Lois Spangler

Storytrade is a blog by Lois Spangler focused on stories, historical fencing, and the ideas behind swordsmanship. Its articles explore la verdadera destreza, the Spanish fencing tradition, through explanations of movement, tactics, timing, and theory. Readers can find discussions of blade movements and attacks, including thrusts, cuts, and their variations, as well as concepts such as dispositive and executive actions and the three considerations of Get, Give, and Steal.

The blog also shares historical fencing research and translations. One featured post presents Carranza’s Second Dialogue in an abridged form, with context about its satirical character and links to related fencing material. Topics and tags across the site include HEMA, practice, Destreza, Carranza, Pacheco, and translations. Some articles assume prior familiarity with specialized terminology, while others direct readers to introductory explanations before moving into more detailed analysis. Storytrade offers educational writing for people interested in historical European martial arts, Spanish swordsmanship, and the interpretation of historical fencing texts.