Showing results by author "M. P. LYNCH" in All Categories

Join the adventure through dystopian worlds, to outer planets and into a speculative future. Welcome to the Future Days Anthology. Seventeen authors imagine a future with thrilling tales, starships, unlikely heroes, and exotic aliens, all of which combine to make Future Days a must-listen sci-fi fantasy short story collection.

“A gentleman had seized the enemy’s guard while holding his own point to the man’s stomach. The enemy brought in his left hand and, grabbing the foible of the gentleman’s sword with a heavy glove, he broke the blade off and plunged the point into the one who had seized his guard, killing him.” And you thought smallswording was dainty! Not even close - this was a matter of settling scores through blood, and Master-of-Arms André Wernesson Liancour had dedicated his life to perfecting his art. While he did make use of the foil for instructional purposes, his teaching was entirely ...

Here are two excellent and obscure occult works from the turn of the 17th century plucked from dusty forgotten shelves to be placed before the eyes of modern students of Magic, Kabbala, and esotericism. The first was originally entitled Table de 72 Anges tiree cabalistiquement des 72 noms ineffables de Dieu avec leurs noms, puissances, et les jours aux quels ils president dans les douze lunes or Table of 72 Angels derived cabalistically from the 72 ineffable names of God with their names, powers, and the days over which they preside in the 12 moons. This book was a handwritten manuscript ...

Formerly published under the title Hand-to-Hand Combat, this 1917 manual has been revised and colorized for clarity's sake. The Great War was entering its third bloody year, and even the proud and stubborn French command had to concede that old methods weren't working. To be sure, in a hypothetical situation wherein two infantrymen were rushing at one another across an open battlefield, the soldier with the 20 inch "épée bayonet" fixed on the end of his 51.2 inch Lebel 1886 rifle would appear to have the clear advantage over the German adversary with his shorter Mauser with Seitengewehr ...

"Be aware, never be surprised" was Emile Andre's guiding principle as he worked "to create a new system that is practical in terms of its combat-readiness." Long before the advent of MMA, he asserted that "it seems clear that we ought to study several fighting sports and mold them into one system." Andre had been producing self-defense manuals since the 1880's at a time when street gangs were terrorizing Paris, and he continued to do so after the advent of the Great War. In this ultimate 1929 edition of "L'Art de se defendre dans la rue", Andre lays out a combination of those kicks, punches...

Americans love a good fight, and if the cause is just, all the better. When the Kaiser tried to bring authoritarian rule to the west of the Rhine, American expatriates in France stepped up to stop him. Men who knew how to fly offered their services to the young French Air Force - as did men who did not know how to fly, but insisted that they could with hilariously disastrous results. The great Ace Lufbery, along with his comrades Thaw, Hall, Rockwell, and others more or less invented the "dogfight" over the bloody fields of Verdun and Flanders, and when they were not on the attack they ...

Attacks to the neck and fingers are always good indications of a serious work on self-defense, and Hans Reuter’s 1922 manual has both. Indeed, when the “first wave” of Jiu-Jitsu hit the West at the dawn of the 20th century, it featured all of those nasty old battlefield techniques the samurai were so fond of - bone crunching “finish him!” type moves which are perforce largely left to the side in modern scholastic Jiu-Jitsu circles. Indeed, you cannot cultivate the supreme sport of physical chess to its highest degree if everyone involved hobbles out of the dojo in a neck brace ...

Glaives, maces, battle flails, eared daggers, fighting scythes, cranequin crossbows, swords, partisans, spontoons, battle axes, great helms, hounskulls, flintlocks, wheellocks - you name it, Eric Haenel catalogued and described it in his brief but information-dense 1920 book Alte Waffe which is now avaible to the modern English reader as Weapons of Yore. Take a quick and wild ride through the world of weapons technology from the sack of Rome through the time of Charlemagne to the rise of gunpowder weapons. Every HEMA enthusiast, amateur medeivalist, and lover of all things pointy and iron ...

Alchemist, occultist, magician, astrologer, writer, physician, lawyer, theologian, philosopher, and mercenary soldier - Henry Cornelius Agrippa was the quintessential Renaissance Man. In this fresh translation of Joseph Orsier's concise 1911 biography of the mercurial author of Occult Philosophy we are given an overview of his tumultuous existence at a time when Europe was shaking off the long sleep of the Middle Ages and the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo were creating masterworks. At the same time that Erasmus was giving the Catholic Church a gentle nudge and Martin...

Here it is at last: Everything you ever wanted to know about unarmed self defense but were afraid to ask. In the pages of this detailed and illustrated manual you'll find techniques like "The Condor" and Coup de pied bas. Becoming a one man or woman army has never been so easy! Whether you're dedicated to becoming a full-on badass or you're just browsing, you'll find something to amuse and edify you in this colorful offering from M.P. Lynch.

Blood oozes from the young duelist’s chin. The doctor moves to inspect the injury as the arbiter consults his pocket watch to note the precise time of the blutung (blooding) in his book. The swordsmen are allowed to return to their marks, and there they raise their heavily padded right arms above their heads. The weapon arm takes on an almost saurian character at this moment, and the opponents allow the points of their rapiers to hang down in the space which separates them. The seconds assume their positions, and at the command of “Los!” the combat begins anew. The motion of the ...

With an entire section dedicated to hair pulling, including a hair based throw, this 1712 manual falls squarely under the heading of Rough & Tumble fighting, and is a hidden gem belonging to the rich realm of Historical European Martial Arts. The images produced by Flemish engraver Romein De Hoogue (also Romeyn de Hooghe) are elaborate, violent, and amusing all at once. Dip into Europe's rich martial past with Ye Olde Ruff & Tumble.

Standup wrestling without a gi! What a concept... This is to say that for various reasons standing grappling seems to be given short shrift in the martial arts world, either due to a lack of space, liability issues, or a general indifference regarding how one ends up on the ground, so long as one can work well from there. So it would seem that aside from those who are looking to be pro fighters, standup training will tend to be cursory, and perhaps with good reason. That said it is a fascinating and nuanced game, and fun to watch as we see it survive , albeit in a theatrical form, in the ...

Achilles’ heel, Philipp of Macedon’s right eye, Penelope’s three suitors, Saint Sebastian, the apple on Walter Tell’s head, the shoulder of Richard the Lionhearted, George Armstrong Custer - these are some of history’s most famous archery targets. From the walls of Carthage to the fields of Agincourt the bow has been central in military history, and through its deadly power kingdoms rose and fell for millenia. In 1900 Albert de Bertier, V. Cordier, A Guglielmini published this book, Le Tir à l’Arc, as a tribute to the bow’s special place in history with specific emphasis on ...

If you’re a fan of the standup grappling game and particularly the methods of the great Armand Cherpillod (declared European champion in free wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu a number of times between 1900 and 1926, as well as being a professor at the famed Bartitsu club) which was published under the title Hooks, Trips, Throws, & Takedowns, then this little work is sure to please. It is a translation of a Swiss manual from 1923 with the simple title of Das Ringen - which is to say Wrestling. Despite their idyllic landscapes, cushy resorts, and reserved demeanors, the Swiss are some seriously ...