Books

Presented here is a textbook for Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). HEMA is a reconstructed practice of swordplay, which means its practitioners teach themselves techniques by studying preserved medieval and renaissance texts, filling in the holes left by a moth-eaten record. Wise’s Historical Fencing draws heavily on many of these tomes, from well-known sages like Liechtenauer and Fiore dei Liberi to obscure ones like Cavalcabo and Heußler to more modern ones like Toran and Dunn (around 70 in total over 600 years of history and numerous countries). Recently published books on classical fencing and HEMA are also considered, including those of Coblentz, Loda, and Fabian. That said, it is practical experimentation leading to pragmatic experience that sieves the gold from the dross, and this book aims to gather good ideas and present them simply but completely. Readers should expect to become familiar with the ideas and movements held in common over many hundreds of years in duels and fencing salles, while also learning many of the particular techniques that antiquity has passed down to us.

The general perspective of the book is that the Italian system of tempo, best posited by the Italian phenom Salvator Fabris (fencing master of the King of Denmark in the early 1600s, and possible choreographer of
Shakespeare’s Hamlet), is the ideal way to understand fencing. The finest works on tempo were written in the context of the rapier, or the rapier with an offhand dagger, in Italy. However, many other traditions had great insights to share, and applying a tempo understanding to their teachings shines a revealing light on the parallel thoughts of masters across time and tradition. Overall, this is a work that seeks to unite instead of divide, presenting a way of thinking about fighting with swords that suits a desire to actually do it in practice, improve over time, and succeed in your simulated battles with real (but safer) steel.

This textbook is broken up into sections. First comes a general section on fencing, thorough and fairly complete. In it, Concepts, Mechanics, and Strategy are addressed in turn to give you a foundation as solid as several years of diligent fencing instruction could give you. These terms and ideas are then applied to a series of plays, presented in the style of Fiore dei Liberi, where each basic play is shown, then counters are addressed, then those counters are in turn overthrown by contra-counters. The goal is to present simple actions thoroughly and with precision for their execution, so that you can return to these words and images when your own attempts run into failure or fall into routine. A set of these plays is presented for rapier and dagger, for sword and buckler, and for longsword, covering the basics of each bellicose art. Troubleshooting advice is given for each play and then for each weapon. Finally, a section on how to learn swordfighting rounds out the book, completing with a series of lessons that you could fit into hour-long blocks with a companion. That makes for a dense volume, but it is dense with value.

Throughout, photographs of Derek and his coach Mike fencing are used to illustrate each motion and idea clearly. Tables are presented to summarize ideas and as handy references. Quotes are presented alongside each idea from agreeing perspectives or additional angles, leaving the best phrasing from the historical manuals intact instead of rephrasing it clumsily. Contributions from orthopedic surgeon and sports conditioning coach Liz Scott, extremely tall fencing champion Nick Reynolds, and physics consultant Katharine Bancroft give some additional expert perspectives. There’s enough here that even experienced HEMA scholars will find some nuggets otherwise overlooked by their study.

There are several versions of my book available.

The main book (Wise's Historical Fencing), 470 pages, discusses all three weapon formats: rapier and dagger, sword and buckler, and longsword. It has a lengthy conceptual introduction, a section for each weapon with more than 100 total plays, a full (short) curriculum of lessons, and bountiful quotes and art.

The split books (Wise's Historical Longsword, & friends), ~250-270 pages, discuss only one weapon format from the above. They contain the rest of the book (introduction, general concepts, glossary), but only lessons and broken-down material for the weapon of choice. Both approaches have the same information about the relevant weapon format - I just removed the non-relevant sections to make the book shorter and cheaper for those who want that.

Finally, there are two versions of each book. One is premium color from Lulu, the other is normal color. The premium color is a lot more expensive, but also significantly nicer, with full-colored chapter headers (as you see in the prints). The normal color fails to correctly portray some of the lovelier bands of maroon, but I think it depicts the pictures fine and is sufficient to learn from. I also offer a PDF, which is the best of both worlds (cheaper and with my intended colors) but it is not a physical object. Whatever you want!

“A noble effort in a daunting task, Wise's Historical Fencing makes the (dare I say it?) wise choice of directing its efforts down the thoroughfare of point-forward fencing. In composing around a style-first approach, Wise's frees itself from being a true compendium, a take which might leave a fresh reader gobsmacked as they work through what is still a dense treatise on fencing. This approach cuts the fat and provides an adaptable system that can be reiterated across multiple weapons. Further, for neophyte tournament fencers, the contents of this book well-align to current competitive meta and provides a comfortable playbook to operate from across multiple categories. Of particular, pleasant note are the troubleshooting sections where our daring author attempts to scry your future questions as you learn to apply the lessons within. Mistakes will be made, you will have questions, and, with any luck, Wise's will have answers.”

Rob of robinswords

“What we need more of is stuff like this. Derek did this in the hardest possible way, covering all of his weapons while making a great read with lingo, jokes, and fun pot-shots. The material, tactical breakdowns and through-lines he created across three weapons is sleek and so brushed out. The photography and additional supporting lines and graphics are simple, giving just the amount of pop and inference to allow the mind’s eye to picture the motions. Wise’s Historical Fencing, in short, lays out the stuff it took us years of mask time to figure out, and I hear it in Derek’s voice when I read it.”

Connor Kemp-Cowell, Head Instructor of Caledonian Sword Guild

“Dr. Wise has written an extraordinary treatise, producing an invaluable resource for historical fencing practitioners - highly accessible
to the novice and extremely insightful for the experienced fencer looking to refine their training. Dr. Wises’ scholarship and high level of expertise show clearly in his work; his wit and humor make for a delightfully engaging read and his dedication to the art of fencing is inspiring. It is clear that such a work was a labor of love, the result of countless hours sweating in the training hall, years of academic study and a remarkable degree of competitive success. If you are a fencer who loves the breadth of the historical sources but is also equally driven to put it into practice and excel competitively, this work is for you. I will be recommending Wise’s Historical Fencing to all of my students as a must-read! It will surely be an invaluable resource for the HEMA community for years to come.”

Alexander Brindley, Head Instructor of Nashville Historical Fencing

"A brilliant modern resource for anyone looking to develop their understanding of HEMA. Accessible to all readers with a fantastic structure and great insights."

Patrick Rance, Unparalleled Competitive Sword and Companion Expert

"When starting out in historical fencing it can often be exciting to dig into the sources and manuals that our art is built from. Unfortunately, for the beginner and intermediate fencer this can be daunting as the texts are dense and sometimes very hard to decipher. Dr. Wise's book offers an entry point written in plain text that anyone at any skill level can benefit
from. Laying out the art in a modern format and easily understood text creates an infinitely useful resource that everyone starting out in historical fencing should read."

Declan Moloney, True Friend

“Wise’s text draws from dozens of seemingly disparate treatises to find common ground and present a unified framework. His approach is a thoughtful contribution to the theory and practice of fencing, providing modern, actionable tactical insights to historical concepts that will be useful for teachers and practitioners alike.”

Maestro David Coblentz, co-author of Fundamentals of Italian Rapier

“A useful book to learn the basics of Historical Fencing, especially for newer clubs. A very interesting and most welcome focus on tempo with some well-made tables to relate conditions with opportunities."

Federico Malagutti