Title: Polish Saber: The Use of the Polish Saber on Foot in the 17th Century
Author: Richard Marsden
Publisher: Tyrant Industries
Publish Date: 2015
Format: Hardcover with color pictures
Pages: 237
Cover Price: $49.99
I’ve always loved swords. It was that love that got me into the martial arts in the first place. I’ve studied Japanese swordmanship for a while now, and I just started researching and practicing some Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA), mainly because of the swords. That’s why I’ve been meaning to get and read this book. I’ve read and reviewed one of the author’s previous books, had him as a guest on Martial Thoughts Podcast (Episode LXV), and even got the chance to meet him at CombatCon 2019. So I fully suspected this would be a book of good quality and subject. I was not wrong.
Content
As you might expect, this book deals exclusively with the use of the Polish Saber. However, in order to understand its use, you have to place it in time and culture. The first part of the book gives you a historical and geographical perspective on who the Polish were, especially with regards to their swordsmanship. It also describes the circumstances of Polish society in the 17th century, and what the sources of the information are.
It then continues, with beautiful costumed pictures to illustrate the basic strikes and parries taught in Poland at the time. These techniques are used to illustrate the theories of the day, as well as why they use the sword the way they did.
Pros
As this is probably the only English collection on Polish fencing, it is a unique source of information. So at least it has that going for it.
There are two areas that this book really stands out. First, is the background information. Mr. Marsden clearly knows that studying a fighting style from a hoplological perspective requires just that. Perspective. Before reading this book, I had very little knowledge of Poland or its history. However, it is necessary to have that in order to understand the fighting system as a whole. The author does a very good job of giving the historical conditions that gave rise to this unique martial art.
The second part of the book that is worthy of praise is the pictures. The author and his compatriots dress in period garb and go into locals to shoot the pictures. They could have shown the basic stances and cuts in a typical dojo/gym setting, but they went the extra mile, and I appreciate that.
Cons
Although, I appreciate the knowledge gained and represented by this book, in my own personal martial arts journey, I don’t think this book will be very helpful. Even in my studies of Japanese, or German swordsmanship, this book on saber is a different type of martial art. As a book on martial arts, its scope is very narrow…but also very deep.
The price is a bit steep, but it is a high quality book produced through an independent publisher.
Conclusion
When I’m reading a martial arts book, of any kind, there’s a couple of things I’m always looking for. Does this help my martial arts? Does it teach me something I don’t know? If so, is it historical, philosophical, or technical? If its technical, are there really good pictures that I can figure out the techniques being presented? This book hits two of those three benchmarks for me. Although I don’t see myself learning saber (not that I don’t want to), I really enjoyed the brief history lesson on Poland focused through the lens of swordsmanship. I again have to comment on the great pictures. I really think that the pictures alone, with some basic sword knowledge, would be enough for anyone to get started in learning the Polish saber. All that being said, I’m going to give this book 3.5 out of 5 Ninja Stars. I really do like the book, and anyone who is studying saber of any nationality would find it not only enjoyable but also useful.
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