Martial Arts

“I have formal training in Fencing and informal training in Broadsword and Kendo. I have fought Kali/Escrima and practiced against it as well. In practice only, I have gone up against Okinawan and Iaido. I have seen Hindu and Shaolin forms in action. But in my opinion, the best way to learn basic stick-fighting technique is through Western Fencing. It’s easy to learn and it’s a bitch to get around.”
Marc “Animal” MacYoung.

If there’s one thing all us Heathens have in common, it’s our love of history. A little while ago, I expressed my opinion that “Martial Arts training is the ideal form of Yoga for Heathenism.” Now let me take that thought one step further…

Historical Western Martial Arts are the most natural choice for a Heathen Combat Discipline.

The first thing anyone should do in the Martial Arts is go out and learn some basic, no-frills Self Defence. You should not even consider the “art” side until you’ve learned how to stay out of trouble…and what to do when trouble comes looking for you.

The second step anyone should take, in my opinion, is to go learn the basics of whatever full-contact combat sports are common in their geographical area. This sets the bar high. I look at the combat sports as a barrier test for the serious martial artist. This is not something you need to devote your entire life to, but if you want to become an “expert fighter” you’ll at some point need to step up and do some actual full-contact fighting.

But, strictly speaking, once you’ve gotten past the first step of learning basic self defence…after that your time is your own. There’s no reason why we can’t have a little fun in the gym. A little bit of wrasslin’ and some sword/cudgel/dagger play sounds like my idea of a good time. If it sounds like yours, you may just be a Heathen Martial Artist.

And who knows? Researching the ways of our ancestors…we may actually learn something.

Clint.

If you don’t understand the distinction between Martial Arts, Combat Sports and Self-Defence, you need to read this article: http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/four_focuses.html

Now for the fun stuff!!!

The Society for Creative Anachronism

The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts

Some great articles…

A Filipino knife instructor with some nice things to say about Western Fencing.
(I wouldn’t mind taking some lessons from him, either.)

“The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the closest thing to real fighting I’ve seen the martial arts world involve itself in, but until they include guns, knives, beer bottles and do it on concrete, it’s still not there yet.”
Marc “Animal” MacYoung.

Geoff says the defence systems that work in war generally work in reality fighting: the pre-emptive and deceptive strike, and the killer blow. “Things that they used in the First and Second World Wars, such as the single and double foot stomps to the head: gratuitous, ugly and very workable. Punching people so hard that they go back in time, and when they wake up their clothes are out of fashion. Its all very basic, very ugly and very workable. Biting, butting, blinding and anything that will win the fight and save your life.”
Marc Wickert from an interview with Geoff Thompson.

As much as I’ve learned from the full-contact fight sports, my first choice for serious self defence is still old-school WWII Close Quarters Combat.

Originally developed by W.E. Fairbairn for use by the Shanghai Municipal Police, this system incorporates elements of Boxing, Wrestling, Fencing, Judo, Kung Fu and La Savate. With the outbreak of WWII, Fairbairn returned home to become chief Hand-to-Hand Combat instructor to the Commandoes, the SOE and evetually the OSS.

Despite it’s oriental origins, the method remained quintessetially western in character in every way but one, this is not a sport. Stripped down to the bare essentials, the “Shanghai Method” represents the simplest, most efficient means yet devised for turning average, untrained fighters into vicous, all-in brawlers.

If you want to learn the “inner secrets” of the Martial Arts, then this is the place to start. Deadly, dirty, devious…this is as brutal as it gets.

Clint.

“Get Tough” by W.E. Fairbairn

“Kill or Get Killed” by Rex Applegate.

“Shooting to Live” by W.E. Fairbairn and E.A. Sykes

“People often ask me what art I would select for a physical confrontation if I could only take up one discipline, and I tell them it would be Boxing. If I could choose two arts, then I would say Boxing and grappling, but I would never choose just one discipline.”
Geoff Thompson

648 BCE and more than two hundred years before the birth if Socrates, Greek Olympic athletes fought bare-knuckle and no-holds-barred in a contest they called Pankration.

Since the coming of Christianity, Pankration has been persecuted, banned and driven underground countless times, only to re-emerge each time as the ultimate test of one on one, hand-to-hand fighting ability.

Today Pankration, by a dozen other names, is again reclaiming legitimacy. Fighters require a minimum foundation in the basics of Boxing, Wrestling, Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu to have any hope of success in competition. Ironically, while western fighters have flocked to learn the Judo/Wrestling hybrid known as “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu”, the Japanese have been quietly refining Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling into an extremely well rounded style they call Pancrase or Shootfighting.

Clint.

The Historical Pankration Project

Boxing, Wrestling and Shootfighting in the Sydney city CBD.

