[Nathan Robinson]

People, I need you to act professionally and curb your attitudes. Consider this a preemptive measure.

[Ray McCullough]

[quote="Chase S-R"]

[A.A. Boskaljon]

The posts above here say enough so I'm not going to repeat all that. I just want to say that my post was not a attack to Guy or to what he thinks or write down. It's just how it is. I can also wirte a book myself, but that does not mean that it is a very good fencing book. I'm not even the one here who says that his book is crappy, I just say that it is just a interpertation. And it could be a very good one but it also could be a bad one....

So, please, no hard feelings

[Chase S-R]

I cant give you the page number he told me personally any way i think you missunderstood me, my interpertation of interpertation of medival text is making stuff up... when he says interpertation i believe he is referring to his interpertation of the text, i.e. his translation...

[Michael Edelson]

Rodolfo,

You've stumbled upon the best and worst thing about HES. It's a goldrush.

In a way that's good, because it's a ground floor opportunity for people who can contribute to go ahead and do so. This is a very positive thing, as potential talents do not go to waste.

On the flip side, it is often difficult to not drown amidst a chorus of "me too!"s. There is no filter, short of personal experience, to seperate the genuine talents from the wanna be's. And it's catch 22, because to be able to make an informed decision you have to know a bit yourself, and to know a bit, you have to find someone to teach it to you, someone who you won't recognize until it's too late one way or the other. It's too easy, unfortunately, to fall into cults of personality without much genuine HEMA behind them.

Established names are established for a reason. People brought up Guy WIndsor. Guy is a respected leader of the community because his interpretations and teachings have held up to peer review. Note I said peer review, not community review (though of course he is also widely accepted by the community). Yes, anyone can write a book. And many people have. There are many examples of books written by people who should be studying more and writing less, but odds are you've never heard of them, and there's a very good reason for that.

It can be difficult to know who to trust. My advice to anyone looking for someone to trust is to first find a community that you can accept as an authority. By community I mean group of like minded HEMA practicioners. Then evaluate that community objectively. What have they contributed? What books have they published? Who makes up that community and what are their backgrounds? Is the emphasis of their training something you agree with (is free play the end goal, or a tool? Is genuine research and scholarship required to interpret treatises, or does everyone with a keyboard get the same attention? Does the group focus on learning and drilling, or do they show you the guards, give you a simulator and slap you into the octagon?) Do they spend their time fine tuning their interpretations, or ripping on others to elevate themselves? Most importantly, is this a community with a history of admitting mistakes and changing interpretations? Or are they too full of themselves to ever admit a mistake?

Once you found a community, decide which art you want to study, and find someone in that community to teach it to you. And, this is very important, until you've put in enough time to make your own informed decisions, trust that person's word as absolute fact. Avoid the standard HES temptation to say "oh, it's just an interpretation, and mine is as good as anyone's even though I have no real experience in martial arts".

Eventually, you'll get to the point where you will know enough that you can work from the sources directly, and then you'll be a genuine contributor, whether by virtue of your fighting skills, scholarship, teaching ability, ability to interpret, or whatever.

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Rodolfo Martínez]

Thank you Michael,
I really appreciate your answer, there are no instructors or groups in Argentina, martial arts here are dominated by asian styles.
I really wish to start something here, but even having a spanish version of Flos Duellatorum, it is hard for me to understand what Fiore wanted to do or show, and my fear is misunderstanding of Renaissance Martial Arts.

I really wish to learn how to fight with the longsword, and how to apply its techniques accurately, in a duel or combat situation.

[Michael Edelson]