Historical Martial Arts are a combination of the study of historical texts and martial arts. They involve swordsmanship, other weaponry and hand to hand combat styles. I talk to Guy Windsor to get the lowdown on HMA and how he uses history to develop and teach swordsmanship. Guy has been fundamental in the development of HMA. He is a consulting swordsman, teacher, and writer. He researches and teaches medieval and Renaissance Italian swordsmanship, and has a PhD in recreating historical martial arts. He also runs The School of European Swordsmanship Guy has written a large number of books on the subject. For a good overview I'd suggest starting with The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts