A quick introduction of Zach Wylde’s The English Master of Defence from 1711. What is remarkable about this particular fencing master’s manual is his emphasis of being a well rounded fencer, wherein he covers smallsword, broadsword, quarter-staff, and wrestling.  For this reason he has become a favourite text for Provost Matthew Boyd, head instructor for our Launceston and Longford branches. Matt has put together this excellent series of videos discussing different aspects of Wylde’s fencing system. An introduction Zack Wylde’s manual of 1711 An in depth explanation of one of the critic ..read more

Within Stoccata the “Playing of the Prize” is how we perform a grading for our students. This concept goes right back to the medieval fencing guilds, and was also used as a money making venture by them. We have recently had several students from our Sydney School of Arms branch and our Newtown branch successfully play the prize. Congratulations to the successful Prize players! You can watch some of these prizes in the videos below. Kyle’s Scholar’s Prize in Highland Broadsword Ryan’s Scholar’s Prize in Scottish Smallsword Declan’s Scholar’s Prize in English Rapier ..read more

The TL;DR version of this post is: Based on 2 terms (almost 20 weeks) of instruction, the Constraints Led Approach (CLA) is a better way to build skills that transfer to free fencing with pretty much no downsides. This afternoon, I decided to punch a simple question into ChatGPT and then use the output to guide a blog post. I’d not done this before, but it was an excellent way to constrain (heh) the scope of my writing. Before I lay out the question I put to ChatGPT, let me be very clear. My commentary is specific to 1 branch of 1 club, with a particular group of people, with particular cont ..read more

Hi Folks, The other provosts at Stoccata have been nagging me about producing content pretty much since I joined their ranks. I don’t think though that I’ll ever be much for producing videos. So, I’ve decided to start using the Stoccata Blog to make some content every now and again. First up, a fairly random “listicle”. Pic credit – Alex Munro. Depicted: Left – Stuart McDermid (me!), Right – Alex Munro. Right of Way vs Afterblow. I think Right of Way is a better teaching tool because it punishes the earliest error in a fencing phrase. Rather than trying to gauge the ‘mortality rate’ of an ..read more

It is a curiosity that British fencing sources are all but devoid of instructions on knife or dagger fighting. Continental medieval and renaissance sources generally spend a considerable time on defence from the dagger, both with a dagger and unarmed, yet no British source even mentions it, apart from a very brief and rather unsatisfactory chapter in Silver’s Brief Instructions, and Newcastle’s bold (and unrealised) claim that “Heer also I will shewe you howe a dagger by this methode, shall beate anye Sorde, pike, halberte, or partesan, or anye two handed weapons.” Sir John Smythe, in his Cer ..read more

Coming into 2015 we were looking at running classes on Spadone, and we needed a simple affordable simulator that students could train with. Whilst we could have used wooden batons, the ability to them in antagonistic drills would be limited. Enter the humble shinai which with a little bit of work can be turned into an acceptable simulator suitable for antagonistic drills. Materials Shinai blank – size 39 is best for making a spadone 5/16″ threaded rod, ~50 cm in length 2 x 5/16″ washers 4 x 5/16″ nuts 2 x 5/15″ dome nuts 30 mm ID PVC tubing, ~70 cm (test it in the hardware store – it should be ..read more

Why a shinai? The “singlestick” or “cudgel” was a traditional training tool for the practice of English backsword, as well as being a weapon in its own right. Sporting singlesticks were made from light ash saplings, kept soaking in a trough of water to keep them flexible, and given leather or wicker basket-hilts. Armour consisted of a masked fencing helmet for the face and head, a long-sleeved leather jacket or padded coat, covered with a thigh-length leather apron or bib for the body and cricket pads for the legs. Earlier cudgels were made of solid wood and the only protective equipment used ..read more

Despite common perception, armour was in fact not uncommon in the Highlands up until the 17th century, at least for the elite of the clan warriors. There are a number of written references describing Highland armour: 1) In 1322, at the seige of Roxburgh, Donald of the Isles came with a great body of men “armed in the Highland fashion, with habergions, bows and axes”, indicating mail was the common form of Highland armour. 2) The description of John, 10th Lord of the Isles, from 1498 in the Red book of Clanranald lists a mail coat “well meshed, light, of substantial steel, beautifully wrought ..read more