Reddit mentions: The best fencing books

Hopefully it goes without saying that you can't learn something physical from the books.

But if you're the kind of person who likes to read a lot, and want to supplement your learning by reading about fencing theory, then here's what I would recommend.

First, read pretty much any general book about fencing. I've read quite a few books about fencing, but generally they're mostly all the same. Here's one that I've read that is indicative of most books, but there's loads

The only thing you're really trying to take away from it getting basic descriptions of the equipment, some basic nomenclature - "lunge", "fleche", "quarte", "disengage", "ballestra", etc. Maybe some basic history. You could also get all this stuff from wikipedia if you wanted, but maybe a book form might be presented in a nicer way.

A lot of these books will talk about mental game, perfect technique, and the great masters of whenever. This is mostly absolute garbage. Most of the history will be incorrect, and only semi-true 'factoids'. It often comes off as a bit of "mysticism". If you have any experience in the culture of martial arts you probably know what I mean.

So once you have a rough idea of what all the parries are, and what we call all the footwork movements, more or less, I would recommend reading Epee 2.0 (2.5 or whatever it's on now).

This book talks about a pragmatic based approach to fencing. No one makes a perfect lunge, and in fact, there is not even such a thing as a perfect lunge. Lots of moves that you learn aren't actually all that useful. etc. If you can internalize the themes of this book, that is very useful for approaching fencing in a way conducive to competitive success.

Then I would look at understanding fencing, which has a lot of very technical thoughts about fencing. E.g. Beyond just what is a step, or a lunge, he talks about different kinds of actions tactically speaking (e.g. pre-planned vs open eyes etc.).

If you read those three, you'll be in good shape

1st what did your read; Both manuals? I don't know what that means. Ignore everything you read on medieval swordplay, it's not relevant to sport fencing. Although, I'm sure it's very interesting.

The books you read are pretty good. Nothing to outlandish about either Czajkowski book or Epee 2.5. If you want a syllabus, try:

1. Elaine Cheris' Fencing: Steps to Success - which is a good book on basic beginner technique
   
2. Aldo Nadi's On Fencing - technical manual/autobiography; is a classic fencing read although very dated.
   
3. Sergei Golobitsky's Fencing is My Life - which like Nadi's is more autobiography but of the most winning fencer in contemporary fencing
   
   Many, many people here on reddit will also recommend, "The Inner Game of Tennis" as a good read for fencing -- it's essentially a self help book. I personally did not find it even remotely helpful but if you find yourself generally inclined towards similar self-help, pop-psychology books then you might like it.
   
   As far as workout plans go (and you'll hate to hear this): don't work on lunges and fleches and such, yet. Wait till you have a coach to correct your form. You may wind up further ingraining some bad habits which you aren't aware of by working on them alone before you start. But, kudos on trying to get ahead of the game.
   
   What I recommend is that you just work on conditioning, the longer you stay sharp at practice the faster you'll improve. Run/Cycle a bunch get your body used to the stress. Optionally do weightlifting-style lunges with some free weights and kettlebell swings (don't over do it). I think even a brisk yoga routine which is heavy on the core-strength exercises and light on the mystical-bullshit is pretty good for fencing training.

Like others have said, try to find an instructor. If there's no one nearby you can get to regularly, think about making a trip for some private instruction, a special event, or even work at distance, exchanging videos and having chats and the like. A lot of instructors (including myself) offer this on occasion.

If you can't find an instructor, you 'll have to do your best with online material and books. as BLASPHEMOUS as it sounds, I recommend Fiore, mostly because Fiore has a ton of awesome supplemental material aimed at beginners that you can find online for free. Guy Windsor's Swordsman's Companion is a nice resource (which may be somewhat dated by now, but I'm not sure since I'm not a fiorist), and he also has a number of free videos on his youtube channel, and occasionally offers free introductory courses through his website. I've used some of his conditioning material before, it's fairly thorough. As I wrote this, I also stumbled on this page, which is a nice collection of Fiore-facing resources.

If you're dead set on German longsword, Keith Farrel's German Longsword Study Guide is a really great start, but it's best if used in conjunction to a text, and it's difficult to understand the body mechanics, especially if you've got a background in MOF.

Unfortunately I don't know of too many really comprehensive beginner-facing youtube channels for German sources out there that teach any of this in a way that I think is more beneficial than harmful. There's a translation of Danzig coming out soon, but since it's not out yet I can't really recommend it :/. Again, I think you ought to reach out to a well-known instructor for whatever system you want to study, and see what they recommend, especially if there's no club around.

