Martial arts manuals are instructions, with or without illustrations, specifically designed to be learnt from a book. Many books detailing specific techniques of martial arts are often erroneously called manuals but were written as

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions." Treat ...

s. Prose descriptions of martial arts techniques appear late within the

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

, due to the inherent difficulties of describing a technique rather than just demonstrating it. The earliest extant manuscript on armed combat (as opposed to unarmed wrestling) is Royal Armouries Ms. I.33 ("I.33"), written in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper F ...

around 1300. Not within the scope of this article are books on

military strategy Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek word ''strategos'', the term strategy, when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow se ...

such as

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of '' Th ...

's ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...

'' (before 100 BC) or

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also ...

' '' De Re Militari'' (4th century), or military technology, such as '' De rebus bellicis'' (4th to 5th century).

Predecessors

Some early testimonies of

historical martial arts Although the earliest evidence of martial arts goes back millennia, the true roots are difficult to reconstruct. Inherent patterns of human aggression which inspire practice of mock combat (in particular wrestling) and optimization of serious clo ...

consist of series of images only. The earliest example is a fresco in tomb 15 at Beni Hasan, showing illustrations of

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

techniques dating to the 20th century BCE. Similar depictions of wrestling techniques are found on

Attic vases Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it (over 100,000 painted vases are recorded in the Corpus vasorum antiquorum), it has exe ...

dating to

Classical Greece Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." (Thomas R. Martin ...

. The only known instance of a book from

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations ...

is Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 466 from the 2nd century CE, detailing

Greek wrestling Greek wrestling ( grc-gre, πάλη, pálē), also known as Ancient Greek wrestling and Palé, was the most popular organized sport in Ancient Greece. A point was scored when one player touched the ground with his back, hip or shoulder, or conced ...

techniques. There are some examples in the

Chinese classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...

that may predate the turn of the

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...

: the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

'' by Sima Qian (c. 100 BCE) documents

, referring to earlier how-to manuals" of the

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

(2nd century BCE), which have however not survived. An extant Chinese text on wrestling is "Six Chapters of Hand Fighting" included in the 1st-century CE ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. ...

''. All other extant manuals date to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

or later. The "combat stele" at

Shaolin Monastery Shaolin Monastery (少林寺 ''Shàolínsì''), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a renowned monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak of the So ...

dates to 728 CE. The earliest text detailing

Indian martial arts Indian martial arts refers to the fighting systems of the Indian subcontinent. A variety of terms are used for the English phrases “Indian martial arts”, deriving from ancient sources. While they may seem to imply specific disciplines (e.g. ...

is the ''

Agni Purana The ''Agni Purana'', ( sa, अग्नि पुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. The text is variously classified as a Purana related to Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism, but also c ...

'' (c. 8th century), which contains several chapters giving descriptions and instructions on fighting techniques. It described how to improve a warrior's individual prowess and kill enemies using various methods in warfare whether they went to war in chariots, horses,

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

s or on foot. Foot methods were subdivided into armed combat and unarmed combat.J. R. Svinth (2002)
A Chronological History of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports.
''Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences''. The former included the bow and

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ...

, the sword,

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

, noose, armour, iron dart, club,

battle axe A battle axe (also battle-axe, battle ax, or battle-ax) is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-h ...

chakram Chakram ( sa, , script=latn; pa, , script=latn) is a throwing weapon from the Indian subcontinent. One of its major purposes is to protect the turban and the head from sword/melee attacks. It is circular with a sharpened outer edge and a diamet ...

and

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

. The latter included wrestling, knee strikes, punching and kicking methods. The oldest extant European martial arts manual is Royal Armouries Ms. I.33 (c. 1300). "Illustrations only" manuals do not become extinct with the appearance of prose instructions, but rather exist alongside these, e.g. in the form of the Late Medieval German

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

Historical European martial arts

German Fechtbücher

(plural ) is

Early New High German Early New High German (ENHG) is a term for the period in the history of the German language generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650. The term is the standard translation of the German (Fnhd., Frnhd.), introduce ...

for 'combat manual', one of the manuscripts or printed books of the late

and the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

containing descriptions of a martial art. Usually, the term is taken to include 15th- and 16th-century German manuals, but the nature of the subject matter does not allow a clear separation of these from treatises from other parts of Europe on one hand (particularly from the Italian and French schools), and from manuals of later centuries on the other hand. A list of include: *Royal Armouries Ms. I.33 ("Walpurgis Manuscript") (c. 1300, predating Johannes Liechtenauer) *

Nürnberger Handschrift GNM 3227a Codex 3227a of the in Nuremberg (also known as ''Hs. 3227a'', ''GNM 3227a'', ) is a manuscript of 169 folia, dated to the close of the 14th century. Its text is written in Latin and German. The German portions have been identified as in East C ...

