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Author : Talhoffer Hans
Title : Medieval combat A fifteenth-century illustrated manual of swordfighting and close-quarter combat
Year : 1987

Link download : Talhoffer_Hans_-_Medieval_combat.zip

Foreword. Today the term "martial arts" is usually assumed to be synonymous with "Asian fighting art". This is no surprise since popular media are notorious for misrepresenting medieval fighting. The medieval warrior's craft is often reduced to the myth that combatants merely crudely bludgeoned one another or hacked and slashed savagely. Yet well established, highly sophisticated European fighting systems existed. European "masters of defence" produced hundreds of detailed, well-illustrated technical manuals on their fighting methods, and the people of the Germanic states were especially prolific. Their manuals present to us a portrait of highly developed and innovative European martial arts based on sophisticated, systematic and effective skills. Among the best known of these works is that of Hans Talhoffer. His influential treatise, first produced in 1443, was reproduced many times throughout the century. ...