Bad Hema


Book Description

As soon as someone picked up a weapon and tried to use it, someone else told them how they were doing it wrong. In BAD HEMA, Richard Marsden explores the criticisms and witticisms of historical fencing masters. With good humor, the masters' many complaints are analyzed as are their solutions to what they saw as bad fencing. Problems historical fencers deal with today were just as contentious in the past with such questions as; Is it better to cut or thrust? should I wait in guard? How can I tell who is a bad fighter? Is it safe to feint and void? Additionally, BAD HEMA has a modern section where Richard Marsden and the students and instructors of the Phoenix Society of Historical Swordsmanship provide positive advice for today's historical fencers to recognize and overcome bad habits. How can physical differences affect fencing? How should we approach sources? What core concepts do newer fencers struggle with? What mistakes are often made in cutting and sparring? By looking at the complaints of the past and advice from today, the revived arts of historical fencing will improve because we can't know what is good until we truly know what is bad.




The Art of Sword Combat


Book Description

This sixteenth-century German guide to sword fighting and combat training is a crucial source for understanding medieval swordplay techniques. Following his translation of Joachim Meyer’s The Art of Combat, Jeffrey L. Forgeng was alerted to an earlier version of Meyer’s text, discovered in Lund University Library in Sweden. The manuscript, produced in Strasbourg around 1568, is illustrated with thirty watercolor images and seven ink diagrams. The text covers combat with the longsword (hand-and-a-half sword), dusack (a one-handed practice weapon comparable to a sabre), and rapier. The manuscript’s theoretical discussion of guards sheds significant light on this key feature of the historical practice, not just in relation to Meyer but in relation to medieval combat systems in general. The Art of Sword Combat also offers an extensive repertoire of training drills for both the dusack and the rapier, a feature largely lacking in treatises of the period and critical to modern reconstructions of the practice. Forgeng’s translation also includes a biography of Meyer, much of which has only recently come to light, as well as technical terminology and other essential information for understanding and contextualizing the work.




Chin Na Fa


Book Description

First published in 1936, this work represents primary source material of ancient combat techniques designed in a time of occupation and war, when the threat of lethal hand-to-hand combat was an ever-present reality for soldiers, those involved in law enforcement, and very often for the ordinary citizen. This is the seminal work in the field, written by the form’s founders, Liu Jinsheng and Zhao Jiang, as a training manual for the Police Academy of Zheijiang province. The intent of this translation is to provide authentic historical documentation for martial arts techniques that have been modified for use today in both competition and self-defense. Submission grappling is a technique in which fighters use locks, chokes, and breaking techniques to defeat their challengers in no-holds-barred matches. Chi Na Fa remains the most comprehensive explanation available of these Chinese grappling techniques, from which derive many current techniques. Renowned author and Brazillian jiu jitsu champion Tim Cartmell presents the book in a clear, compelling new translation.




Polish Saber


Book Description

Polish Saber - The use of the Polish Saber on foot in the 17th century covers the history, anecdotes and use of Poland's iconic weapon. In matters of honor and personal safety the saber was the Polish nobleman's choice of arms. The concept of the duel, the form and function of the weapon, as well as source material from Poland, Italy and Germany are blended together in an interpretation presented in full-color. The work is suitable for history enthusiasts, Historical European Martial Artists and re-creationists who wish to explore Poland's Commonwealth and the weapon that symbolized its nobility.




Difficult Attachments


Book Description

Anthropologists have long considered kinship as the basis for social solidarity. Indeed, the idea that kinship is grounded in positive sociality has found its way into most anthropological accounts and has served as an orienting framework directing decades of scholarly research. But what about when it is not? What about instances when kinship is anything but ‘warm and fuzzy’ but is characterized, instead, by neglect, violence, negative affect, or a lack of nurturance and care? In the three interlinked sections of this volume, the view that kinship is about “solidarity” and “care” is challenged by exploring how kin relations are not only about connection and inclusion but also about disconnection, exclusion, neglect, and violence. Kinship relationships that feel “positive” and “good” take a great deal of perseverance and work; there is nothing “natural” about kinship ties as being based on positive sociality. In these chapters, the contributors take seriously the contingency of kinship relations (the moments when kinship breaks down or is a source of suffering) and how this prompts scholars to develop new theoretical and methodological perspectives.




