Short Sword according to George Silver
George Silver was an English gentleman swordsman probably born between 1555 and 1560. In 1599 he published a book, Paradoxes of Defence, in which he ranted vehemently against the spread of the “Italianated” rapier at the expense of traditional English martial arts, the “short sword” and the “short staff”. In Paradoxes Silver attempted to explain why (in his opinion) the rapier was an ineffective weapon of self defence by outlining the fundamental principles of the “True Fight” of the English knightly class, and pointing out where the Italian rapier fight broke these principles. His second work, Brief Instructions Upon my Paradoxes of Defence, remained unpublished until 1898, and explained in greater detail the principle techniques of the short sword (with various companion weapons) and the short staff (and related weapons, such as the bill, pike and two-handed sword). See also http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=1051
Although Silver’s favoured weapon was the basket-hilted backsword, first developed in the 16th century, his style of combat was a medieval-style one based on “the old ancient teaching”, dominated by passing footwork (the “pace”) and wide, cleaving blows (the “downright blow”).
This course will introduce students to the principles of Silver’s True Fight, the primary defences from Open, Guardant and Variable fight, and associated grapples and counter-grapples.