Episode 153

Behind the Scenes at The Sword Guy, with Katie Mackenzie

It’s the 150th(ish) episode! So to mark this momentous occasion we’ve got a guest who can’t think of any reason at all why she would want someone to run at her with a pointy sword. Katie Mackenzie is the organising principle behind the show, as well as an excellent author’s assistant. She is an author herself, of the very approachable, Easy Fitness for Quitters: How to Become a Happy Exerciser. And she wrote these […]

writing, swordschool, podcasting, Self-publishing, social media, protective equipment

Episode 151

Babies, horses, and a secret knife, with Gretchen Settle

Gretchen Settle models, swordfights and makes stuff. She is getting back into training after giving birth to an incredibly adorable young sword person who looks very good with her little sword. We talk about Gretchen’s background with horses and how she came to get into longsword and ringen with Maryland Kunst des Fechtens. Her love of historical martial arts has spilled over into her modelling work, and here is a link to the ‘Blossfechten’ […]

women in HEMA, mounted combat, acting, german swordsmanship, knives, fitness, horsemanship, inclusivity, social media, Lord Baltimore's Challenge

Episode 149

HEMA in Mexico and Inspirational Women

Mariana Lopez is a historical fencer, coach, artist and one of the founders of HEMA in Mexico, 16 years ago. She is also the co-founder of Esfinges, an international network of female historical fencers. In our conversation we talk about how the HEMA scene in Mexico differs from the U.S. or Europe, and what other countries might learn from the Mexican way of doing things. We also talk about Esfinges, and what it was […]

women in HEMA, South America, tournaments, wiktenauer, starting a club, social media, Mexico, Esfinges, Lord Baltimore's Challenge, Scholarships

Episode 139

The Yeti of Chest Protection, with Veronica Young

Veronica Young is an industrial designer, historical martial artist and founder of Cryptid Combat Wear, and she is also currently running a campaign for making a chest protector for women, which will actually fit and allow for movement. Veronica explains how she developed the prototypes, and how she has worked on the sizing to fit the widest range of people. The Indigogo campaign is running until 6th January, and you can support it here: […]

women in HEMA, longsword, equipment, training mindset, german longsword, tournaments, german swordsmanship, sport fencing, weight training, inclusivity, Meyer, social media, protective equipment

Episode 132

Podcasting with the Sword Whisperers (Schwertgeflüster)

Michael Sprenger and Alexander Fürgut are the creators of Schwertgeflüster, a (usually) German-speaking podcast about all things HMA. In this episode Michael and Alexander interview Guy, while Guy also interviews Michael and Alexander a bit too. It’s not as confusing as it sounds. We talk about how Alexander can’t get into the correct position for Fabris’s rapier fencing, which Guy diagnoses as possible tight hamstrings. If you also want to work on lengthening your […]

rapier, training, tournaments, german swordsmanship, liechtenauer, publishing, Fabris, inclusivity, rapier fencing, podcasting, Giganti, Self-publishing, social media

Episode 127

From Katanas to Creating the Metaverse, with Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson is a best-selling author, futurist, tech geek and swordsman whose works include Cryptonomicron, Seveneves, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash. He has also co-written several other books and graphic novels which we discuss in this episode. His latest book, Termination Shock goes into depth and detail about Sikh martial arts, which he had to research during the Covid lockdowns. Of course, Neal’s main claim to fame is that he wrote the preface to […]

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writing, South America, indian weapons, bartitsu, victorian, kendo, George Silver, Paradoxes of Defence, Donald McBane, science, katanas, starting a club, social media, crypto, space, graphic novels

The Sword Guy Podcast

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