Art of the Sword

"Designed by Michael "Tinker" Pearce and made by Paul Chen / Hanwei to Tinker's exacting specifications, this sharp Norman style sword is balanced to optimize cutting ability and authentic handling characteristics. The disctinctive brazil-nut pommel is peened to the full-length tang. The blade is forged from 5160 high carbon steel marquenched to HRc50-52, allowing superior edge retention. The grip has a cord-wrapped wood core covered with leather. The wooden scabbard is covered with leather and has steel fittings. A very light and fast sword with a slender grip for great control. " Leaving aside the technicals I have bought the sharp version of this sword for a deal off the New Zealand version of ebay and then, after being impressed with it, I bought the blunt version also. Pro's Both sharp and blunt versions, they just well designed swords with the closest feel to a historical design for a "mass produced" sword that I've yet handled.

"Whatever this tool in the hand of man will produce depends entirely on the nature of the goals alive in this mankind." - Albert Einstein In my opinion most of the current big debates and antagonisms in the wider HEMA community stem from having ambiguous goals and the fact that many do not understand that the Historical European Martial Arts (plural) are tools that were intended for and can be used for many different purposes. Its easy to see why people get frustrated, they understand (sometimes incoherently) that they are trying to achieve something (let's say, to accurately recreate a practical fighting art from a treatise) and when others also use the same treatise to different ends (cherry pick technique to get better at fighting in modern tournaments) they feel like these other people are trying to deviate them from their One True Goal. In these arguments about the use of HEMA those people who espouse the One True Goal are confusing the means (HEMA) with their