Discover the world of swords, armor, and history. In each episode, host Gabriele Culot sits down with passionate individuals from various walks of life who share a passion for swords, stories, and military history.
From dedicated collectors and renowned academics to skilled HEMA practitioners and master swordsmiths, people approach swords for a variety of reasons, and in a variety of different ways. Each new episode explores one of these unique approaches.
Together, we'll explore the craftsmanship, lore, and cultural significance behind weapons of the past, using them as a starting point to get a better understanding of long-gone worlds.
Subscribe to Rapier's Delight on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@Rapiersdelight) for videos about antique swords, sword maintenance, and other history topics.
Ep.12 - Medieval Single-Edged Swords: A Conversation With James G. Elmslie
James G. Elmslie discusses medieval single-edged swords like falchions and messers with Gabriele Culot, exploring their categorization and increasing prominence due to HEMA in this interview.
26 Jun 2025
Ep.11: The Evolution of Chinese Swords and Weapons: A Historical Journey - With Keith Seeley
Historian Keith Seeley explores the evolution of Chinese swords and weapons, specifically the yaodao, with host Gabriele Culot, revealing the rich history of Chinese martial arts in this interview.
3 Jun 2025
Ep 10: How Details in Antique Swords Can Influence Modern Sword Fighting - With Roland Warzecha (Dimicator)
Historical swordsmanship expert Roland Warzecha discusses how studying antique swords reveals details influencing modern sword fighting techniques and understanding of historical combat in this interview episode.
29 May 2025
Ep 9: Damaged Goodies: What Battlefield Damage to Antique Weapons Teaches Us - With James Hester
Curator James Hester and host Gabriele Culot explore battlefield damage on antique weapons, revealing insights for modern Historical European Martial Arts practitioners in this interview.
19 May 2025
Episode 8: Discovering the Unique Swords of Medieval Ireland - With Maxime Chouinard
Maxime started training HEMA and kenjutsu in 2002, and has been teaching since 2009. He now teaches sabre and Irish stick at BAHFF, in Ottawa, Canada. He has taught workshops and seminars in Canada, USA, Ireland, Mexico, France, and Norway, mainly in Antrim Bata and sabre fencing. He also publishes regular articles on his blog Hema misfits on the history and practice of martial arts and antique swords.
In his daily life, Maxime works for Parks Canada, where he supervises the national collection of artifacts. He holds a BA in Archaeology from Laval University, and a Master's in Cultural Heritage from Deakin University, and is trained as a Historical Weapons Supervisor with Parks Canada. He has also worked with several other museums on sword-related projects, including the Musée de l'Armée in Paris.
In today's live stream, host Gabriele Culot and Maxime discuss a topic that is part of Maxime's interest, and a little-known branch of the international sword taxonomy, and historical martial arts: Medieval Irish swords.
So join us as we explore the fields of heather and get to know the Irish Kerns, and their role in the context of medieval politics and warfare.
5 May 2025
Episode 7: History or Sport? The Future of HEMA, With Federico Malagutti
Fererico Malagutti is an Italian HEMA fencer, instructor, and martial artist. With over a decade of experience in swordsmanship, with a special interest in late medieval fencing, Federico is one of the preeminent voices in modern HEMA, sharing his skills and thoughts on YouTube.
In this stream, Federico discusses HEMA and history, the commonalities and differences between sword training in the past and in the present, what these mean for the future of HEMA, and a lot more with host Gabriele Culot.
22 Apr 2025
The Aesthetics of Armoured Fighting: Sparring, Duels, and the Beauty of the Fight, With Dequitem
Dequitem is an armoured fighter who focuses on showcasing non-choreographed fights in his videos.
His goal is to display historical fighting techniques in the context that most closely resembles how they would have been practiced in historical times. This leads to clashes fought at full speed and power in an effort to survive rather than score points.
This approach leads to a better understanding of fighting techniques and learnings that may not be as evident in a more modern sports-like context. In addition to this focus on technique, Dequitem puts a lot of effort into the aesthetics of the background, choosing historically plausible locations and turning sparring and dueling videos into cinematic works of art.
In this live stream, we will discuss all these aspects and learn more about the beauty of armoured combat.
Make sure to follow and support Dequitem on:
YouTube: / @dequitem (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA5S2GCCkv0dlsy5iJDzFIA)-Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user/membersh... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fuser%2Fmembership%3Fu%3D80869366&redir_token=QUFFLUhqay1PTXFMNzJLUlNZbDY3UG9CdHBUU0U0N1pud3xBQ3Jtc0trOUo0dE9PRDUtV1c1Zm9ORVRVd3JGMXdIVnVIQ2UydVVHNXoyZzBpY055THNsZGtiMjJ6MWlycEJMZnRXUktqb216bThnSEQ2aEEwY3ZyUi1nLTJtZGJNLVdQWFlZUUtHam5yRWNHVzZKMVRERUpjVQ&v=HxHmR00okzA) -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dequitem/?h... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fdequitem%2F%3Fhl%3Dha-ng&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbk1fbDF1TjNodG5vVGNvN0xfSjhEcnl3X0lfUXxBQ3Jtc0tuZXJPM2F1MGszVURnVTI1T3VrUUxHT2hhUlVadmRNRGR1bDlVVDRYYW9GaDFKQ0tIVmF5ZkdySnRwcE94aXVCWklQWlNxUXo0S1VYSG1fV3czR25XeERnOEdBLTBwYkxTUjNlT3gxLU9LWFJOM1pHZw&v=HxHmR00okzA)
Website: https://www.hema-deathcorps-unicorns.... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hema-deathcorps-unicorns.jimdosite.com%2F&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbXFyNHp5eHN3dFFPeEx4Ym9YREhtSXlYcmQwUXxBQ3Jtc0trenBacncwaFR5aU12ZWFVNzFKTWl4TDEzZ3pFelhSdDZMa00tSllSaUlUWDRPdkE1T1dXYTdYUFFDT0ZZdzhIc0FRX1ZCRkpJMXFIU2l0Q21MT2FVQ0RITFNhNXY4ZXRqb3lLS2VtdnBGWnVzV1dMYw&v=HxHmR00okzA)
15 Apr 2025
Episode 5: Traditional Sword-Making in Modern-Day Italy: With Giovanni Sartori
Giovanni Sartori is a bladesmith and swordmaker from Bassano del Grappa, in Italy.
