Christian Tobler's guest appearances

Christian Tobler

Chivalry Today Podcast

Radio Life Channel - Porträt

The Sword Guy Podcast

Tobias Capwell

Jason Kingsley

Steven Muhlberger

Joanna Penn

Katy Bowman

Damon Young

Elizabeth Scott

Tim Parks

Rory Miller

Heather Dale

John Lennox

Sebastien de Castell

Amanda Taylor

Elizabeth Morrison

Sarah Hay

OwlTail

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to https://swordschool.com/podcast/living-the-nobler-dream-with-christian-tobler/  To support the show, come join the Patrons at  https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy Christian Tobler is a chivalric combat instructor and author of many books, including Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship, which launched the study of Liechtenauer in the Anglosphere. He also wrote Fighting with German Longsword, In St. George's Name: an Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts, In Service of the Duke, and many more. Not to mention his latest, which is Lance, Spear, Sword and Messer, a German Medieval Martial Arts Miscellany. In 1979, Christian and Carl Johnson founded one of the earliest historical martial arts organisations, The Order of Selohaar, a mystic order of chivalry, to try to answer the philosopher and polymath John Ruskin’s famous question, “Might we not live a nobler dream than this?”. The order is “dedicated to the preservation of honor, nobility, arcane wisdom, and martial excellence in an age where such traditions and values have generally been forgotten.” In our conversation we talk about getting into historical martial arts back in the 80s and 90s. The episode covers writing, researching, social media, and how to interpret the pictures in medieval manuscripts. We also talk about fighting each other, back in 2006. You can find Christian’s books at Freelance Academy Press, as well as the other usual places.

For transcriptions and more detailed shownotes, please go to <a href="https://swordschool.com/podcast/living-the-nobler-dream-with-christian-tobler/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://swordschool.com/podcast/living-the-nobler-dream-with-christian-tobler/</a> To support the show, come join the Patrons at  <a href="https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/theswordguy</a> Christian Tobler is a chivalric combat instructor and author of many books, including Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship, which launched the study of Liechtenauer in the Anglosphere. He also wrote Fighting with German Longsword, In St. George's Name: an Anthology of Medieval German Fighting Arts, In Service of the Duke, and many more. Not to mention his latest, which is Lance, Spear, Sword and Messer, a German Medieval Martial Arts Miscellany. In 1979, Christian and Carl Johnson founded one of the earliest historical martial arts organisations, <a href="https://www.selohaar.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Order of Selohaar</a>, a mystic order of chivalry, to try to answer the philosopher and polymath John Ruskin’s famous question, “Might we not live a nobler dream than this?”. The order is “dedicated to the preservation of honor, nobility, arcane wisdom, and martial excellence in an age where such traditions and values have generally been forgotten.” In our conversation we talk about getting into historical martial arts back in the 80s and 90s. The episode covers writing, researching, social media, and how to interpret the pictures in medieval manuscripts. We also talk about fighting each other, back in 2006. You can find Christian’s books at <a href="https://www.freelanceacademypress.com/search.aspx?find=tobler&amp;fbclid=IwAR3mIEpbOeVaRNLKjmA4yQoGsgaexJRyr8bo_r8jBjiiYcQpksIoIBPG_RQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Freelance Academy Press</a>, as well as the other usual places.

Living the Nobler Dream, with Christian Tobler

 It seems among the world of medieval history enthusiasts as well as serious students of the historical fighting arts, the New York Metropolitan Museum’s temporary exhibition The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximillian I, has become something of a pilgrimage for the devout – at least to judge from the number of friends and colleagues seen on social media posing for “selfies” in front of the 15th century Helmschmid armor that greets visitors to the gallery.  As we learned from our last episode, a conversation with Wallace Collection curator Toby Capwell, this exhibition was more than three years in the making, it includes some 180 items on loan from museums and collections all over the world, and it isn’t hyperbole to say that it represents a level of experience and scholarship that most of us aren’t likely to see again in our lifetimes. So, as a team of “armor geeks” from Chivalry Today was coordinating an excursion from San Diego to New York to see the gallery, we were delighted to discover that Christian Tobler, a trailblazer in the field of fighting-manual translation and fellow practitioner of the art of the German longsword, was going to be there on the same day. We subsequently made plans to meet Christian at the Met and use the opportunity to spend the day admiring (which is to say “obsessing over”) this extraordinary exhibition together. After a long day of peering through glass at armor and swords, we sat down for coffee and started discussing what we’d seen, and decided that this was a conversation that really needed to be shared with others. Scott Farrell, left, and author Christian Tobler examine pieces of armor on display at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. (See the entire gallery of images from Scott and Christian’s visit by following the link to the Facebook photo album.)Thus, Christian Tobler, author of books like In Service To The Duke and Fighting With the German Longsword joins host Scott Farrell to talk about their shared experience in the Met’s The Last Knight gallery. To see images of Scott and Christian touring the gallery and viewing the items discussed in the podcast episode, visit the photo album on the Chivalry Today Facebook Page.

