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a MAist is for the most part eastern.
Webster defines Martial Arts as: �any of several arts of combat and self defense (as karate and judo) that are widely practiced as sport.� Some older definitions associate it with only eastern martial arts, as well as popular perception, but that definition was found lacking as all cultures and regions have combat arts, and with a resurgence of �Western Martial Arts� the definition has been broadened. Martial just means in relation to war or a warrior, and Arts means a learned science or occupation. All cultures around the world who ever fought one another have this.
Just about every eastern martial arts dabbles in weapons training, some more than others, and those who do mostly study weapons training are still a martial art, in fact probably more so as fighting without a weapon has no place on the battlefield. There is a basic logic that if a trained fighter can do damage with just the fists, he can do exponential damage when he has a tool. Every time you say that a martial artists can beat the �warrior in armor� you are stating that the �warrior in armor� is an untrained idiot. If you understand that the guy in armor is just as trained as the �martial artist� except he has armor and arms, you should then understand the guy without arms is the fool in the fight.
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Platemail is only wore by mounted riders historically. That is because it is too bulky and cumbersome. Remember pikemen came into being because if you could dismount the knight he was almost completely vulnerable due to a lack of mobility.
Pike Squares are a middle ages version of a Macedonian Phalanx, which was around two thousand years before the Swiss started bringing pike men back to popularity. While it is a great formation to use against Cavalry, pikes kill horses at a great distance; it does not mean they were the answer to a man in full harness (plate armor.) In fact as the pike men got richer they armored themselves more and more until they wore almost a half to 3/4th of a full harness (or most of a full knights armor.) At the battle of Agincourt the French dismounted to walk across the field and fight, they did lose as that was a stupid thing to do, but they had no trouble walking or jogging to the battle line and then fighting. Plate is no more weight than today�s military trains to run in, it is just distributed differently. The human body is pretty impressive at what it can do when trained to do so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt
more will come...eventually|||I'll fight you!|||In karate, we learned that a weapon is an extension of your arm (or fist). That is, most unarmed fighting techniques you learn translate directly to weapon techniques. From my weapon training, I would say that this is true of many weapons (but perhaps not all).
All melee weapons I trained in, without exception, can be used in quick attacks or in stronger slower attacks. For example, with a sword, you can quickly stab or cut, or you can do more powerful deep cuts. This can come in handy, as it gives you a way to adjust your speed and power to counter your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.|||I don't have much to add except that everyone should take the proper precautions when training. I've had to have surgery for a detached retina from the blows to my head from boxing. But I guess it could have been much worse and I still have a brain....Shut up Alaris.|||I'm glad you still have a brain Erasmus... need help putting it back into your head? I swear, I was not going to make fun of you, until you told me to shut up. Then I had no choice.
I'd like to echo Erasmus' warning. I've often seen people drop a (thankfully wooden) sword on their foot or head, and I once hit myself in the forehead with nunchucks. On that topic, I have no idea how useful those are in actual combat, because once you hit something it then flies randomly...|||Pain is part of the learning process. But this is why you should be trained by a master. He is a person that knows how to hold back on blows preventing any serious injuries. Now if you are sparring with another untrained fighter, by all means take precautions.
The worst injury I have sustained during weapons training came from a shinai. You know those "unbreakable" wooden kendo practice swords. I highlight the word unbreakable because I have heard them called that. Anyway, a fighter we called the whistler swung and snapped my shinai in half, then on his backswing he caught the back of my hand as I instinctively put it up to protect myself. He broke four bones in my hand, only fractures but still. As to why we called this guy the "Whistler", well you probably figured that one out by now, but yeah his swings whistled because of the speed of his blows.
I have never been hurt when practicing with live steel, but then I only practiced that with my master and only once I had gotten real good with the shinai.|||Quote:
On that topic, I have no idea how useful those are in actual combat, because once you hit something it then flies randomly...
My son has started working with nunchucks, and they seem pretty useless compared to my tree trimmer (the modern-day glaive). If I recall my history, many of these flashy weapons evolved due to denial of the right to bear arms (most notably in Japan). This would contrast with many polearms, such as my tree trimmer or a bill-hook.
Honest, officer, that's just my grain flail!
(my glaive)
|||I heard the same story about nunchucks. I think one bonus they have is that while they're difficult to control, they're also difficult to block. And hopefully if it bounces back and hits you, it'll have close to no energy to do any real damage.Still, I prefer solid weapons.
Trying to get the following picture out of my head now: J running after kids wielding his tree trimmer and yelling at them to get off his lawn.|||Quote:
I've often seen people drop a (thankfully wooden) sword on their...head,
That would have been hilarious! I just thought it was a really funny KOL reference ;)
But the statement is true please don't try to learn to fight at home. The only good that does is make really funny youtube video's when you do something really stupid!
As to nunchacku; the origins of them is most likely a threshing tool for farming, just like a European flail. Most ‘weapons’ have their origins in farming or linen equipment. They basically become the ‘peasant’s weapons as they weren’t allowed to use ‘real weapons.’
Flail - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flail - notice it even looks like nunchaku, but more designed for wheat.
As with any weapon when you train with them enough you learn how they move, and how they 'bouce,' then you coltrol it better.
The tree trimmer is basically the origin of a glaive.|||Quote:
From my weapon training, I would say that this is true of many weapons (but perhaps not all).
Yes, I doubt that many unarmed fighting techniques translate to, for example, blowpipe or a torpedo.
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I'd like to echo Erasmus' warning. I've often seen people drop a (thankfully wooden) sword on their foot or head
How, exactly, does one accidentally drop their sword on their head? Please describe the chain of events leading to this.
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