What is Classical Fencing/Historic Swordsmanship?

Aside from the obvious fact that classical fencing and historical swordsmanship involve the ownership and use of swords, it can be quite difficult to come up with a hard and fast definition of what these two names mean. This is mostly due to the fact that there are many branches and definitions within each. Western swordsmanship as a whole has only recently reached that informational critical mass necessary for it to become accessible to a wide range of people. Consequently there are still precious few groups and individuals involved, and the relative isolation of the groups within that limited number has resulted in a limited commonality of interest. Only within the last 10 years has any significant amount of 'cross pollination' taken place, members of one group finding and contacting other groups to share and discuss ideas, to practice new techniques and share resources, and only within the last 3 years has any kind of national and global organisation started to form. But even ...  more