His work centers around recreating weapons that are authentic not only in terms of measurements and proportions but also in terms of materials and processes. This holistic approach to swordmaking has led to his work being displayed in several museums, including the Deutsches Klingenmuseum in Solingen.
In today's chat, we will discuss his approach to studying and making swords, and we will dive into the world of Medieval and early modern bladesmithing in Northern Italy.
To learn more about Giovanni and his work, make sure to visit his current project, Fusina Feraro: https://www.fusinaferaro.com/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fusinaferaro.com%2F&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbmpFSWczcEJZYUEzMVhwV01ZTEcyNERyaEQ2d3xBQ3Jtc0trbkRJNHRRWGN4dkthZGQzUmVXVWQxUlhUbjdORG5Odk9LcXltWGM5aVZncG1fUzNnQVVuNDFOU3lWRDlXSmJVWkZwLWZsdDJhRFRUOXRfVHZ0a3Nfd1lwWWt5Z1VwLVlHdlUzSHFPbERzQ3NpS0VYNA&v=4heLPFFaLaU)
2 Apr 2025
Episode 4: When Art and History Come Together - The Swords of Eric Estlund, of Winter Cutlery
Eric Estlund is a custom bike maker turned swordsmith. He focuses on crafting high-end swords (and knives), basing his work on extant examples of antique swords while ensuring he also imbues his work with his own creative vision.
With an educational background in art and an interest in fencing, that comes as no surprise.
In today's episode of The Armoury Roundtable, Eric will talk about his philosophy in swordmaking, how he approaches research, the challenges of adapting objects of the past to the modern world, and much more.
Make sure to check out his work at:
https://www.wintercutlery.com/
And follow him on IG/ FB:
@wintercutlery
2 Apr 2025
Episode 3: Are Historical Swords and Modern Reproductions Comparable? With Julian Ronneberger and Cyrill Hamm
Some sword lovers handle antiques, other handle reproductions, others use them in HEMA training and sparring. But how many have handled authentic antiques and can tell the differences between them and modern reproductions?
This group of lucky people is not huge, but if we narrow our focus down to medieval and renaissance swords, the cohort shrinks further, and there are not many who can claim to have first hand experience with both worlds.
Yet, this experience is incredibly important. How can modern swords be accurate reproductions of originals if the antiques are not available? And how do deviations from the antiques affect modern use? How do they impact HEMA sparring and, perhaps, our understanding of historical fencing?
Can a bad reproduction have a butterfly effect that messes with our understanding of the past?
In today's live stream, we address all these questions and more with two of the lucky few who have the full sword experience.
Julian Ronneberger is a member of the Spadone Project, conducts autonomous research, and is a HEMA trainer based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Learn more about Julian's work with the Spadone Project:
https://thespadoneproject.com/
Cyrill Hamm is a bladesmith and HEMA trainer, also from the Zurich area.
Check out Cyrill's work here:
https://www.messerschmiedehamm.ch/
17 Mar 2025
Episode 2: Sword Measuring, Chinese Swords, and More, With Dlatrex Swords
In the second episode of sword-related conversations on this channel, I talk to Andy from Dlatrex Swords.
Andy is a well-respected figure in the sword community and is involved in many of its aspects, from researching historical accounts of sword use to measuring sword metrics and charting them. Make sure to follow him at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkgmqo6KbzdA4jAuQlSuF3w
Here are the links to the topics we mentioned in the video, at least the ones I can remember...
r/swords subreddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/SWORDS/
Swords Discord server
https://discord.gg/DJC9paGZ
Bronze Age Swords YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@BronzeAgeSwords
Weapons Dynamics computer
https://subcaelo.net/ensis/dynamics-computer/
17 Mar 2025
Episode 1: Discovering giant swords with Niccolò M. Menozzi of "The Spadone Project"
Niccolò M. Menozzi is the founder and coordinator of the Spadone Project. This research endeavor aims to better understand one of the most iconic weapons of the 16th Century: The Spadone (or Montante, or Zweihander).
In the past years, Niccolò and his team have been busy researching and stuying documents, iconography, and extant examples of these iconic swords, of which much is still not well known.
Join the conversation and learn more about the spadone, and about The Spadone Project.
Who has been a guest on The Armoury Roundtable
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James G Elmslie
Keith Seeley
Roland Warzecha
James Hester
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