Welcome to the Hotspur School of Defense!

The Arms of the School

The HSD will largely explore the Western fighting arts of the period 1300 to 1700, with a strong emphasis on the 15th and 16th centuries. Much attention will be given to the arms most commonly employed in the Borders of England and Scotland during this period.

Core Arms

Backsword and basket-hilted broadsword: Beginning in the late 16th century with mortuary hilts, schiavona and other broad bladed single-handed swords featuring half or full baskets to protect the hand. Treatises studied include George Silver's Paradoxes of Defence (1599) and Pallas Armata ("Printed at London by I.D. for John Williams" in 1639), as well as later comparative works.

Longsword: The bastard, spadone or hand-and-a-half sword of the 15th century Italian and German schools. Historical sources will include Fiore dei Liberi's Flos Duellatorum In Armis, Sine Armis, Equester et Pedester (c.1409), Filippo Vadi's Liber de Arte Gladitoria Dimicandi (c.1480s), Hans Talhoffer's Fechtbucher (c.1443-67) and others.

Training Arms

Singlestick: a wholly traditional tool comprising a wooden stave and a wicker or leather basket to protect the hand, will be employed to train beginners in the backsword.

Great-Stick (Bastone): The ancient European form of quarterstaff, albeit codified and simplified from traditional methods by the esteemed Sir Alfred Hutton in the 19th Century. Essentially, this shall be a free-assaulting tool for beginners in this School to build co-ordination, courage and sound martial concepts.

Dusack: The short cleaving sabre from Joachim Meyer and Jakob Sutor (1570 and 1612), will used in this School for developing timing, distance and judgement. Most dusack training will be conducted with wooden blades. Supplementary studies may be undertaken in both the messer and the falchion.

Supplementary Arms

Greatsword: The true two-handed sword of the medieval English/Lowland Scots variety (c.15thC), as well as the larger longswords from the German schools of Meyer and Sutor (c.1600) and the Italian school of Achille Marozzo (1536).

Sidesword: The 'transitional' early rapier or cut-and-thrust sword from the Italian schools of Marozzo (1536) and Giacomo Di Grassi (1570), the French school of Henri Sainct Didier (1573) and others, including left-hand accoutrements such as the dagger, target, cape and buckler.

Medieval broadsword: The single-handed medieval cruciform used on its own or accompanied by left-handed dagger or buckler. Treatises studied will include The Tower Fechtbuch MS I.33 (c.1300) and Fiore dei Liberi (c.1409).

Pollaxe: Taken from the works of dei Liberi, Vadi and Talhoffer (c.15thC).

Lance: Not the horseback kind, but the Italian lanza, meaning spear, and taken from the works of dei Liberi, Vadi and Talhoffer. Also used in conjunction with the longsword and dagger, a-la 15th century judicial combat.

Essential Equipment

Clothing for classes

While there is no universally correct "uniform", scholars are encouraged to wear the following:

White tee-shirt, dark sports trousers and indoor training shoes are the most accommodating, given the wide range of movements employed. Outdoor boots are not considered to be appropriate footwear. The School shall soon be producing its own tee-shirts.
The Marshal of the School recommends open-toed flat sandals with a side buckle, as they allow beginners especially to "feel the floor". Such footwear is usually worn with knee-length fencing socks and breeches. Savate (French Boxing) shoes are also most excellent for fencing purposes.

Historical clothing is acceptable, providing it allows for sufficient movement. Suitable attire would include hose and doublet, or pantaloon-style knee breeches and shirt. Leather trousers in any form are completely forbidden!

Scholars should ideally have the following equipment if they wish to engage in all School training activities:

A 1600N FIE-regulation fencing mask
Regulation white fencing jacket (no other colours please). A plastron is optional
A stout pair of gauntlets

Weapons

Initially, you do not need your own weapon, as training will be conducted with singlestick and great-stick, a quantity of which will be available. Reputable suppliers for all weapons studied at the School can be recommended—ask the Marshal for advice.

All serious students will be expected to invest in their own personalised arms in time.

At NO TIME are sharps allowed to be used for training or in free-fencing, unless specific approval is given by the Marshal of the School.