The Enormity of it all.

I chose Swetnam because of a few reasons. The fact that it's in English is one of them- I can't speak or read any other languages, so having something in a dialect that I grew up reading (Family and local history... I'm a goth, not a vampire) means I can work on it without breaking my head.

Translations are difficult. The skills required are a peculiar mix of pedantry and bloody mindedness and the words you choose will be dependent on if you want a literal translation or a working interpretation. Some bits may be in slang, which means you're pretty much stuffed when looking at translations unless that slang becomes an enduring part of the common language. So, fortunately, Swetnam is "just" a matter of interpretation.

Don't get me wrong, interpretation is still a pain in the arse and you're shouting at the author for his poor choice of words or vagueness. Wondering what the hell he meant by a phrase.. but it's not wondering if you're trying to understand the technical connotations of a totally different word. The differences can be very subtle at translation level, but the errors can become compounded- especially when some bits can only really be proven by putting it into movement, so when you're struggling with a point, you'd have to go back to the original text, check the exact wording and see what other meanings it could have.

Now, apart from the ease of understanding, I chose Swetnam for his local history and the fact that nobody really looks at his work... This actually puts quite a lot of responsibility upon my shoulders. Even with my current knowledge, it's likely that I'm the expert on Swetnam in a HEMA context and one of the first practitioners in London since he wrote the book.

The long term idea to look at the 3 17th century London renaissance books has the potential to make this even bigger- putting me on a strong footing for being one of the best in the world for a very specific aspect of historical martial arts. I'm going to be open about this and say that it worries me.

I don't feel as if I know enough to legitimately say that I'm amongst the best, especially when there's a REALLY big drop off between me and the likes of Dave Rawlings. But I can't actually find anyone between me and that level of knowledge.

In all, I really love the hobby and respect the effort that goes into bringing these dead arts back to life. Which means I've got a duty to be bloody good with what I'm working on. Especially because I'm doing this on the same streets that Swetnam once walked.