Hurstwic Podcast Hurstwic

John Davis, Barbara Wechter, and Dr. William Short chat with Oakland, CA artist Jeff Pringle about a range of subjects. Jeff's work ranges from blacksmithing to bladesmithing, jewelry and crafts made as closely as possible with Viking Age techniques and artistic sensibilities. You can see his work at jeffpringle.com In the interview we talk about some delicate inlay work Jeff did for replacement sword hilt on an historic weapon. Pictures of the work and a description of the process can be found at hurstwic.com.

John Davis and Reynir Oskarson speak with Robin Cooper, instructor with Hurstwic. Robin brings a variety of martial skills to Hurstwic training including a long career with US Army Special Forces. Robin discusses the differences and the surprising similarities between Viking age combat and modern age special operations. We talk about taking our sparring out of the training room and into the field. Also, commentary from Wyatt the Wonder Spaniel.

John Davis and Dr. William Short chat with Barbara Wechter of Wechter Arms about training weapons and how they compare to historical weapons. We get into the details of striking the balance between a good training weapon we can use in sparring that simulates a real weapon as much as possible without the obvious dangers.

John Davis and Mike Cicale chat with Hurstwic special advisor Reynir Oskarson. We explore the Viking mindset and how it has shaped our training methodologies. We also go into other martial arts practices and how they inform what we do at Hurstwic. Plus, chocolate licorice.

John Davis chats with Dr. William Short about the Saga of Hurstwic. Join us as Dr. Short recounts the amazing journey from our early days as a reenactment group to the modern organization it is today. We dig deep into Hurstwic's mission, activities, goals, achievements, and future plans.