Rating: 
Summary: A good and necessary work; obviously improved over the first
Review: This book having come out after "Renaissance Swordsmanship", it is obvious that some of the errors in the style of the first were ironed out in this one.However, once again, the only thing keeping me from awarding it five stars is Mr. Clements' apparent tirades against the stage and fantasy crowd; as I've said before, correcting what is incorrect is acceptable AND necessary--attacking the misinformed parties simply for being misinformed is neither acceptable NOR necessary.With that said, The rest of the subject matter in this book deserves every star. It's high time and past time the martial disciplines of the Middle Ages got the credit they deserve, and while the book may not be as all encompassing as the author may have meant it to be,it can be seen as the rallying point for works of its kind to answer the desperate need to exist in the FIRST place. Well worth getting, all things considered. Andy Moynihan Director, Society to Promote Accuracy in the Teaching of Historical Arms(SPATHA)
Rating: 
Summary: Useful Resource
Review: As a person new to the western arts, I found this book to be incredibly useful. I feel that this book has given me just about everything I need to begin a more serious approach to training with both long-sword and sword and shield. Those who would seek to become students in western arts would do very well to pick up this book. Not only has it increased my knowledge of western arts, it also peaked my interest to an insurmountable level. This is definately THE book for beginners.
Rating: 
Summary: It's pretty good, would be better without all the knocking!
Review: This is one of those "love it or hate it" books depending on how much of John Clements' style you can take. I really like the idea of a martial art based on medeival sword fighting, but Mr. Clements does waste a lot of time knocking other people. I think he is just so into what he's doing that he thinks everyone else is trying to do the same thing and getting it wrong. However, fantasy game players are not trying to do martial arts, they are just having fun! Evereyone knows that movie actors aren't really fighting, they are just acting! Parts of this book do came across like advertising for HACA, but that's fair enough. The pictures are good and there is a lot of information in this book that was new to me. I just wish he had stuck to the point. This book is not very organised and contains too much knocking!!
Rating: 
Summary: Another self-promotion for the gullible
Review: Let's make this one brief. I bought this book along with a few others because I was following a heated discussion on a sword forum between Clements and another fencing writer. After going through Medival Swordsmanship page by page, I think this is the most self-serving book ever written. The author has little to no grasp at all of the medival sources and his history looks and reads like it was clipped from a supermarket encyclopedia. I won't comment on the endless silly rants on everything not in lockstep with the writer's views. The whole purpose of the book seems to be drumming up business for himself and squeezing profits out of gullible fencers for the publisher. Buy it only if you feel you must to complete your set of worthless overpriced paperback martial arts books. If you're looking for genuine history: Pass.
Rating:
Summary: I just can't enjoy this book as much as I could have.
Review: After reading all the reviews on this particular book I decided to buy it. After the first couple of pages I got the feeling that Mr Clements was full of himself and buy the end I was sure of it. As most I am sure, I was first introduced to sword's via the movies when I was young and even at that young age I knew it wasn't real. Mr Clement's seems to concentrate to much on pointing out the obvious. What you see in the movies is fake and the actors OBVIOUSLY aren't trying to kill one anouther. The book far to much concentrates on degrading and blatently insulting any and all asunder that do not conform to his veiw on swordmanship. The final straw for me was the attack he made on the great fantasy artists Boris and Frazetta. They paint picture's for crying out loud and it's fantasy painting! Of course it's not real Mr. Clements! People that engage in fantasy combat aren't trying to kill one anouther or worry about how authentic there costume's are. They are having fun and that's what they want to do. I have met these kind of people and they don't take thensevles seriously because they just want to enjoy their past time and have fun. This particular book has very little substance to it and often it's instruction is rudely interupted by the auther digressing to attack some form or method he doesn't agree with. I am an enthusiast that has been studying authentic sword play for many year's and I enjoy watching Conan and Xena and read many fantasy novel's and enjoy the art that adorn's its cover's. This book, at the core of it, is a way for Mr Clements to endorse his own method of sword practice as "The only way". Paladin Press did not do their editing job at all with this book so I did my own and took a black texter to the ranting's of the author and ended up with a much smaller and better book. I suggest you do the same.
Rating:
Summary: If you don't want the opinions, stop reading at page 270.
