The Fencing Bridegroom

Hello sword-and-buckler enthusiasts and fashion victims,

My fellow buckler fighter and researcher Cornelius Berthold was married this past weekend. The occasion provided a splendid opportunity for some early-morning fencing before breakfast—and, notably, for swordplay in suits. The latter was suggested by photographer Jonas Radtke, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the resulting images.

In the meantime, a video of a few passes—kindly recorded by fellow sword fighter Christina—is premiering now on my Patreon. If you’re not a patron, you can still enjoy a 30-second preview showing the first engagement. Patrons can turn on English captions to follow some amusing audience comments in the background. Very 21st century!

If you like what you see and want to learn from us, take a look at our online courses. At the moment, you’ll get 5% off for each wedding I’m attending this summer: Paula & Kay, Karin & Cornelius, Patricia & Benny.

That makes 15% off when you use the code SUMMERWEDDING at checkout. Alternatively, access the courses directly with the discount already applied:

• ​15% off Course 1​
• ​15% off Course 2​

Christina and I also had the honour of presenting Cornelius with a gift from the students of his school Dimicator Schola: a reconstruction of the 12th-century Bamberg scabbard, custom-fitted to his trusty training sword, which until then had only rested in a tattered bag.

I’ve documented the full process of making this scabbard, based on the surviving piece held at the Diocesan Museum in Bamberg, which I had the privilege of examining in 2015. I’ll be sharing every stage of the project with you—including making authentic medieval ink from blackthorn branches for the painted decoration, and a new approach to crafting the braided edge finish at the scabbard mouth.

In the meantime, you can view how I attached the sword belt to my 14th-century Rottenburg-type scabbard in the final part of its making-of series. Patrons can also download the final gallery of 4K beauty shots.

The Martial Art of Papa Machete

I first encountered Haitian Machete Fencing through a short documentary by National Geographic, featuring the late Alfred Avril—Papa Machete—a master of the Haitian art of machete combat. After I shared the film, one of his students, American historian Michael Dylan Rogers, got in touch. Michael is co-author of the recently published book Haitian Machete Fencing: The Avril Family Method.

The book goes far beyond your standard martial arts manual. It offers a vivid and intimate glimpse into a living tradition rooted deeply in Haitian culture, beautifully illustrated through the lush photography of Charles Espey.

For those of us engaged in historical European martial arts, it offers many thought-provoking parallels. The spiritual aspect of training is made tangible—something only vaguely hinted at in the prayers and preambles of some fechtbücher. I found it particularly striking that the method doesn’t include instructions on how to cut effectively with a machete. That skill, as the authors explain, is considered basic knowledge in Haiti—just as European fight books rarely teach fundamental cuts or footwork.

One story stood out to me in particular: a student describes having to empty half a bottle of rum during a training session. When he expressed concern about becoming intoxicated, Master Avril replied that, in the event of a real fight, he would likely be drunk too. It reminded me of close-combat expert Rory Miller, who writes that he never stretches before training—because there’s no time to warm up before a surprise attack either. Instead, he makes daily physical readiness part of his lifestyle.

I also applaud the authors for donating all royalties from the book to the Haitian people through their nonprofit organisation, Cultural Capital Haiti. Get the book here.​

As it happens, a technique developed by Cornelius and Janis at Dimicator Schola for countering strikes to the legs—attacks not covered in MS I.33 but common in modern sparring—found unexpected validation in Haitian machete practice. Cornelius and I are currently preparing our next online course, which will focus on dealing with such unconventional attacks using core concepts from the fight book.

If you want to start training in this direction, we recommend our second course on the fundamental principle of Schutzen—available now at 15% off.

So, that's it for today. Take care, and keep your blade well-honed.

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Yours,

Roland

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