Have Buckler ... Will Swash

Well, it's a photo blog sort of day today. We've been to the Sheffield Fayre at Norfolk Park, well, eventually. I made the mistake of going to Graves Park first of all which is entirely the wrong place and necessitated a five mile round trip out of our way with traffic queues full of angry bald men in stripey red and white shirts going the match at Bramall Lane (see Billy - I do write about football sometimes).

The event was a diverse mix of craft stalls, funfair attractions and lots of living history re-enactment groups camped on site and wandering around between the different arena displays. It was a strange feeling to see British redcoats drilling along side Vikings, and English Civil War pikemen next to their American Civil War counterparts.

The most enjoyable part of the day for me was a display and tutorial by the Society for the Study of Swordsmanship who take their swash buckling very seriously. There was no pulling of blows, off line attacks or theatrical flourishes - this was sword play as it would have been studied in Elizabethan era with proper killing rapiers that, even with blunt edges and foiled ends, required the use of bullet proof vests and heavy duty fencing masks.

The instructor gave a fascinating demonstration of techniques from the use of off hand in parrying, through small buckler shields and the main gauche dagger, to the use of the cape in dirty tricks and the two rapier fighting style. We learnt that the term 'swash buckler' came from the noise made by a rapier knocking against a buckler worn on the hip, and that the students of the Italian style of fencing became known as 'ruffians' for their habit of wearing elaborate frilly ruffed collars.

When they offered a tutorial session for anyone who wished to have a go, how could I resist? I remember some of the techniques from my foil lessons, but I haven't flashed a blade in anger for a long time, so I could soon feel the muscles in my legs complaining. The rapiers that we were using are a lot heavier than anything I had ever used before, but it all felt strangely satisfying as I practiced the lunge and some of the basic defensive positions. I stuck my name on the mailing list, so I may well be giving it another go some time ...

To round the day off, I bought myself a wooden bokken practice sword to play with. En Garde!