Marc de Arundel

CURRENT PROJECT

My Current project is an examination of the categories of techniques found in Joachim Meyer's 1570 work "Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens" (A Thorough Description of the Art of Fencing). Meyer deals with a multitude of weapons in this book, including longsword, dussack, rappier, dagger and various pole-weapons. Part of what makes this work unique is that Meyer includes descriptions of footwork and drills for a student to practice, as well as tactics and fight psychology. Meyer often references other sections when giving instruction in a particular weapon, ( he might reference rappier lessons in the longsword section for example), leading me to believe that the manual is intended to be read as a whole, and the lessons applied across weapon systems. Because Meyer tackles so many different weapons, with dozens of techniques and "plays" for each weapon, I have been categorizing the types of techniques found across weapons, and am finding that there are essentially a few general categories of techniques, with specific examples given for the various weapons. This makes the work easier to study and grasp, and allows the beauty and utility of Meyer's work to shine through.

Video with example of this project------->

Composite chart of categorized techniques across weapons from "Gerarde Versatzung" position:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17qwWUpAVMh_zsno3u-YRgeVUwZ53fKpZ/view?usp=sharing