The Great Indian Inferno


Book Description

Ayodhya imbroglio - Babri Masjid demolition meant many things to many. For some it triggered off a chain of, law and order problems. For some it demoted our economy. For some it deepened Hindu-Muslim divide. For some it worsened Hindu-Muslim hate. For some it meant religious mania. For some it was political advantage by polarization of communal vote banks. For some it was depletion of vote bank. For some it was a blessing and for some it was a curse. But for Jahan Shah, a young IPS Officer, who is also the hero of the story, it was a com of two sides... one side, the mirror and the other side, me fire I On one side, the Ayodhya mirror reflected almost all follies we had. Our political folly, our social folly, our economic folly, our illiteracy, lack of awareness, poverty, our priority, our policy, our discrete discretion and discrimination... any thing and every thing! All dogmas on the earth, on Indian Earth! This novel The Great Indian Inferno crafted around the 'Ayodhya entanglement' is a timely one. The author P.V. Jaganmohan blends fact with fiction with admirable creative dexterity. He has presented a spellbinding narrative that draws sustenance from the ill-perceived notion of cultural identity. Author narrative exalts the power of common place words and creates a symphony of many voices that augers well for our plural society.




The Medieval Art of Swordsmanship


Book Description

Jointly Published with the British Royal Armouries Medieval fighting has long been thought to be rough and untutored. Visions of men madly slashing to and fro and hoping for the best still dominate not only popular culture but modern histories of fencing as well. In recent years, the survival of more than 175 fighting treatises from the Middle Ages and Renaissance has provided a whole generation of enthusiasts, scholars, reenactors and stage choreographers with a wealth of new information. This text represents the earliest known text on swordsmanship anywhere in the world. Royal Armouries MS I.33 presents a system of combat that is sophisticated and demonstrates the diffusion of fighting arts beyond the military classes. Within the manuscripts richly illustrated full-color illustrations lie still-potent demonstrates of sword techniques, surprisingly shown by a Priest and Scholar. Most surprisingly, however, is the presence of a woman practcing in the text, the only one illustrated in any European fighting treatise. This full color facsimile & translation has been long-awaited and promises to become an important resource for years to come




The Perfect Dress


Book Description

The Perfect Dress is a Cinderella adaptation with a desi twist. It's a hilarious cultural update of the classic fairy tale.




Artificial Intelligence Today


Book Description

This book is meant for graduate-level/ MCA/ B. Tech students and also as per the syllabus of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) under emerging technology, which covers more than 10000 colleges with pan India presence. Book from an author who has written more than 100 books (first in India) on computer science and information technology, including all levels of DOEACC, C DAC. His book "Big Data and Hadoop" was released by a past president of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers. Books are already been written on Big data analytics, Data Science, and Machine learning, are already approved by AICTE.




The Fault


Book Description

In the spring of 2015, an immense earthquake shakes Nepal and ends the lives of many. Families are broken apart, as are relationships, as the country struggles to heal despite amazing tragedy. Some rise and help their suffering neighbors while others are reduced to the basest instincts of survival and prey on the weak and helpless. What happens when mankind loses all that defines it as a person, a family, or a community? Civilizations, no matter how modern, are forced to rebuild following massive natural disasters. In the case of Nepal, citizens face a decision: rekindle the flame of resurrection and rebuild or surrender to feelings of hopelessness and die an apathetic death? As friends and families face injustices and fight to survive, they also find small pockets of hope amidst the debris. Of course, others find nothing but hate. Two families in particular are bound together by loyalty and love. They experience loss, betrayal, and discovery while searching for redemption, despite the seemingly vindictive obstructions of Mother Nature