In 1570, Joachim Meyer wrote a comprehensive, multi-weapon treatise entitled Gründtliche Beschreibung der Kunst des Fechtens or, in English, Thorough Descriptions of the Art of Fencing.

The book consists of five chapters, covering the long sword, dussack (a training weapon not unlike the messer), rapier, dagger, and polearms.

These woodcuts typically depict the postures, cutting schemes (signs or 'segno' in Italian) as well as several players enacting various techniques described in the text itself.

The book consists of five sections, covering the longsword, dussack (a training weapon not unlike the Messer), rapier (in Meyer's case, a single-handed sword utilised for both cut and thrust), dagger and wrestling, and polearms including the quarterstaff, halberd and pike.

The making of this book left him deeply indebted, and the search for potential buyers led him to leave Strasbourg and work as a Master-of-Arms at the court of the Duke of Schwerin.