"Top Myths of Renaissance Martial Arts" Topic

"The diverse range of misconceptions and erroneous beliefs within historical fencing studies today is considerable. But there are perhaps some myths that are more common, and more pervasive, than others. This webpage presents an ongoing project that will continually try in an informal and condensed manner to help address some of these mistaken beliefs.

Serious investigation and exploration of the legitimate historical sources of actual Renaissance Martial Arts (or "MARE" for short) today is still in its early stages. It is no difficult thing to accept that few today have the opportunity and resources by which to pursue the study of historical fencing, academically and physically, to an exceptional degree of proficiency and certainty. The obvious fact is that most people are not equipped to properly evaluate a great deal of the information and opinions about historical fighting and arms and armor they may encounter, as they lack the physical skills, historical materials, and scholarly experience by which to do so confidently. What would even constitute such expertise in a subject matter long on opinions and short on knowledge is itself open to discussion.

Unfortunately, as with much historical information many claims are often tentative and can neither be verified nor falsified but only weighed according to what evidence has been accumulated. But when it comes to historical close combat reliable evidence is frequently missing or substituted with myth…"
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Amicalement
Armand

"It is no difficult thing to accept that few today have the opportunity and resources"?!?!?!?

We are not talking about the Dark Ages here. Original copies of Silver, Capo Ferro and Joachim Meyer are available. Reproductions are widely available.