It seems among the world of medieval history enthusiasts as well as serious students of the historical fighting arts, the New York Metropolitan Museum’s temporary exhibition <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/last-knight-art-armor-ambition-maximilian" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximillian I</a>, has become something of a pilgrimage for the devout – at least to judge from the number of friends and colleagues seen on social media posing for “selfies” in front of the 15th century Helmschmid armor that greets visitors to the gallery. As we learned from our <a href="https://chivalrytoday.com/conversation-with-dr-tobias-capwell/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">last episode</a>, a conversation with Wallace Collection curator Toby Capwell, this exhibition was more than three years in the making, it includes some 180 items on loan from museums and collections all over the world, and it isn’t hyperbole to say that it represents a level of experience and scholarship that most of us aren’t likely to see again in our lifetimes. So, as a team of “armor geeks” from Chivalry Today was coordinating an excursion from San Diego to New York to see the gallery, we were delighted to discover that Christian Tobler, a trailblazer in the field of fighting-manual translation and fellow practitioner of the art of the German longsword, was going to be there on the same day. We subsequently made plans to meet Christian at the Met and use the opportunity to spend the day admiring (which is to say “obsessing over”) this extraordinary exhibition together. After a long day of peering through glass at armor and swords, we sat down for coffee and started discussing what we’d seen, and decided that this was a conversation that really needed to be shared with others. Scott Farrell, left, and author Christian Tobler examine pieces of armor on display at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. (See the entire gallery of images from Scott and Christian’s visit by following the link to the Facebook photo album.) Thus, Christian Tobler, <a href="https://www.freelanceacademypress.com/search.aspx?author-s=christian-henry-tobler" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">author of books like In Service To The Duke and Fighting With the German Longsword</a> joins host Scott Farrell to talk about their shared experience in the Met’s The Last Knight gallery. To see images of Scott and Christian touring the gallery and viewing the items discussed in the podcast episode, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ChivalryToday/photos/?tab=album&amp;album_id=10162809177490092" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">visit the photo album on the Chivalry Today Facebook Page</a>.

Conversation With Christian Tobler

How do the efforts to revive a 500-year-old style of German sword combat help us understand the ideals of chivalry in medieval culture, and its place in the world today? Author and historical researcher Christian Tobler joins us to discuss that question. When Christian Tobler’s book “Fighting With The German Longsword” was published in 2004, it was something of an eye-opener – the practice of truly historically accurate medieval sword work was, even just a decade ago, a relatively academic endeavor. But since that time, the historical European martial arts (HEMA) community has truly blossomed at the grassroots level, and today there are thousands of enthusiasts all over the globe doing their best to revive and interpret the fighting arts of the Late Medieval masters using (as much as possible) historically correct equipment, and (as far as we can recreate them) historically accurate fighting techniques. Of course, like any scholarly endeavor, the practice of these medieval fighting arts has not stood still – not by a long shot. The expanding level of interest and increasing quality of technical interpretation has led Mr. Tobler to create a revised edition of Fighting With The German Longsword, and it’s now available from Freelance Academy Press in both print and electronic editions, much to the delight of HEMA practitioners everywhere. But if we’re going to so much effort to understand and re-ceate the physical aspects of this fighting art – the weapons, protective equipment (or lack thereof), and techniques of attack and defense – what about the mental side? Historical fighting manuals include a great deal of focus, implicitly and explicitly, about the character qualities of someone who seeks to master the knightly art of the longsword, and other dueling and battlefield weaponry. Do we just assume all of that talk about honor, courage, responsibility, and courtesy is just superfluous cultural window dressing? Or do we need to make an effort to incorporate aspects of honor and chivalry if we are to truly approach an understanding of the medieval fighting arts in the 21s century? Mr. Tobler joins host Scott Farrell to talk about his study and practice of the art of medieval swordsmanship, and his own ongoing exploration of the chivalric ideals that stand alongside the practice – both in medieval culture, and in the modern world.

<a href="http://chivalrytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Tobler-Book-1.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-6425 nofollow" target="_blank"></a>How do the efforts to revive a 500-year-old style of German sword combat help us understand the ideals of chivalry in medieval culture, and its place in the world today? Author and historical researcher Christian Tobler joins us to discuss that question. When Christian Tobler’s book “Fighting With The German Longsword” was published in 2004, it was something of an eye-opener – the practice of truly historically accurate medieval sword work was, even just a decade ago, a relatively academic endeavor. But since that time, the <a href="http://www.hemaalliance.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">historical European martial arts (HEMA)</a> community has truly blossomed at the grassroots level, and today there are thousands of enthusiasts all over the globe doing their best to revive and interpret the fighting arts of the Late Medieval masters using (as much as possible) historically correct equipment, and (as far as we can recreate them) historically accurate fighting techniques. Of course, like any scholarly endeavor, the practice of these medieval fighting arts has not stood still – not by a long shot. The expanding level of interest and increasing quality of technical interpretation has led Mr. Tobler to create a revised edition of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-German-Longsword-Christian-Tobler/dp/1937439232/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1450227208&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=fighting+with+the+german+longsword" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Fighting With The German Longsword</a>, and it’s now available from <a href="http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Freelance Academy Press</a> in both print and electronic editions, much to the delight of HEMA practitioners everywhere. <a href="http://chivalrytoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Tobler.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-6424 nofollow" target="_blank"></a>But if we’re going to so much effort to understand and re-ceate the physical aspects of this fighting art – the weapons, protective equipment (or lack thereof), and techniques of attack and defense – what about the mental side? Historical fighting manuals include a great deal of focus, implicitly and explicitly, about the character qualities of someone who seeks to master the knightly art of the longsword, and other dueling and battlefield weaponry. Do we just assume all of that talk about honor, courage, responsibility, and courtesy is just superfluous cultural window dressing? Or do we need to make an effort to incorporate aspects of honor and chivalry if we are to truly approach an understanding of the medieval fighting arts in the 21s century? Mr. Tobler joins host Scott Farrell to talk about his study and practice of the art of medieval swordsmanship, and his own ongoing exploration of the chivalric ideals that stand alongside the practice – both in medieval culture, and in the modern world.