What is a Round Table? with Elizabeth Champion
Elizabeth Champion is an arms and armour historian specialising in high medieval Round Table tournaments and the Merlin legends. She’s also a historical fencer, co-founder of Stratford Swords and an ex-cage fighter. In our conversation we discuss what was a Round Table Tournament. Is it to do with King Arthur, or the arrangement of the […]
Synthetic Armour and Smithing in France, with Anthony Rischard
Anthony Rischard is a blacksmith, historical martial arts practitioner and proprietor of Black Armoury, one of the largest suppliers of historical martial arts gear in Europe. In our conversation we talk about how Anthony gave up his office job to become a full time blacksmith in France, and his move into starting Black Armoury. Have […]
Is there anything Daniel Jaquet can’t do in armour?
Dr. Daniel Jaquet should need no introduction. He has been extremely active in both the academic and practical aspects of medieval combat research for the last couple of decades or more. He has a Ph.D. from Geneva University in medieval history, on combat in armour at the end of the Middle Ages and at the […]
Laser Focus, Thought Control, and Jousting with Sarah Hay
Sarah Hay has been jousting since 2008. Just ten years later she won the Queen’s Jubilee Horn at the Royal Armouries’ Easter jousting tournament in Leeds. In this episode we find out how Sarah’s passion for jousting came about, her background with horses, getting your own armour, and the vital role that mindset plays in […]
How to Make Swords, with Craig Johnson
Craig Johnson is Manager of Arms and Armor, a sword lover’s dream job, as they make a wide variety of items from the Medieval and Renaissance periods to faithfully recreate the look, feel, and function of historic weapons. In this episode, we talk about recreating medieval swords as faithfully as possible, modern fashions in sword […]
Founding Longpoint and Fencing in Armour, with Jake Norwood
Jake Norwood is a highly experienced and widely respected historical martial arts instructor. He co-founded the HEMA Alliance (one of the largest historical martial arts associations), and Longpoint (one of the best-known US historical martial arts events). He has taught and competed internationally. We talked about the founding of Longpoint, creating tournament structures that give […]
Women in Armour, and Translating Latin Fiore, with Kendra Brown
Kendra Brown is a swordswoman, researcher, and translator of the Latin version of Fiore’s Il Fior di Battaglia (known as the Florius manuscript). She has an awesome blog at https://darthkendraresearch.wordpress.com/ In this wide ranging conversation we discuss the perils and pitfalls of translation, women in combat in medieval times, and even what a very pregnant […]
Being an armourer in Chile, with Tomas Suazo
My guest this week is Tomas Suazo, a historical fencer and armourer from Chile. I first met Tomas when he came to train with me in Finland in 2014. He did a Grand Tour of European historical fencing clubs, before returning home to run his own. He’s a professional maker of protective equipment for HMA, […]