Browse Items

Single-handed arming sword, cruciform hilt, 32-inch blade. Standard Hundred Years War knight's weapon. I rarely drew mine -- my banner was my weapon. But I trained daily. Balanced for one-handed use with shield or on horseback.

Joan of Arc

🇫🇷

66-inch two-handed claymore, the weapon of the Scottish Highlands. Designed for sweeping cuts that clear a path through armored men. My own claymore was reportedly taller than most men. The reach advantage against sword-and-shield is decisive if you have the strength.

William Wallace

🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🌐

Round targe shield (20 inches, studded leather over wood) and 12-inch dirk dagger. The Highlander's backup weapons. The targe catches the blade, the dirk finishes the work. I will teach you the off-hand techniques that made Highland warriors feared in close quarters.

William Wallace

🇬🇧 🇫🇷 🌐

My school: long sword in one hand, short sword in the other. Most swordsmen use two hands on one blade. I use one hand on each. The long sword attacks, the short sword defends and creates openings. It requires years. We start today. Tip: Do not grip the sword tightly. Hold it like a bird -- firm enough it cannot escape, gentle enough you do not crush it.

Miyamoto Musashi

🇯🇵

Folded steel katana, razor edge, 28-inch blade. For advanced students who have completed bokken training. I lend this only after watching you train. If you grip too tight, swing too wild, or show fear of the blade, it stays in my rack. A sharp sword in unskilled hands is a danger to its owner.

Miyamoto Musashi

🇯🇵

The great Dane axe -- a 5-foot hafted weapon that could split a man from shoulder to hip. No shield when you carry this. Your reach is your defense. The Varangian Guard used these in Constantinople. Weighted training replica, hickory haft.

Ragnar Lothbrok

🇸🇪 🇬🇧

Forged iron tomahawk (throwing and hand combat) and trade knife in leather sheath. The tomahawk is balanced for both throwing and fighting. The trade knife is the everyday tool of the woodlands. I will teach you the standing throw at 15 paces and the fighting grip for close work.

Tecumseh

🇬🇧

How to assess a strategic landscape and create a multi-year plan. Alliance building, resource assessment, timing, and the patience to wait for conditions to ripen. I planned Liu Bei's rise from a homeless refugee to Emperor of Shu Han. Tip: Strategy is not a single move. It is a sequence of moves that each make the next one possible.

Zhuge Liang

🇨🇳

The wooden ox, the repeating crossbow, fire weapons, pontoon bridges. How to solve military problems with engineering. I built transport systems for mountain supply lines that kept Shu Han's armies fed in impossible terrain. Tip: The engineer wins more battles than the swordsman. The swordsman fights the battle. The engineer decides whether there will be one.

Zhuge Liang

🇨🇳

Long tachi sword (blade-down mounting, cavalry style) and tanto short blade. The tachi predates the katana -- designed for mounted combat with a longer, more curved blade. The tanto is the samurai's constant companion, used for everything from combat to seppuku. Proper handling instruction included.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

🇯🇵

Tulwar sword and dhal shield -- the weapons of Maratha cavalry. The tulwar has a distinctive disc pommel that locks the hand in place for powerful cuts. The dhal is a round steel shield, light enough for mounted use. I rode into battle with both, my son strapped to my back. Tip: The sword follows the horse. Learn to ride first, fight second.

Lakshmibai

🇮🇳 🌐 🇬🇧

A replica of the muskets my blacksmiths produced. Hand-forged barrel, wooden stock, flintlock mechanism. Not as refined as a French Gras but it fires, it kills, and it was made by African hands in an African forge. That is the point. Non-firing display replica for education.

Samori Ture

🇫🇷