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Title: Renaissance Swordsmanship: The Illustrated Use of Rapiers and Cut-And-Thrust Swords by John Clements ISBN: 0-87364-919-2 Publisher: Paladin Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.44 (45 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A must-read for the serious martial artist and swordsman
Comment: This book is the impressive result of one of the most daring enterprises the world of Martial Arts has to offer. Through years of careful studies of period manuals, combined with the study of historical weapons and long-term practice, the author recreates an extinct fighting art: The fight with the renaissance rapier and its companion, the renaissance cut-and-thrust sword. The emphasis is clearly placed on the martial aspect, in other words, this book deals with sword FIGHTING rather than with sport fencing, stage-combat or roleplaying. The impressive bibilography at the end of the book makes very clear that John Clements has done a considerable amount of research and that the techniques presented are definetly more than invented moves. This book is a no-nonsense, no-compromise work on a subject surrounded by lots of myth and stupid prejudices and it is definetly a slap in the face of modern sport fencers or costumed theorists who think, they are the only ones how know.
Anyone with a serious interest in European Martial Arts should give this refreshing, informative work a very close look.
Rating: 2
Summary: Fair introduction for the casual reader
Comment: This book's main worth is that it dispels a few of the myths that have plagued European swordsmanship for the last two centuries. The author makes a case about the martial arts of old Europe being a far cry from both Hollywood lore and modern sport-fencing. Indeed, Clements may have been the originator (or at least one of the originators) of the very concept of "Western martial arts." In this sense, the book is somewhat valuable to someone who has never been exposed to Western swordsmanship.
On the liability side, however, the book is not intended to be a "manual" on the use of the rapier and the cut-and-thrust sword, and whoever buys it in the hope of acquiring such knowledge will be disappointed. In all fairness, Clements states as much very plainly in the introduction.
Still, the author fails to provide even the most basic principles of the systems mentioned in the title. Outside of a few rather intuitive stances and moves, there is no mention of the very fundamentals of the arts - even something as elemental as the four rapier guards.
The main problem, though, is that the book includes some grave inaccuracies that the author should have corrected or eliminated upon successive editions. For instance, Clements' likening rapier fencing to boxing is plainly absurd from just about every technical angle, and even a superficial reading of the period texts will reveal as much. Ditto for the many instances in which Clements suggests that key rapier techniques (such as the lunge and accompanying pictures) are almost underdeveloped versions of their modern counterparts.
Also, there is a happy-go-lucky use and spelling of historical terms. For example, the "stramazzone," a strong, downward circular cut delivered from the wrist, becomes the "stromazione" (sic) a harrassing cheek-cut delivered with the sword-point (something unheard of in period texts).
Although the book was written at a time when the original Renaissance treatises were for the most part unavailable or untranslated, there is no reason why such documentable inaccuracies should be allowed to stand now that these texts are widely available in the original and in plain-English translations.
So, if you have a casual interest in Western martial arts and want to "get your feet wet," this book may prove a fair initial read. But if your interest is anywhere near earnest, and you want to see how swordsmanship was really practiced in the 16th and 17th Centuries, you owe to yourself to look deeper - and look elsewhere.
Rating: 1
Summary: nebulous text with little research
Comment: Since I first posted this review, a translation of Capo Ferro's early 17th century manual of the rapier has become available. If you're interested in authentic techniques, instead of just a crude facsimile (at best), skip Clement's work and buy the Capo Ferro translation.
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I feel a certain nostalgia for this book, as it did get me interested in Western Martial Arts, that being the case, I simply cannot recommend this book as any sort of serious study guide for Rapiers or Cut-and-Thrust swords.
The chapter on the rapier, in particular, shows a complete lack of knowledge of the fundamentals of the Italian rapier as a weapon taught by the Italian masters of the likes of Salvator Fabris, Ridolfo Capo Ferro, etc. While the drawings and some of the general information is interesting for a beginner, it won't help the reader learn much of the true theory or techniques that were actually used by a competent rapier fencer. I do not remember, for example, seeing any discussing of the theory or technique of "stringering" or "finding the sword" (an important, fundamental concept for Italian rapier), much less the Italian concept of tempo as pertaining to fencing.
Unfortunately, the selection of books available on this topic are few an far-between, especially in English--but for the serious English-speaking Practitioner, I would suggest that you skip this book and get copies of either George Silver's "Paradoxes of Defence" (for Cut & Thrust) or Joseph Swetnam's manual (for rapier), as both of these are original texts in English that are available in electronic format for free online (do a Google search). For those of you who can read Italian, do a search for the masters I listed above (their texts are available for free in .pdf format online).
This book really only sits on my shelf taking up space and collecting dust.
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