bushido_man96

As did the knights who wanted to live through more than one or two battles. Remember, we're not talking about pesants that had to fight daily to keep bandits at bay, as they did in China and Japan. Both fighters come from a relative "upper class". Yes, very good points indeed. Knights were professional warriors, just like the Samurai were. This is fine, too. However, I am arguing the fact that the desparity between the two is not as large as many would perceive it to be.

The European long sword was used for both slashing and thrusting. What you have to consider is the armor worn at the time would have an affect on what strikes/thrusts you would use. If your opponent was not heavily armored, then slashing would have more uses than it would against a more heavily armoured opponent. In the most recent manual that I have read, there were many moves demostrated that were slashes that would lead into thrusts, and vise versa. It really had a lot to do with situation, and of course, the warrior's preference. Also, thrusting came into vogue as the long sword began to remove itself from the battlefield, due to the onset of gunpowder usage, and the rising popularity of the more thrusting-oriented rapier, which became a "civilian" weapon.

I think that there are a lot of good things that have come out of the exposure to the Oriental culture when studying the Eastern Martial Arts. However, this viewpoint, in my opinion, is not one of them. I think questions are good, even necessary, when it comes studying just about anything. "Because that is the way it is done" or "because that is how I was taught" are not specific enough, or rationalized enough reasons, in my opinion.

I have never seen this happen on a permanent basis before, but have heard of it, and I do support it. I have stripped rank for the duration of a class, but not any more than that. The most interesting aspect that I see is the fact that the student did not just quit, and try to sign up elsewhere. I think it shows a lot about his maturity. Either that, or his parents wouldn't let him quit.

This was a good book, and I learned a lot of things about the Muay Thai fighting that I really didn't know. The difference between the boxing done in Muay Thai and in boxing is discussed. There is discussion about some of the training ideas, which was interesting as well. These athletes are in top shape; world class athletes, for sure. I also learned quite a bit about the clinch, and the war that goes on there as well. I would recommend this book to those who don't have much exposure to Muay Thai. I am not sure what experienced practitioners would think of the book, but from my standpoint, it was very informative, and I learned quite a bit.

This would make is somewhat of a kindred spirit to the art of Caporiea, don't you think?

I agree, lordtariel. This is very useful information, and the nice thing is that most of it is very common-sense stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Good post! I like the examples that you give for working on each of your Environmental aspects. I think these are very valuable tools.

That was kind of cool. Thanks for sharing, DWx.

The Medieval warriors were not "brawlers," and the East is not the only place where fighting originated. If you look into some books about medieval swordsmanship, you can find many leverage-based moves that echo the kind of moves that were performed in Jujitsu. The "barbaric" perception that you have of the medieval knight is forming the bias of your reasoning, I think. Professional European warriors trained hard, trained seriously, and trained to be victorious.

Welcome aboard!

A day late, but yes, Happy Mother's day to all of those mothers out there who made sure that we obsessive little Martial Artists always got to class on time, before we could drive ourselves!

Interesting point, DWx. I had heard that Tae Kyon was considered more of a game than anything else.

Ha, that is cool! I like Statham.

Jackie is quite talented in many different aspects. I saw him on a Late Show once, and he sang a brief bit of "Fools Rush In." It was pretty good. I think he is also quite the chef.

I like the clapper target pads for kicking. Also, the speed bag (although I haven't worked one in some time).

If you choose to do this, then I would get a tarp or something to cover it with when you are not using it. I don't imagine it would be a problem, so you might give it a try (as long as you don't think anyone will bring in a dolly and walk off with it!). In the winter time, I think I would drain it, though.

Nice vid, and nice pics, too! Congratulations on your performances!

I would appreciate that, thanks Well, I only found a few brief references to it. I will have to look a little bit deeper, if I want to find anything.

That is interesting. My friend and I do some block/pass/pin drills and other similar drills like that as well.

Nice post, YoungMan. What were the conflicting stories on Choi's childhood martial studies that you have heard? I have only read some, and it included the Tae Kyon training. He did admit that he studied Shotokan in Japan, though.

Ah, yes: Hi or low, angled or traditional, in the clinch or apart. It does have many uses.

Very good post, Mike. Those are some great guidelines to go by.

Thanks for sharing those, PAL. They were very interesting to watch.

The European long sword was not a heavy club, it was a precision weapon. The average European long sword weighed between 3 and 4 pounds. This is not a heavy weapon, nor was it a slow weapon. It wasn't swung with a huge wind-up motion, either. There are many, many different movements and variations in attack when it comes to using the European longsword. If you go to https://www.thearma.org, you can find a lot of articles on how the Medieval European long sword was used.