If you haven't already, check out the HEMA Club Finder, and see if there's someone local. If there is, do whatever they do. Once you get down some basics, you can think about spending some time on your own with whatever source you are interested in. You might find that you change your mind on what interests you, too!

Hi, where are you located? The nice thing about sabre is that it is still a living tradition, and there are a lot of people around that can teach it to you. Depending on where you are, you could probably learn quite a lot from a modern club. Ideally though, you'd probably get more out of a more classically-oriented group because sabre has changed a lot in recent years, and a lot of things that will be useful for heavier weight sabres (circular cuts, low line parries, expulsions, etc...) aren't really used anymore.

I was trained in classical Italian sabre, which is well documented and still has a living tradition. The earliest basis for this system comes from Radaelli, who method was written down by Settimo Del Frate and recently translated by Chris Holzman, who added a lot of his own material that would help someone get started. You can get it here:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Dueling-Sabre-Christopher-Holzman/dp/0978902262

Masaniello Parise also wrote about sabre in his book from 1883, and while his book was chosen to be the basis of all military training, most people preferred Radaelli's method, and he ended up hiring a number of his students to teach at the newly formed Scuola Magistrale in Rome. Some of those students, Pecoraro and Pessina cowrote their own book on sabre which was basically Radaelli's system but with an organization more consistent with what was already being taught in Rome. Barbasetti, also did something similar. Unfortunately, Parise's and Pecoraro's and Pessina's book haven't been translated to English yet. Barbasetti's book is available in English (http://medievalswordmanship.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/the-art-of-the-sabre-and-the-epee.pdf)

My training came through Maestro William Guagler's (who trained under Pessina's son, Giorgio and was a graduate of the program in Rome) program which was based on this same method. The sabre in his book, The Science of Fencing (http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Fencing-Comprehensive-Instruction/dp/1884528058) , is very similar to Pecoraro and Pessina's book and is an excellent overview of the theory. If you look at this one, Barbasetti, and Chris's translation, you can get a pretty good picture of what 19th century Italian sabre would have been like.

Here are two books by Aldo Nadi, a fencing great: On Fencing

and The Living Sword

The first is more instructional and the second is an autobiography, if I remember correctly. Neither of them alone are going to give you enough instruction on how to be a great fencer (you need a real coach for that). However, they will give you a good look into where fencing came from and they are pretty entertaining

The problem with drawings, videos and photos is that it's not always clear which sides the blades are on in relation to each other. Some are better than others. Videos on & offline obviously have some advantages. They're more engaging, blade positions may be clearer and most importantly you've got movement. I bought a book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fencing-Techniques-Foil-Epee-Sabre/dp/1852231521 when I'd just started and it is quite nice to have a reference book pitched at people in their first few years of fencing (especially that first year) where you can just look up & check something. Fencing books can be very dry reads where your attention can wander (or is that just me?). Some fencing books can be pricey & I found a few in charity shops for peanuts.

One thing I noticed was that coach advice to new fencers can differ from things you see world class fencers do, or see discussed on a forum thread. That was a bit confusing at times, but it's basically about learning to walk before learning to run. Try to nail doing things the way the coaches say. Once you've been fencing for longer you'll have a clearer idea of when, why & how advanced fencers use variations tactically, building on a solid foundation.

You Tube has different kinds of fencing videos, which is helpful, such as armoury skills, kit reviews and promos, features on techniques (Variable quality & reliability, good, bad & mediocre), event footage, humour, etc. Sometimes it's HEMA or classical.

You're just starting out. As you say, some of your opponents literally have decades more experience. Some general thoughts:

• Fence as much and as often as you can. If you only fence a couple days a week, it's really hard to improve. The best way to get better at fencing is to fence.
  
• Fence people better than you are. Think about what is working and what is not working.
  
• Keep a fencing journal.
  
• Take lessons from a qualified coach. As many as you can afford. Also remember that just because someone is a good fencer does not mean they are a good coach.
  
• Are you in a class/camp at your current club? Group instruction is also good.
  
• Generally books aren't that useful, but Epee 2.5 ( https://www.amazon.com/Epee-2-5-Paradigm-Revised-Augmented/dp/0985444185 ) is actually quite good.
  

Glad to help!

Dr. Gaugler passed away in 2011 and since then Science of Fencing has become a little harder to come by. You should still be able to find a copy on Amazon that won't cost you too horribly much.

