This book contains three fundamental bâton texts—excerpts from the military Manuel de Gymnastique; André Émile’s Manuel de Boxe et de Canne; and Georges Hébert’s L'éducation physique virile et morale, together with a guide for modern practice. It forms a base discipline, still taught in a living tradition, that can be practiced in its own right or tied to a system of longsword or cut-and-thrust sword. It is intended as a companion to my more formal publications, The Art of the Two-Handed Sword and The Art of the Rapier, as well as the MHS series of instructional videos.