(c. 1389) *Fechtbuch of Sigmund Ringeck (1440s) *

Codex Vindobonensis B 11093 The Codex Vindobonensis B 11093 (Code of the Austrian National Library at Vienna) is an anonymous fechtbuch of 46 pages of drawn illustrations only, with no text, dating to the mid 15th century, probably created in southern Germany. It has been grou ...

, kept in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and " Gladiatoria", discovered in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, both dating to the mid-15th century and largely uninfluenced by Liechtenauer. * of

Hans Talhoffer Hans Talhoffer (Dalhover, Talhouer, Thalhoffer, Talhofer; – after 1482) was a German fencing master. His martial lineage is unknown, but his writings make it clear that he had some connection to the tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer, the ...

(several surviving manuscripts dating from 1443–1467). * of Peter von Danzig, Cod. 44 A 8, 1452 *Jud Lew Cod.I.6.4°.3 (1450s),

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...

* of Paulus Kal (1460s) *

Cgm 558 The Cgm 558, or ''Codex germanicus monacensis'' is a convolution of two 15th-century manuscripts with a total of 176 folia, bound together in the 16th century. It is kept at the Bavarian library in Munich. The first manuscript contains two chroni ...

, a Swiss treatise of the later 15th century only loosely related to the German school. *

Codex Wallerstein The so-called Codex Wallerstein or ''Vonn Baumanns Fechtbuch'' (Oettingen-Wallerstein Cod. I.6.4o.2, Augsburg University library) is a 16th-century convolution of three 15th-century fechtbuch manuscripts, with a total of 221 pages. The inside ...

(), 1470s,

*Solothurner Fechtbuch, no text, dependent on Paulus Kal, 1470s,

Solothurn , neighboring_municipalities = Bellach, Biberist, Feldbrunnen-Sankt Niklaus, Langendorf, Rüttenen, Zuchwil , twintowns = Heilbronn (Germany), Kraków (Poland), Le Landeron (Switzerland) Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; ...

Johannes Lecküchner Johannes Lecküchner (c. 1430s – 1482) was a 15th-century priest and fencer of the area of Nuremberg. He was inscribed at the University of Leipzig in 1455 and receives the title of '' bacalaureus'' in 1457. He was ordained acolyte in 1459, and ...

Cod. Pal. Germ. 430,

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

(1478), Cgm. 582,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(1482) *Cod. Guelf. 78.2, ''Herzog August Bibliothek''

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

(late 15th century) * Peter Falkner P 5012, ''Kunsthistorisches Museum'',

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Hans Folz Hans Folz ( 1437 – January 1513) was a German author of the late medieval or early Renaissance period. Folz was born in Worms. He was made a citizen of the city of Nuremberg, Germany in 1459 and master barber of the city in 1486. Folz was a r ...

Q566 (c. 1480),

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...

* Hans von Speyer (MS M I 29) (1491) *

MS 862 MS 862 is the number in the nineteenth-century Donaueschingen catalogue of a South German fechtbuch dating to ca. 1500. It is influenced by Paulus Kal and Peter Falkner, and was in turn drawn upon by Jorg Wilhalm (1520s). The manuscript was up fo ...

, c. 1500, influenced by Kal and Falkner, drawn upon by Wilhalm. * Glasgow Fechtbuch (1505) *Hans Wurm, grappling, (c. 1505) *"Goliath (manuscript)" (1510s) * Albrecht Dürer's fechtbuch HS. 26-232 (1512),

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

* Andre Pauernfeindt, ,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, 1516 *

Cologne Fechtbuch The Cologne ''Fechtbuch'' (''Kölner Fechtbuch'') is a historical martial arts manual, formerly kept at the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne (Best. 7020, 150; formerly W* 8 150, still earlier W. IX 16, from the collection of Ferdinand Fran ...

, anonymous (early 16th century) * by

Jörg Wilhalm Jörg Wilhalm was an early 16th-century German people, German Historical European martial arts, fencing master, hatmaker, and citizen of Augsburg. There are six fechtbuchs attributed to Wilhalm: * 1522 Cod.I.6.4°.5, 47 folia, Augsburg University ...