My school is not affiliated with HEMA so I can't give much advise there but if you are have any quesitons about the Science or Classical Italian in general feel free to pick my brain and I'll do my best to get you the information.

Hi. I studied Katanas a lot as well as learned some iaido and kendo from a student of a Dr. Gordon Warner, who wrote this book. I know more about the actual art of using the sword but I remember some stuff about it's dynamics.

To add to this, Katanas were wielded only by the Samurai. They were viewed not just the warrior's sword, but also their soul.

Their forgery was a very delicate and mastered process involving the development of which parts of the sword had hard metal and soft metal. The metal used was tamahagane I believe and it was very strong because of the carbon in it.

The curve of the blade (which was caused by the forger choosing the perfect time to cool the metal by plunging it into water during the forging process) was very key in the actual art of iaido and iaijutsu. (iai is japanese for sword).

PM me if you have any questions!

EDIT: also the curve of this katana in the picture looks wrong. I posted it so you could see the cross section of the blade.

Kendo was the first martial art that came to mind for me, too. There is definitely a spiritual/mental aspect to kendo, as well.

I would highly recommend, for instance, The Shambhala Guide to Kendo. I took a class with the professor who wrote it (really fascinating guy with a lot of weird stories). The book really focuses on the history of kendo and how it was influenced by various religious traditions (notably various forms of Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy). I found it really deepened my appreciation for the mental exercise that goes along with Kendo.

Well, sort of. What you're describing is foil. A couple of very good books on early epee fencing are:

The Dueling Sword by Claude la Marche

Secrets of the Sword by Baron de Bazancourt

They're both very readable, and give a good picture of teaching someone who may or may not know some of the foil you describe above to use an epee in a real fight.

What Bazancourt and la Marche describe sounds like epee to me. La Marche in particular sounds like a modern epee coach, in a book written in the late 19th century about a sport that was just being invented. Amazing stuff. There's a good blurb from Gary Copeland on the back, that's actually what got me to read it, and I'm glad I did.

Epee was fencing. Full speed, what they call in the books "flying attacks", which means you don't put your foot down before you hit, no style points, much discussion of how anyone can beat anyone at one touch in epee, the sort of thing you'd hear if you went to a one-touch epee competition today. Be careful, cover your hand, don't make crazy deep attacks, all that stuff. It sounds nothing like today's classical fencers.

And neither writer was backwards-looking. They were both developing their sport/martial art. I can't imagine either one would be a "classical fencer" today, they'd be fencers, trying to get better.

Anyway, if you want to get past the history in the Cohen book, which is a decent start but not really comprehensive, those are two original sources you might look at.

The single best book is Jiang Huangfu, Iron and Steel Swords of China, Tomorrow Publishing House (2007). In Chinese.

For stuff in English, the best might be some martial arts oriented books that have substantial chapters/sections/info on the swords themselves:

• Scott Rodell, Chinese Swordsmanship
  
  
• Yun Zhang, The Complete Taiji Dao
  
  
• Yun Zhang, The Art of Chinese Swordsmanship: A Manual of Taiji Jian
  
  Otherwise, some general books on swords have a chapter on Chinese swords, or include info on them. Often only a few pages.
  
  Also nice, though including lots on other Asian sword, originally published as a book by the Macao Museum of Art, and also available online: History of Steel in Eastern Asia
  
  Edit: An excellent book in English is Yang Hong, Weapons in Ancient China. Not just swords; it covers armour, spears, ge, bows, crossbows, chariots, firearms. Mostly ancient - Song Dynasty stuff starts on pg 260, and there's less than 40 pages to go, much of which discusses firearms. There are various Chinese language books covering ancient weapons as well, but this one is more useful to the English reader.

A Basic Fencing Companion by Paul Sise is really good, specially for beginners/intermediate fencers. It reads easily and has a great glossary that I used to get ready for my moniteur exam.

Another good one is Understanding Fencing by Czajkowski (who sadly passed away just last week). This one is more advanced, but it doesn’t read as easily. I took my time reading this one.

Here are a bunch of books you may be interested in. If you want a good place to start, look at George Silver first, then go from there. He doesn't talk about sword and targe, but he talks about timing and how to move correctly.

