Sword Fighting: A Manual for Actors and Directors (Applause Books) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)As a regular practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts I am usually the one cringing in the back row of the theatre or movie house, shelling out brutal insults at the lack of historical accuracy and good martial sense that is not seen in the vast majority of films and plays. I also have been working in the film and theatre community as both an actor and fight choreographer- so I understand both sides of the coin.
On the whole the book isn't too bad. It's refreshing to see these guys recognize that there are historical manuals and that they contain the real way to use these weapons. I had a few issues with some of the techniques. Avocation of an edge-to-edge parry (though the majority of them are flat to flat or edge to flat- the proper way, especially with longswords and medieval cutting blades). I really think their sword and buckler should be re-evaluated. Find a copy of MS I:33 and study that. Their interpretation of gripping the smallsword is off from a number of historical documents (see McBane, for instance). One of the bigger things I was surprised to see is that they did not show the use of the empty off hand as a parrying device for rapier and smallsword.
The book itself really does not teach you how to use these weapons. It rather shows you a step by step example of a small fight scene with them. I would really like to see more time spent on the various guards and methods of use. Some are present in the scenes they display, but far, far too many are left out.
I think this is a step in the right direction for anyone interested in pushing for more historical accuracy in film and theater. However I feel this is no where close to what could be done. Lots of room for improvement but not too bad overall.

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Product Description:
SWORD FIGHTING; A MANUAL FOR ACTORS AND DIRECTORS is a comprehensive new work on the art of creating realistic and exciting fight sequences for theatre, film and TV.
This book is the product of thirty years research and experimentation into traditional European martial arts by acclaimed fight director John Waller and his associates, and possibly the most wide-ranging and practical book on stage combat ever published.

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