Yet, there has never been a comprehensive volume on the subject of the sword until the publication of this encyclopedia. In its varied guises, the sword has for centuries figured in the world's varied cultures, myths, and politics.
It has also played an important part in the history of theatre and film, and it has been part of literature for as long as there have been books. Today, the art of sword fighting has been incarnated as the dynamic, chess-like sport of fencing. For centuries it was the weapon of choice in settling personal disputes. Historically, the fate of the empires revolved around the sword nations rose and fell based on the power of their swordsmen. Thoughts of this weapon bring to mind images of the Knights of the Round Table, Zorro, the Three Musketeers-the things daydreams are made of. The main question is – which book? There are two under consideration, The Inner Game of Fencing and The Art and Science of Fencing.From the gruff, sword-toting swashbucklers of the Middle Ages to modern adventure epics like The Princess Bride, the aura surrounding the sword is one that is both romantic and pragmatic. Rather than continue to pile on to the mountain of negative commentary on the books out there, I’m going to comb through them to tease out the good and separate it from the bad or unfounded. I’m sure that there is a lot in there that I’ll be objecting to, but there should also be some nuggets of truth in there and areas where we all agree. Over the next few weeks I’m going to do something that most modern competitive fencers wouldn’t – I’m going to read at least one of Nick Evangelista’s books and comment on it, chapter by chapter. One thing to his credit, he does love fencing and wants to promote it. Oftentimes his assertions on what constitutes proper form are variations of the "we’ve always done it that way" arguement. Looking at his writings, there are several areas where he is just out of touch with the fencing world and modern sports science.
Also, at some point, every competitive fencer learns to take Evangelista’s writings with a very large grain of salt. Nearly every fencer has, at some point, read at least part of one of Nick Evangelista’s books on fencing.
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