(1520s) *Egenolph: , anonymous, printed by

Christian Egenolff Christian Egenolff or Egenolph (26 July 1502 – 9 February 1555), also known as Christian Egenolff, the Elder, was the first important printer and publisher operating from Frankfurt-am-Main, and best known for his ''Kräuterbuch'' and re-iss ...

, 1529,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

. This is largely derived from Pauernfeindt's 1516 manual. *Hans Czynner MS. 963 (1538),

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popu ...

*the compendia of

Paulus Hector Mair Paulus Hector Mair (1517–1579) was a German civil servant fencing master from Augsburg. He collected Fechtbücher and undertook to compile all knowledge of the art of fencing in a compendium surpassing all earlier books. For this, he engaged th ...

(1540s). *

(1558) (this is a reprint from the , printed by Egenolph). * Joachim Meyer "" (1570) *Gunterrodt: "" (1579),

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...

*Codex Guelf. 83.4 (c. 1591) * Jakob Sutor von Baden (1612) * Hanko Döbringer, Cod.ms.3227a (1389)

Italian treatises

The

Italian school The Italian School refers to several different Italian schools of thought, including: * Italian School (art) * Italian School (philosophy) *Italian school of algebraic geometry *Italian school of swordsmanship *Italian school of criminology The ...

is attested in an early manual of 1410, at which time it is not yet clearly separable from the German school. Indeed, the author

Fiore dei Liberi Fiore Furlano de Cividale d'Austria, delli Liberi da Premariacco (Fiore dei Liberi, Fiore Furlano, Fiore de Cividale d'Austria; born ca. 1350; died after 1409) was a late 14th century knight, diplomat, and itinerant fencing master. He is the ear ...

states that he has learned much of his art from one "Master Johannes of Swabia". The heyday of the Italian school comes in the 16th century, with the

Dardi school Bolognese Swordsmanship, also sometimes known as the Dardi school, is a tradition within the Italian school of swordsmanship which is based on the surviving fencing treatises published by several 16th century fencing masters of Bologna, As early as ...

. *

's '' Flos Duellatorum'' (1410) *Filippo Vadi's '' De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi'' (1485) *

Pietro Monte Pietro Monte (''Pietro del Monte, Pietro Monti'', Latinized ''Petrus Montius''; 1457–1509Fontaine 1991.) was a master of arms who lived in Milan in the late 15th century. He may have been either Spanish or Italian by birth. He was acquainted ...

(1509) *Anonimo Bolognese M-345/6 (c. 1510s) * Antonio Manciolino (1531) * Achille Marozzo (1536) *

Camillo Agrippa Camillo Agrippa (died 1 January 1600) was a noted fencer, architect, engineer and mathematician of the Renaissance. He is considered to be one of the greatest fencing theorists of all time. Biography Though born in Milan, Agrippa lived and wor ...

, ''Trattato di Scienza d'Arme'' (1568) *

Giacomo di Grassi Giacomo is an Italian name. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob. People * Giacomo (name), including a list of people with the name Other uses * Giacomo (horse) Giacomo (foaled February 16, 2002 in Kentucky) is a champion American ...

, ''His True Art of Defense'' (1594) * Vincentio Saviolo, ''His Practice'' (1595) * Salvator Fabris (1606) * Ridolfo Capo Ferro (1610) * Francesco Alfieri, ''La Scherma'' (1640) *

Giuseppe Colombani Giuseppe Colombani is known as ''l'Alfier lombardo'' (the Pride of Lombardy. It's unrelated to Francesco Alfieri - the Italian word l'Alfier(e) means "the standard bearer".) He wrote a treatise on martial arts, published in 1711. It is the latest k ...

(1711)

French manuals

Similar to the situation in Italy, there is one early manual (c. 1400, dealing with the pollaxe exclusively), and later treatises set in only after a gap of more than a century. *'' Le jeu de la hache'' (c. 1400) *Andre Pauernfeindt, (1528)—This is a French translation of Pauernfeindt's 1516 work. One notable difference between it and the original is that the "noble science" print has colored images, unlike the German. *

Henry de Sainct-Didier The known history of fencing in France begins in the 16th century, with the adoption of Italian styles of fencing. There are medieval predecessors, such as the Burgundian '' Le jeu de la hache'' ("The Play of the Axe") of ca. 1400, but the hist ...

, (1573) *

Gérard Thibault d'Anvers Gérard (or Girard) Thibault of Antwerp (ca. 1574–1627) was a fencing master and writer of the 1628 rapier manual ''Academie de l'Espée''. Thibault was from the Southern Netherlands which is today Belgium. His manual is one of the most detailed ...

