Reddit mentions of Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art Of The Longsword

Thanks for the link to the video! I liked it overall, but I think it lost track of itself when it said that the Europeans relied upon brute strength. If you ever try to brute strength your way through a tatami mat, you get nowhere fast, even with a longsword or greatsword.

There's a huge tradition of scholarly medieval swordsmanship extending from the late Middle Ages with the I.33 manuscript through the Renaissance with Ringeck's The Knightly Art of Swordsmanship and Talhoffer's Medieval Combat to name just a couple out of a huge corpus of fechtbucher.

I'm coming across pretty crotchety here, but in addition to Star Wars, I'm big on the Middle Ages. I see these myths perpetuated all the time, and I'm just trying to bring to light a topic that is frequently taken for granted.

I guess my sword fighting training may actually come in handy if something like that ever happens to me. Not saying it will happen; just daydreaming. After some time fighting, your body gets used to being hit and you're able to resist stuff like that a lot better than someone who's never been exposed to that kind of stuff. Still hurts like a bitch, but you can push past it.

Meyer is good, although since you are a beginner, I would recommend something with lots of visual aides and pictures. It's a bit outdated nowadays, but I would recommend starting with "Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword," by Lindholm and Svard (link below). Also, for longsword reference material, Keith Farrell's book is excellent and affordable.

It has pictures of the plays on every page, has the original text and translation, and also has interpretation, which eliminates much of the guess-work. It starts with the absolute basics and proceeds from there, which should be good for you and your buddies.

https://www.amazon.com/Sigmund-Ringecks-Knightly-Art-Longsword/dp/1581604106

(Also, holy crap! This book was like $35.00 when I bought it about 8 years ago. Try to find a digital copy if possible.)

https://www.amazon.com/German-Longsword-Study-Guide-Farrell/dp/099267350X