The Art of Combat: A German Martial Arts Treatise of 1570

Description

First published in 1570, Joachim Meyer’s The Art of Combat is without doubt one of the most important texts in the wealthy corpus of German martial arts treatises of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Meyer is unique in offering full recommendations on how one can train for more than a few weapons forms. He divides his book into five parts by weapon types: longsword; dussack (a practice weapon analogous to a sabre); rapier; dagger; and group of workers weapons. For every weapon, Meyer lays out the principles of its use and the vocabulary of techniques, and then describes a range of specific ‘devices’, attack combinations to be used in combat. This rational approach, along side Meyer’s famous and profuse woodcut illustrations, make this a an important source for understanding the history and techniques of medieval and Renaissance martial arts. In the first ever English translation of this important work, Jeffrey Forgeng has sought to toughen accessibility of the text. His Introduction is the first substantial account to be published in English of the German Fechtbuch corpus, and the Glossary likewise is the first of its kind to be published in English.
Hardcover
The glossary is the first of its kind to be published in English.
First published in 1570 by Joachim Meyer
First English translation, by Jeffrey Forgeng