I'm preparing a resonce to this but I'm sure many of you could do far better than me. I printed it out and have pages of rebuttal before his page 3/15.

http://www.fencingonline.com/academy/duellingtofencing.htm

I have written some equally inaccurate stuff myself, just not in such high percentage and overall quantity. Give the poor guy some credit for at least gathering a nice assortment of illustrations, a couple of which I have not seen before.

Does any one else subscribe to the theory that David used a sling against Golilath, not a sword as indicated in the article?

"The rough and basic fighting tactics of mounted knights in heavy armor, hacking at each other in medieval Europe with two-handed swords reflected the reign of "brute" force in the life of that time. The strongest arm and sword won the day, as did the strongest baron or the most warlike king. Those were the days of crushing blows, when a knight's superiority depended on his power of wearing stronger armor and delivering heavier, more powerful blows, when strength was considered a skill. "

Where's myArmoury's throwing up emoticon?

First part reads like a gamer wrote it. Can't comment on the rest as my area of interest and what little expertise I have ends at 1480.

Oh...
...this guy needs to be locked in a room with someone from Schola. :evil:

Comment on the article, not the people. Making fun of others and acting elitist doesn't really shine a good light on you or our site here.

It really sounds like a bad case of sport fencing-itis. The idea that anything not reflected in todays modern sport is awkward, heavy and brutish. He obviously has not seen anything prior to the 1500's. In fact he says, "The oldest work on fencing was written in 1531 by Antonio Manciolino, of Bologna, this was followed five years later by Achille Marozzo..." and then, "Achillie Marozzo is generally looked upon as the first writer of note on the art of fencing." I'm just confused as to how someone can find a copy of Manciolino and Marozzo but some how miss the myriad of manuals before that? Id would be more difficult to avoid them than not! But yes, every single paragraph is jam packed with mis information.

What someone (well someone more knowledgeable in WMA than I anyways) needs to do is write an article for this fencing website that point by point refutes every bit of misinformation in the article. That way, instead of just a few people on this site knowing that Mr. Worsfield doesn't know what he is talking about, the whole world will be able to see that Mr. Worsfield doesn't know what he is talking about and, more importantly, why.

I have sent a short note to the website telling them that this article is a mess and if they want I'd be willing to send a list or reasons why. I'll see if its even wanted first before I go through all the trouble.

G'day Mates,
the article has to be read with an Australian accent, with Crocodile Dundee intonations, especially on passages such as: '' During the Middle Ages swords often reached great lengths.... (followed by) ... With the advent of gunpowder during the 13th century, the six foot, two handed sword and heavy armor was discarded...'', Without the accent, it doesn't make sense, but imagine Crocodile Dundee explaining this on the streets of NY City, a bit like in his famous scene dealing with street kids ( That's not a knife, THIS is a knife) , and all of a sudden all is clear, as is the gentleman's claim that he is a Maître d'Armes, again, with a local accent... you really don't want to argue with the fellow, just wish him well in his pursuit of a deeper understanding of the history of arms and armor. He obviously has an interest for the subject....

Cheers.