 15th century, Peter Falkner was a long-time member and sometime captain of the famed fencing guild known as "the Brotherhood of Saint Mark," or Marxbrüder. Flourishing a generation after the now better-known Masters Hans Talhoffer and Paulus Kal, Falkner followed in their paths, and set about creating an illustrated fight book of his own; a colorful handbook whose painted figures and short captions depict combat with a wide variety of weapons: the longsword, dagger, staff, poleaxe, halberd, dueling shield and mounted combat. Where his work excels, however, is in its extensive treatment of the falchion-like messer, and the unique variations of core techniques of the Liechtenauer canon.

In Captain of the Guild the first, printed edition of Falkner's work, German martial arts teacher and scholar Christian Tobler includes a full translation, transcription, and analysis, combined with a photographic reproduction of the original manuscript. Because of both his unique treatment of a number of the weapons, as well as the manuscript's bright colors and charming, at times whimsical, figures, we decided that the only way to do Falkner's little-seen work justice was to reproduce it in full color! The medieval illuminator's art is not only preserved, but glorified with professional images printed at almost an exact 1:1 scale on high-quality, acid free paper, bound with a durable, case-bound cover to withstand not only shelf wear, but constant use.

Combining a unique text and expert commentary with high production values, this lovingly rendered, English translation of a 500 year old picture-book is not only the finest title we have produced to date, but we believe one of the finest Historical European Martial Arts titles available, and is sure to please martial artists, historians and lovers of medieval art alike. Order yours today!


And...Now available: The Longsword of Johannes Liechtenauer, Part One



Our German partners at Agilitas are working hard: at over two hours in length, The Messer of Hans Lecküchner provides a complete beginner course in training with the long-knife or falchion. We are therefore very pleased to announce that the first DVD Agilitas produced with respected martial artists Hans Heim and Alex Kiermayer is once again available!

In The Longsword of Johannes Liechtenauer, Part One, you will learn the ancient and noble art of fighting with the long- or "hand-and-a-half" sword step-by-step! Reconstructed from 14th - 16th c manuscripts and illuminations, the highly effective fighting techniques and principles of this elegant and deadly martial art are now available for everyone, in this modern training curriculum developed within the Ochs-Historiches Kampfkunst (Ochs Historical Combat School). Beginning with a reconstruction of a 15th century duel, this program combines an historical overview of Liechtenauer's art, and a distillation of his core techniques, with a series of training exercises and partner drills, providing a valuable treasure trove for everyone interested in historical swordsmanship.

Once out of print, we are pleased to be the official distributor for this fine DVD, which set the standard in Western martial arts DVDs.

Enjoy!

Christian Henry Tobler
Order of Selohaar

Freelance Academy Press: Books on Western Martial Arts and Historical Swordsmanship

Author, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts


Last edited by Christian Henry Tobler on Fri 06 May, 2011 10:48 am; edited 2 times in total
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Bill Grandy
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PostPosted: Thu 05 May, 2011 10:59 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

People, buy this book! The Peter Falkner fechtbuch is an wonderful treasure that has not received enough attention, and Christian's translation is top notch! It also has beautiful period illustrations that show some pretty slick Gothic armour.
HistoricalHandcrafts.com
-Inspired by History, Crafted by Hand


"For practice is better than artfulness. Your exercise can do well without artfulness, but artfulness is not much good without the exercise.” -anonymous 15th century fencing master, MS 3227a
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Craig Shackleton




Location: Ottawa, Canada
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PostPosted: Fri 06 May, 2011 4:41 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I am very excited to be able to get Peter Falkner at last! That is great news!

I have a question about the Agilitas longsword DVD: What regional format is it in? I previously bought a copy elsewhere, and it is in Pal format, which is a bit of a pain. It would almost be worth it to buy a second copy if this one will work on my DVD player.

Ottawa Swordplay
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Christian Henry Tobler




Location: Oxford, CT
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PostPosted: Fri 06 May, 2011 5:50 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks guys!

Craig, the DVD is NTSC, region 0 (that is, international, uncoded). So, just like our poleaxe or the Ochs messer DVDs, it should play just about anywhere.

Yours,

Christian

Christian Henry Tobler
Order of Selohaar

Freelance Academy Press: Books on Western Martial Arts and Historical Swordsmanship

Author, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts
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Craig Shackleton




Location: Ottawa, Canada
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PostPosted: Fri 06 May, 2011 8:53 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

That's good to know, thanks! I'll hold off on a second DVD for now regardless, but maybe in the future.

In other news, I think that was the fastest transition I've ever had from reading a product announcement , submitting my order and receiving confirmation that it has shipped in my history of online shopping. Captain of the Guild is on its way to me already!

Ottawa Swordplay
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Greg Mele
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Location: Chicago, IL USA
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PostPosted: Fri 06 May, 2011 12:19 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Craig,

Craig Shackleton wrote:
That's good to know, thanks! I'll hold off on a second DVD for now regardless, but maybe in the future.