Review: I became interested in fencing a few months ago. After reading some literature on the subject, it became clear that sport fencing is a few steps removed from swordplay. Participants must skip up and down a narrow lane and flick their flexible blades at each other in an attempt to depress an electric button. I want to learn how to use a sword, not a fencing foil. Several trips to libraries (university and public) bore little fruit. I did, however, find copy of John Silver's work (which is 400 years old). I enjoyed reading it, but gleaning techniques from unfamiliar Elizabethan terms proved too much for my poor little brain. Enter "Medieval Swordsmanship" by John Clements. The author spends fully 270 pages discussing the history, characteristics, and proper use of swords. The illustrations are excellent. Simple figures demonstrate Mr. Clement's techniques clearly and effectively. They are as instructive as 2D pictures can be. Most important, the methods outlined in the work are drawn from REAL fighting manuals, written by masters who practiced their art 500 years ago. Pages 271-324 contain the author's "rants" about modern swordsmanship. Mr. Clements feels that the sort of swordplay found in live action role play groups and historical reenacting societies does not reflect how medieval warriors actually fought. He makes some good points, but take it or leave it as you choose. If you rip this section out you still have 270 pages of well-documented instruction on how to fight with swords. A final note to Mr. Clements' critics: write a book! I'd buy it! Research the masters' antique fighting manuals, put them into practice, and publish! To my knowledge, Medieval Swordsmanship is the only book of its kind to be published since "Old Swordplay," written before Teddy Roosevelt was President.
Rating: 
Summary: Good effort, but ...
Review: John Clements' latest work on historical European martial arts is impressive in both scope and ambition. The graphics are excellent, clear and dynamic. Although rather haphazardly organised, the sheer volume of information offers a wealth of inspiration and practical advice, particularly for those experienced enough to "join the dots". BUT - unfortunately, Mr. Clements wastes reams of paper in his oft-repeated critiques of fantasy role-playing combat, SCA fighting, and so-on. Many of these attacks seem petty, and his tactic of repeating and re-stating his case ad nauseam is tiresome to say the least. Hopefully, future editions of this book will drop the flaming and baiting in favour of some good editing, and (one hopes) expanded chapters on unarmed combat, etc.
Rating:
Summary: What a pity ...
Review: I bought this book with high expectations, having been involved in Asian martial arts for over thirty years and in historical European combat for ten. I admire Mr. Clements' obvious passion for his subject, and can only regret that this passion seems to have developed into a kind of zealotry. Medieval Swordsmanship is emphatically not a "How-to" manual, being presented in a haphazard, disorganised fashion. It reads similarly to the "Tao of Jeet Kune Do" - but bear in mind that the "Tao" was compiled from random notes after Bruce Lee's tragic death. Mr. Clements does not have that excuse. As a result, although it is of value to the experienced practitioner (who should be able to piece the various sections together), I could not recommend it for the novice. The attentions of a good editor would have greatly increased this book's value. The greatest flaw in this book is not at the technical, but rather at the ethical level. Mr.Clements emerges as an egotistical, self-proclaimed "bad boy" of historical fencing, a wanna-be Bruce Lee railing against "the establishment". He comes across as a young man trying to make a name for himself, and has, unfortunately, chosen to sling mud at all and sundry in his efforts. His basic approach is to attribute attitudes to his imagined enemies (an extensive list comprising sport fencers, theatrical fight directors, SCA fighters, fantasy role-players, weekend boffer enthusiasts, and so-on) and then spend paragraph after paragraph sledgehammering them into submission. He states and restates, phrases and re-phrases, pours scorn and spits vinegar, until the mature reader quite simply wishes that he would get a life. One can easily foresee this obsessiveness developing into a full-blown messiah/persecution complex. Some of his points along these lines are valid. Some are, quite simply, ludicrous. Many are childishly insulting and undeserved. Few add to the reader's appreciation of Medieval swordplay as a martial art, painting instead a rather sad picture of John Clement's inner life. A pity.
Rating:
Summary: Great resource for fantasy / historical writers
Review: John Clement's has done a wonderful job in this book of explaining the differences in the various weapons, their evolution, and then clearly outlining various fighting techniques. For so many of us, whose ideas of swordplay are formed by bad television/movies and anachronistic role players, this book is a refreshing change. Well researched, the language is clear enough that a novice (like myself) can grasp the basic concepts. The illustrations alone make the book invaluable. A great find for writers of fantasy and historical novels.
Rating:
Summary: The best book on medieval swordsmanship on the market!
Review: John Clements has been training with renaissance and medieval weapons for over 20 years, and is the closest thing to the ancient masters of Europe that can be achieved in this day and age. His expertise and experience is easily evident by reading this book, which covers the medieval sword and shield and the medieval longsword. His precise pictures and comments help the serious student of the sword understand how fighters in medieval Europe used the highly romanticized medieval sword as well as is possible from a book. I especially liked his essays in the appedicies dispelling myths about medieval swordsmanship and the information about the different types of medieval swords, for they were very informative (for example, the often-depicted-as-slow-and-clumsy medieval longsword weighed only 2.5-3.5 lbs. and was really a weapon of great agility and versitility -- i did not know this before reading this book)and made perfect sense. If you are interested in swordsmanship or martial arts at all and are trying to decide whether you should buy this book or not, BUY IT NOW!
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