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Of-Defence-George-Silver/dp/1581607237/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1DF0FCFNQH8MXDQ3BWGK

http://www.amazon.com/Highland-Swordsmanship-Techniques-Scottish-Swordmasters/dp/1891448153/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=146FGG67D9GKR3T2HMCY

http://www.amazon.com/Highland-Martial-Culture-Heritage-Scotland/dp/1581606923/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=146FGG67D9GKR3T2HMCY

http://www.amazon.com/Highland-Broadsword-Lessons-Drills-Practices/dp/1581607288/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=146FGG67D9GKR3T2HMCY

http://www.amazon.com/Highland-Knife-Fighting-With-Sgian/dp/1581605668/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=146FGG67D9GKR3T2HMCY (just because it's Scottish and nice to know.)

http://www.amazon.com/Broadsword-Singlestick-Quarter-Staff-Walking-Stick-Self-Defense/dp/1449917178/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=146FGG67D9GKR3T2HMCY (way late, but may still be useful)

I highly recommend Coblentz as the best intro for Italian rapier:
https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Italian-Rapier-David-Coblentz/dp/0985444134/

Two years later... I still don't like this grip. The rest of his book is awesome though and I highly recommend it.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/steven-reich/marco-docciolini/paperback/product-12190678.html

https://www.amazon.com/Treatise-Subject-Fencing-Marco-Docciolini/dp/1910462012

To add to this, his other book The Mental Preparation of Fencers and Others: Awareness-Based Concentrative Analysis and Mind Fitness Training is also an amazing read.

e: why did I get downvoted for this??

This is the book I refer too. It's pretty good: http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Far-Mountain-Tuttle-Martial/dp/0804832455

I've personally done both classical fencing and HEMA/WMA and modern fencing (epee). Very little in classical sabre will be applicable to modern, at least from what I've seen. It has, at least for me, made me think more creatively and tactically in all my sword-sports.

In terms of where to start other than local clubs, I'd recommend two books: Gaugler's science of fencing (http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Fencing-Comprehensive-Instruction/dp/1884528058/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397083438&sr=8-1&keywords=the+science+of+fencing) and Chris Holzman's book on radaellian sabre (http://shop.swordplaybooks.com/product.sc?productId=12&categoryId=12). Gaugler is writing specifically from a southern Italian perspective, but he's good for general theory. Chris' book is nothing short of fantastic, and offers lots of insight into the dueling culture around fencing in 19th century Italy.

As a kendo practitioner myself, I like the following book https://www.amazon.com/Shambhala-Guide-Kendo-Philosophy-Spiritual/dp/1570629277 which gives a general idea of zen and shinto influence in sword schools and kendo, a topic which is most of the time not discussed in more popular kendo books.

It's hard to describe. You want the swing to be firm when you strike someone. The goal isn't to smack them with brute strength or not use any force at all. Your strikes must be precise and controlled to allow the judge to determine that you had control over what you were doing and meant to do it if that makes sense. It's all about control and discipline.

There are several books that I'm sure you could find. I had this one while I was growing up and read it a bit. I think it was pretty good, but I can't remember because I was so young.

A Coach and Referee I know just published Journals to help you make the most out of tournaments for Epee Foil and Sabre

There is also the fencing based "One Touch at a time" for sports psychology based on fencing. It's quite good.

"Epee 2.5" also contains some sports-psychology, tactics and strategy from a fencing perspective.

I also highly recommend this book. It is aimed at people in your position.

https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Italian-Rapier-David-Coblentz/dp/0985444134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537537462&sr=8-1&keywords=david+coblentz

Probably a toss up between Guy Windsor's A Swordsman's Companion and AHA German Long sword study guide. Windsor's book is more explicit about what you are meant to be doing whilst AHA's book is a more all encompassing work covering many things in not very much detail.

First of all, which book exactly do you mean? Guy Windsor has two books the titles of which include "Medieval Longsword":

1. The Swordman's Companion: Medieval Longsword
   https://www.amazon.com/Swordsmans-Companion-Guy-Windsor/dp/9526793404
   
   
2. Mastering the Art of Arms volume 2: The Medieval Longsword
   https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Art-Arms-Vol-Longsword/dp/9526819322
   
   It just so happens that both books describe several different kinds of footwork and different footwork drills on their pages 64-65 -- or at least they do in the editions I have. So you're going to have to be far more specific.

There are two Italian masters from Florence that I know ofFrancesco di Sandro Altoni and Marco Docciolini

Marco Docciolini does have an English translation, I have not read this myself. From what I can recall hearing, it covers Sword alone, Sword+Buckler, Sword+Dagger and Sword+Sword. Here is another link to buy it from Lulu