Charlotte Bond

Author, Editor and Podcaster

Royal armouries fighting demonstration

So, it seems the hassle of present giving spilled over from Christmas into January and February with a slew of family birthdays. I also became a guest blogger over at Jane and Bex’s Book Blog, reviewing two excellent books: the fantastical “Uprooted” by Naomi Novik and the chilling novel “The Ritual” by Adam Nevill.

I also got invited to be a founder member of a podcast with two fabulous and funny female writers, Megan Leigh and Lucy Hounsom. Our first episode, talking about gender inequality is available from Megan’s website, Pop Verse.

I also cashed in a babysitting token for Hubby to watch Munchkin while I went to two weapons demonstrations at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Before the recession hit, the RA employed weapons masters to give regular talks and demonstrations. Then, disappointingly, they got rid of them on a regular basis, only retaining them for special occasions. So it was with great excitement that I attended two demonstrations at the end of February as part of a special live combat weekend.

First was a short but sweet demonstration of quarter-staff fighting, a recreation of a fight scene from one of the Robin Hood films. Andy Deane played Little John and Andy Balmforth was Robin Hood. You can check out the video I took below.

After the demonstration, I am indebted to both Andy Deane who chatted to me about fighting techniques, and also Andy Balmforth who took me on a tour of the Royal Armouries’ archery section. I can tell you there is nothing quite like being shown the intricacies of the longbow by Robin Hood himself!

And when Robin Hood eventually got dragged away from our in-depth conversation by Little John, I rushed to the tournament gallery in time to see two familiar but unidentified men fighting with long swords. Their demonstration was different in that they staged a fight then broke it down into explanatory sections. Due to my personalised tour, I missed the initial fight but they obligingly recreated it at the end once again, when they’d been through each of the steps slowly. You can see their short talk before the combat, the fight itself and their breakdown in the videos below.

Breakdown of the fight part 1:

Part 2 and the fight itself

Demonstrations and talks like this can prove invaluable if you’re writing military, historical or fantasy pieces. At Fantasy Con in 2014, I attended a panel which involved (among others) Juliet E McKenna and Adrian Tchaikovsky who discussed how practising martial arts in real life really helped with their writing. The Royal Armouries is a treasure trove of research for a writer, and if there’s one near you, I strongly suggest checking it out.


Copyright 2015-2021 Charlotte Bond
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