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madtown fechtschul

Join us for a full weekend of Meyer-style longsword instruction, community, and camaraderie in Madison, WI. The Madtown Fechtschule returns August 30–31, 2025 — open to martial artists of all levels.

Fechtmeister Joachim Meÿer’s Life:a Brief Chronology

Joachim Meÿer, the Freyfechter of Straßburg, (1537–1571) was an influential 16th century Fechtmeister (“fencing master/instructor”) who authored several works on swordplay…..

A Most Interesting Johann (part 1)

Johann returned to Heidelberg for the occasion of his father’s accession. Kasimir since the age….

Dempffen

In Meyer’s 16th century system of fence, Dempffen/ Dempffhau is a vertically descending Oberhau. This cut…

I ran across a neat little article the other day. It was not found by accident, I was keyword searching stuff from my reading of Shaman of Oberstdorf. The good news, upon finishing it I actually remembered to post about it. The article in question, “Witch Trials” by Peter T. Leeson and Jacob W. Russ. […]

04 Brief: Reading Notes

Women and Family Life in Early Modern German Literature is another book on the bedside pile mentioned in the previous update. I picked this one up in hopes of collecting more data about interpersonal interactions of the 16th century. I am always trying to create a more detailed living picture in my mind of the […]

03 Brief: Reading Notes

Last night just before bedding down for the night a little memory sparked briefly. I’ll go back through and add hyperlinks like I always do. I remembered reading an NPR book review some long while back. I remembered it had to do with “The Turnip Princess” a folktale. But a tale spun originally by whom? […]

Schutzhalter

Schutzhalter [ʃʊt͡s ˈhaltɐ] schutz (lit. shoot, 1836, p421)) halter (lit. “to look after, or keep” (Dasypodius 1535, 99v2), ‘keep’, as in housekeeper (Golius, 1579, 211) The term Schutzhalter was often used liken to“schirmer/ ” (guardian) as seen throughout Fortunatus Hueber’s (1686) history of the Franciscans, “Dreyfache von Orden S. Francisci”. For Historical Fencing researchers, […]

02 Brief: Reading Notes

So if I am sharing some of my research readings why not over-share bit? Why not include the books I am also reading? It might just motivate me to write brief reviews on Amazon or the like. So, I guess I’d better list and speak about the current pile of books on the bedside table […]

01 The First Brief Reading Notes

This morning as I finished a cool little article published earlier this year I thought, “I should share this thing with the universe, its good stuff“. At a glance it is an informational piece about a Christian form Asceticism in the Medieval Period. If that is something you might enjoy follow the linked text below. […]