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Well the term "martial arts" today is typically synanomous with asian fighting arts. For centuries, highly sophisticated western european martial arts existed. Their effectiveness and formidability documented in accounts and chronicles was combat proven from Scandinavia to the meditterranian from spain to russia, and from the new east to the new world.
It is from the latin that we actually derived the english term martial arts from "The arts of Mars" the roman god of war. The term martial arts was itself used in regard to fighting skills as early as the 1550s to refer specifically to the arts of defense, knightly prowess in arms, or the noble science called "fencing". Fencing meant far more than just swordplay. The knightly classes of the early middle ages criscent to these skills as the chivalric arts and "The art of chivalry".
Renaissance writters describe warrior's training as the doctrina armorium the disciplina gladitorial and the art military. The essential function of such instruction was to enable a fighting man to better deal with the chaos of personal combat by preparing himself with an understanding of what was possible. For about the 12th century, professional instruction in fencing existed across western europe, by the 14th century many of these instructor in arms or master of defense became highly regarded international experts.
They systematized and thought thier fighting methods, then recorded thier craft in vast and until now relatively unknown technical literature, overtime they uniquely produced hundreds of detailed often well illustrated training manuals and study guides that still survive. But these experts in close combat were no mere fencers, thiers were a fighting systems suited to a wide range of threat and conditions over several centuries. The teaching of these master of defence involved understanding and applying key principles and concepts crucial pyshical and mental components inherent to all hand to hand combat. The weapons of dagger, stave and axes was study as vigorously as pole weapons, shield and especially all manners of swords. Grapling and unarmed wrestling technics was also vital elements of thier methods, these still little known works reveal thier craft of fighting to be one of sophisticated and systematic skills that stress fighting effectively.
Once studied from within thier own cultural contexts, these surviving works present a potrait of highly develop indeginous european martial arts. They potray intergrated self defense method focus largely on armoured and unarmored fighting on foot or mounted using a variety of weapons and empty handed techniques.
The indisputable picture of renaisance close combat, presented in the clips above is frequently one of expert warriors expertly imploying agile well balanced ingenously designed and well proven weapon with a vicious efficiency. Thiers were not slow, pondorous or ungainly tools. Today dozens of these obscure hand written manual script and printed books provide an unequal resource for modern students of historical fencing as both practical skill and scientific art. The methods of close combat from these eras had to be athletic, fierce and swift, its deadly tools were formidable, sophicated, robust, uniformly agile and highly effective implemence. To undestand the development of these fighting arts we need only examine the medieval legacy of wars, violence and duels.
A medieval knight prepares for an empending battle at dawn. This video demonstrates how each piece of armor was designed for both protection and freedom of movement. I know someone of you have been enquiring on how does a Knight get armoured up, well this is one of the closest vids I've got to share. Enjoy!!
This chapter and so with the others (I&II) covers the basic fundamentals of Chivalry. Now surely one often asked, if I do have these qualities and I'm kinda interested to be one, just how may I fused all these into reality? The answer lies in the next post......
