An Abridgment of the New Broad Sword Exercise

lklawson

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I've transcribed and republished Pepper's Broadsword manual. It's a free download. If you choose to have a treeware copy, it's sold at cost, no profit. It's available at: http://stores.lulu.com/lawson

Blurb follows:

In 1797, W. Pepper of the Notts Yeomanry Cavalry printed the second edition of his Broad Sword instruction manual.

Carefully transcribed from the original text by Kirk Lawson, this manual is intended to train Cavalry recruits in the basics of the horse mounted Military Saber or "Broad Sword." Instruction begins unmounted with details of the basic guards and cuts and ends with detailed cut and parry drills to be directed by the Fleugelman.

Pepper provisioned his Saber manual with seven line drawing illustrations, providing both internal decoration and visual instruction. These illustrations, restored with digital precision by Kirk Lawson, offer a treasured window into the exciting history of this historic Western Martial Art.

While you're there, you might also be interested in the Gatka manual also transcribed and republished. If you haven't heard of it, it's kind of like the Indian version of Singlestick or Kendo.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
 

Sukerkin

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Many thanks for that Kirk. I've downloaded the pdf and will have a look at it later (DIY beckons this sunny Sunday :D).

I know you say that the 'treeware' version (great phrase) is at cost but would you prefer us to actually buy one of those rather than stick with the pdf? The reason I ask is I assume you have some stocks pre-printed and these represent a cost you have to recoup.
 
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lklawson

lklawson

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Many thanks for that Kirk. I've downloaded the pdf and will have a look at it later (DIY beckons this sunny Sunday :D).

I know you say that the 'treeware' version (great phrase) is at cost but would you prefer us to actually buy one of those rather than stick with the pdf? The reason I ask is I assume you have some stocks pre-printed and these represent a cost you have to recoup.
My pleasure, really. And, honestly, no for the free antique manuals they're pretty much, for the most part, all at cost with few exceptions. There IS profit being made on the printed antique manuals, but not by me; pretty much just by Lulu (but then again that IS their business so you can't blame 'em).

Lulu is a "Print On Demand" shop so there really aren't any pre-printed stock laying around. You order one and Lulu prints it up individually for you and ships it off.

The biggest reason to have a treeware copy (thanks. :) is because it's nicer to read and most of us get a pleasant visceral experience with actual substance for a book in our hands and on our bookshelves.

Now, there currently are two offerings on my Lulu store which I am trying to make money on. The first I'll mention is the Bartitsu DVD. I don't keep any profits from that, they are all funneled to the Bartitsu Society which is saving funds to purchase a grave marker for E. W. Barton-Wright, founder of Bartitsu and the man most responsible for introducing Japanese martial arts to the West (in London). No, honestly, he really is.

The second is my book, "Banned from Boxing! The forgotten grappling techniques of historic Pugilism." ( http://www.lulu.com/content/1374565 ). It's exactly what it sounds and I really would appreciate folks buying that. I guess here soon I should make a post on "Banned from Boxing" too. But I haven't decided if I should post that in the Boxing forum or here in the WMA forum. It fits both. What do you guys think?

Oddly enough, I'm not giving away the antique manuals as a "hook" to get eyes on the non-free stuff. I know it's common for folks to do that (and more power to 'em I sez!) but it's not how it started with me. I started out with antique manuals which I wanted to share so I republished them on Lulu. Then, later on, when I decided to actually write my own book, it seemed the most natural place to put it. :)

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
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free western martial arts manuals: http://stores.lulu.com/lawson
Cumann Bhata Dayton: http://cbd.atspace.com
 

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