But How Do You Know?

One very common question that comes up with historical fencing research is, "How do you know you're right?" This challenge arises because there are no living traditions and we're all working out of manuals of varying quality and even what's available is limited in scope. Confounding matters are the influences of modern and classical fencing, alongside the emergent adaptations that come with SCA or HEMA practices. How do we know?

On Expectations

Part of an upcoming class on how to have an ethical practice that Master Gawin Kappler and I are teaching will include a point about the necessity to set high expectations. Since I expect this to be a point of contention because of past misapprehensions I have encountered on this topic, I want to be clear about what this entails, and why it matters.