, (1623) *Monsieur L'Abbat, ''The Art of Fencing, or, the Use of the Small Sword'' (1734)

British manuals

;England Apart from three rather opaque texts of the later 15th century, the native English tradition of fencing manuals begins with George Silver's '' Paradoxes of Defense'' (1599). * Harliean Manuscript 3542 (''The Man Who Wol''), late 14th–early 15th century *

Cotton Titus This is an incomplete list of some of the manuscripts from the Cotton library that today form the Cotton collection of the British Library. Some manuscripts were destroyed or damaged in a fire at Ashburnham House in 1731, and a few are kept in oth ...

, 15th-century English greatsword and

staff Staff may refer to: Pole * Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting ** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon * Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position * Staff (railway signalling), a token authorizing a locomotive driver to use a particula ...

*Additional Manuscript 39564, 15th century * George Silver, '' Paradoxes of Defense'' (1599) * Joseph Swetnam, ''Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence'' (1612) *Sir William Johnstone Hope, several books (1690s) *Captain John Godfrey, ''A Treatise Upon the Useful Science of Defence, Connecting the Small and Back-Sword'' (1747) *

John Musgrave Waite John Musgrave Waite (c. 1820 – 13 September 1884) was a Victorian fencing master (sabre, singlestick, small-sword, foil), non-commissioned officer in the 2nd Life Guards. "A master who had a considerable following between about 1865 and 1880 w ...

, ''Lessons in

sabre A sabre (French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as the ...

, singlestick, sabre & bayonet, and sword feats'' (1880) *

Alfred Hutton Alfred Hutton FSA (10 March 1839 – 18 December 1910) was a Victorian officer of the King's Dragoon Guards, writer, antiquarian, and swordsman. He originated the first English revival of historical fencing, together with his colleagues Egerto ...

, ''Cold Steel, A Practical Treatise on the Sabre'' (1889), ''Old Sword-Play'' (1892) ;Scotland Scottish manuals detailing the use of the basket-hilted Scottish broadsword, besides other disciplines such as the smallsword and spadroon, were published throughout the 18th century, with early and late examples dating to the late 17th and early 19th centuries, respectively: * Sir William Hope, ''The Scots Fencing Master (the Complete Smallswordsman)'' (1687) * Sir William Hope, ''Advice to his Scholar from the Fencing Master'' (1692) * Sir William Hope, ''Complete Fencing Master'' (1691–1692) * Sir William Hope, ''The Swordsman's Vade-Mecum'' (1692) * Sir William Hope, ''New Short and Easy Method of Fencing'' (1st edition, 1707)Highland Swordsmanship: Techniques of the Scottish Sword Masters, by Mark Rector (editor) and Paul Wagner (editor), Published by

The Chivalry Bookshelf Brian R. Price is an American university professor, historical fencing instructor, and member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. He taught at Hawai'i Pacific University, (where he offered courses in the history of warfare, in counterinsurgen ...

(Nov 15, 2001) * Sir William Hope, ''New Short and Easy Method of Fencing'' (2nd edition, 1714) * Sir William Hope, ''A Few Observations upon the Fighting for Prizes in the Bear Gardens'' (1715) * Sir William Hope, ''A Vindication of the True Art of Self-Defence'' (1724) * Donald McBane, ''Expert Swords-man's Companion'' (1728) * Captain James Miller, ''A treatise on backsword, sword,

buckler A buckler (French ''bouclier'' 'shield', from Old French ''bocle, boucle'' ' boss') is a small shield, up to 45 cm (up to 18 in) in diameter, gripped in the fist with a central handle behind the boss. While being used in Europe since an ...

, sword and

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

, sword and great gauntlet, falchon,

quarterstaff A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period. The term is generally accepted to refer t ...

'' (1737) * Thomas Page, ''The Use of the Broad Sword'' (1746) * Captain G. Sinclair, ''Anti-Pugilism – Anonymous'' (1790)Highland Broadsword:Five Manuals of Scottish Regimental Swordsmanship, by Paul Wagner (editor) and Mark Rector (editor), Published by The Chivalry Bookshelf (July 2004) * Captain G. Sinclair, ''Cudgel Playing Modernized and Improved; or, The Science of Defence, Exemplified in a Few Short and Easy Lessons, for the Practice of the Broad Sword or Single Stick, on Foot'' * Archibald MacGregor, ''Lecture on the Art of Defence'' (1791) * Thomas Rowlandson, ''The Guards of the Highland Broadsword'' (1799) * Henry Angelo and son, ''Hungarian & Highland Broadsword'' (1799) * John Taylor, ''The Art of Defence on Foot with Broadsword and Saber'' (1804) * Thomas Mathewson, ''Fencing Familiarized; or, a New Treatise on the Art of the Scotch Broad Sword'' (1805)

Iberian manuals

There are some manuals containing training advice for the

medieval tournament A tournament, or tourney (from Old French ''torneiement'', ''tornei''), was a chivalrous competition or mock fight in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (12th to 16th centuries), and is one type of hastilude. Tournaments included melee and h ...

and

jousting Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying to strike the opponent ...