In other news, I think that was the fastest transition I've ever had from reading a product announcement , submitting my order and receiving confirmation that it has shipped in my history of online shopping. Captain of the Guild is on its way to me already!


I can tell you that I just watched your book leave here and head to the post office....10 minutes ago, so stay tuned!

Best,

Greg

Greg Mele
Chicago Swordplay Guild
www.chicagoswordplayguild.com

www.freelanceacademypress.com
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Andrew Shultz




Location: Boston MA
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PostPosted: Fri 06 May, 2011 12:30 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Craig Shackleton wrote:

In other news, I think that was the fastest transition I've ever had from reading a product announcement , submitting my order and receiving confirmation that it has shipped in my history of online shopping. Captain of the Guild is on its way to me already!


Yes after the email showed up in my box it didn't take me long to succumb to temptation. I think the longest part of the process was when I had to wrestle my credit card out of my pocket.

Andy Shultz

Forte Swordplay: Boston Longsword and other Historical European Martial Arts
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Jean Thibodeau




PostPosted: Mon 09 May, 2011 7:29 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Craig Shackleton wrote:
That's good to know, thanks! I'll hold off on a second DVD for now regardless, but maybe in the future.

In other news, I think that was the fastest transition I've ever had from reading a product announcement , submitting my order and receiving confirmation that it has shipped in my history of online shopping. Captain of the Guild is on its way to me already!


Same experience for me last time I ordered as they seem to have gotten the ordering process optimized and very quick and efficient.

Will wait sometime late next week to order just for it to go on the next creditcard bill before I order.

Glad to add a " plug " for their great customer service as well as all the books or DVDs I have bought have been of high quality in form and content and well worth buying.

You can easily give up your freedom. You have to fight hard to get it back!
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Pamela Muir




PostPosted: Wed 11 May, 2011 8:28 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

My book arrived Monday and even though I have only had the chance to give it a quick perusal and I'm just now starting to read it thoroughly, I thought I would give some quick first impressions. (I intend to do a full review when I have finished reading it.)

I have been looking forward to this for some time, so I had rather high expectations and so far they have all been met.

I am entranced by the complete design of the book. The size, shape and cover layout captures the feel of the cartoon like illustrations in the manuscript. It sort of resembles a heroic novel, an Ivanhoe kind of impression.

I am just now starting to make my way through the introduction and I think Mr. Tobler did a very good job presenting the background information that is needed to fully appreciate the manuscript. For example, he talks about how Peter Falkner's treatise relates to other treatises in the Liechtenauer tradition.

I like the photo reproduction of the manuscript itself a great deal. It even includes the cover and the blank pages. It makes it that much closer to getting a feel for the original. Obviously it is wonderful to have the transcription and Mr. Tobler's translation, however, in addition, it is also noted when something was in a different hand or in Latin. A few of the techniques have additional footnotes.

Another nice plus is the inclusion of a glossary for the German terms.

In short, this looks to be a beautiful book, beautifully done.

Pamela Muir

Founder/Lead Instructor
Academy of Chivalric Martial Arts


"I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong, And he's gotta be fast, And he's gotta be fresh from the fight." ~Steinman/Pitchford
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Christian Henry Tobler




Location: Oxford, CT
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PostPosted: Thu 12 May, 2011 12:34 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hello Pamela,

Thanks for the kind words.

We definitely tried to capture, as much as we could, the feeling of being able to carry around Falkner's own manuscript, like a handbook.

Dr. Jeffrey Forgeng mused, and I do too, that it's tempting to believe the Falkner manuscript was a personal copy, one for the master himself.

And, as you say, and Dierk Hagedorn notes in the foreword, the illustrations really are quite delightful.

Take care,

Christian

Christian Henry Tobler
Order of Selohaar

Freelance Academy Press: Books on Western Martial Arts and Historical Swordsmanship

Author, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts
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Craig Shackleton




Location: Ottawa, Canada
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PostPosted: Thu 19 May, 2011 8:29 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

My book arrived five minutes ago. Obviously, I have not read the whole thing yet, but let me just say at this point that the physical quality of the book is magnificent.

It is a compact hardback, with very high quality pages and the images are beautiful. The format is similar to some other manual translations with the facsimile page facing the transcription and translation. There is a fair amount of introductory material as well, and Glossary with pronunciation for German terms.

Although this book is in some ways less fancy than Christian's earlier Paulus Kal book from Chivalry, I really like this format better. It is both more aesthetically pleasing to me, and more useful. I can reasonably carry it around and read it in bed, for starters.

So much for me accomplishing anything else today!

Ottawa Swordplay
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Christian Henry Tobler




Location: Oxford, CT
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PostPosted: Thu 19 May, 2011 5:03 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Hi Craig,

I'm glad you like the look & feel of the book. The credit for that belongs to our designer, Adam Velez.

I really like this format too, and I'm thinking of additional manuscripts that would be served well by this kind of treatment.

Yours,

Christian

Christian Henry Tobler
Order of Selohaar

Freelance Academy Press: Books on Western Martial Arts and Historical Swordsmanship

Author, In Saint George's Name: An Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts
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