, such as the early Portuguese work '' A ensinança de bem cavalgar em toda a sela'' by

Edward of Portugal Edward ( pt, Duarte (; 31 October 1391 – 9 September 1438), also called Edward the King Philosopher (''Duarte o Rei-Filósofo'') or the Eloquent (''o Eloquente''), was the King of Portugal from 1433 until his death. He was born in Viseu, the so ...

(1391–1438), a riding instruction manual that also included martial information. In 1599, the swordmaster Domingo Luis Godinho wrote the ''

Arte de Esgrima Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

'', the only fencing manual that preserved the older "Common" or "Vulgar" system of Spanish fencing, which has its traditions in the Middle Ages. 17th-century Spanish destreza is steeped in the Spanish Baroque noblemen mindset, so it does not contain graphical explanations of the fencing techniques so much as hard-to-understand explanations based on mathematics and philosophical sciences in general. The subsequent difficulty on interpreting the theory and practice of correctly has frequently led to this school of fencing being misunderstood. * Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza, (1582) * Luis Pacheco de Narváez, ''

Libro de las grandezas de la espada (lit. ''Book of the Greatness of the Sword'') is a 16th-century Spanish treatise on fencing written by Don Luis Pacheco de Narváez, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Spanish fencing ('' destreza'') and the disciple of Jerónimo S ...

'' (1600) * Gerard Thibault, (1628) * Luis Pacheco de Narváez, (1632) * Luis Méndez de Carmona Tamariz, (1632) * Luis Diáz de Viedma, (1639) and (1639) * Cristóbal de Cala, (1642) * Diogo Gomes de Figueyredo, (1651) * Miguel Pérez de Mendoza y Quijada, (1675) * Francisco Antonio de Ettenhard y Abarca, (1675) * Álvaro Guerra de la Vega, (1681) * Thomas Luis, (1685) * Nicolás Tamariz, (1696) * Manuel Cruzado y Peralta, (1702) * Francisco Lórenz de Rada, (1705) * Nicolás Rodrigo Noveli, (1731) * Manuel Antonio de Brea, (1805) * Jaime Mereló y Casademunt, (1862)

Historical Asian martial arts

Some texts on unarmed combat survive from Han China (c. 1st century). A list of wrestling techniques is contained in the ''Malla Purana'' of 13th-century

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

, India. The Chinese ''

Jixiao Xinshu The ''Jixiao Xinshu'' () or ''New Treatise on Military Efficiency'' is a military manual written during the 1560s and 1580s by the Ming dynasty general Qi Jiguang. Its primary significance is in advocating for a combined arms approach to ...

'' dates to the 1560s. The Korean ''

Muyejebo The ''Muyejebo'' (''Compendium of Several Martial Arts'') is the oldest extant Korean martial arts manual, written during the reign of King Seonjo (d. 1608). The king died before the compendium was complete, and it was first published, with ...

'' dates to 1598, the ''

Muyedobotongji Commissioned in 1790 by King Jeongjo (r. 1740–1810), the ''Muyedobotongji'' (or ''Muye Dobo Tong Ji''; translating to "Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts") expanded on the eighteen weapons systems identified in the ''Muyeshinbo' ...

'' dates to 1790. The Japanese '' The Book of Five Rings'' dates to 1645.

References

External links

Wiktenauer: A Wiki database dedicated to the masters, manuals, and techniques of Historical European Martial Arts
hosted by the HEMA Alliance
THE ARMARIUM: Online Historical Fencing Manuals & Texts of the Doctrina Armorum
by The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA)
Online Library of Historical Fencing Treatises
hosted by th
Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts
(AEMMA)

hosted by th
Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts
(AEMMA)
Destreza Translation & Research Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martial Arts Manual *

Predecessors

Historical European martial arts

German Fechtbücher

Italian treatises

French manuals

British manuals

Iberian manuals

Historical Asian martial arts

See also

References

External links