My “fifteen minutes of fame” as a cage fighter

“If you don’t know how to Wrestle, you don’t know how to fight. Wrestling is the prerequisite to fighting”
David “Tank” Abbott

“Very often one looks at a technique in the course of a class and you think, would this do the job on a maniac in the street? With Wrestling you were thinking, how can I tone this stuff down so that I don’t kill the maniac on the street?”
Geoff Thomspon

Wrestling is the core, the foundation. Wrestling is the pre-requisite to fighting. All other combative skill grows out of this.

Wrestling is so vastly under-rated as a martial art. The first class I took in Wrestling, I got thrown around like a rag doll. That’s in spite of the fact that I’d already been through some serious Ju-Jutsu training and a few years working as a Bouncer. Oh…Did I mention that the guys throwing me around were half my size. Anyone who tries to tell you Wrestling is “just brute strength” has clearly never done any real Wrestling.

What amazed me most about western Wrestling was how simple and natural the techniques are compared to Japanese Judo and Ju-Jutsu. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take Judo, however. Any form of grappling sport where you get to test yourself against a live, resisting opponent will do the trick. Even if you just wrestle “rough ‘n’ tumble” with your buddies you’ll still pick up a lot of useful skills.

The Berserker motto for Wrestling ought to be…
“Any where, any time, with rules or without.”

Clint

“When I went on the door, I was highly graded after twenty years of studying martial arts, and I realized straight away that what I had was not working: it was not only not working, it was laughable. And I discovered that in the real world where violence is the norm, most martial artists were ridiculed, they were not thought of as being credible in a real fight.”

“People often ask me what art I would select for a physical confrontation if I could only take up one discipline, and I tell them it would be boxing…”
Geoff Thompson: 6th Dan Karate, 1st Dan Kung Fu, 1st Dan Judo.

Now we get down to brass tacks and bare knuckles. Boxing WORKS! In the ring and on the streets, Boxing sets the standard. You can break all the boards and bricks and river-stones you want, but it doesn’t mean squat if you can’t land those strikes on target, under pressure.

A lot of martial artists like to disparage Boxing. They say it’s ‘just a sport.’ While I happen to agree that the modern rules are too restrictive, I find these criticisms fairly childish. The average Boxer will knock-out the average Karate player despite the fact that he’s been trained within the rules. Besides, what makes these people think a Boxer doesn’t know how to bite, thumb, elbow, head-butt and stomp?

Clint.

The link below leads to a short article by Ned Beaumont, the author of my all-time favorite boxing manual Championship Streetfighting.
http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/SportingLife.html

This next link leads to a page that is more focused on the traditional French Kickboxing style La Savate, but it also has a few nice essays on bare-knuckle Boxing and self defence.
http://www.savateaustralia.com

Western Martial Arts all tend to share certain fundamental traits that differentiate them from their eastern cousins. This is not so much a case of either/or but rather a matter of degrees and general tendencies. There are also certain characteristics that all effective arts will share, regardless of their cultural origin.

Simplicity
When your arse is on the line you need to K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Oriental martial arts instructors tend to make a lot of noise about skill and subtlety and ‘advanced’ techniques. Western style coaches talk a lot more about heart, spirit, conditioning and the importance of a focus on the basics.

To be fair, I don’t think this is really representative of true, classically trained oriental martial artists. Real warriors know the importance of simplicity, no matter where they come from. It is most definitely true of the average commercial instructor in business today. Commercially available eastern Martial Arts tend to be too much Art and not enough Martial.

Offensive Mindset
“The best defence is a good offence.” Western martial arts emphasize the advantage gained by seizing the initiative. Eastern martial arts tend to work on a two step defend-and-counter mentality. He does this, then you do that. “We wait for the attacker to attack and then we use his own energy against him.” That’s all crap.

“As far as physical self-defence is concerned, the only thing I found to be consistently effective in thousands of altercations, and watching thousands of altercations involving other people, was the pre-emptive attack… Most people are still teaching block-counter, or letting the opponent attack first, or trap-counter. And it’s all too late. If it’s going to be physical, it’s about learning to hit hard and learning to hit first. This is the only thing that works consistently.” Geoff Thompson

Competition
One of the most consistent, fundamental characteristics of western martial culture is our tendency to turn everything into a sport. In fact, I personally believe that we over-do the sports side to the point that we neglect good old-fashioned dirty fighting and basic self-defence.

Competition does serve its purpose though, it keeps us martial bastards honest. No more endless debates about which style is better or “If I was ever in a real fight, then I’d…” Get in the ring and try it out. Put up…or shut up.

Individualism
A tall man does not fight the same way a short man does. The student cannot be expected to fight the same way as the teacher.

In oriental martial culture, your fighting style is usually defined by the school you train at. The student is usually expected to mimic his “Master’s” movements exactly before he is allowed to begin developing his own methods. Western martial culture does not contain this same tendency towards dogmatism and guru-worship. Our Coaches understand that while there may be many ways to do something ‘wrong’, there are usually several ways to do it right.

Physical Conditioning
Fighting is a physical activity, so by definition you do actually have to be physically ‘fit’ to fight.

I really don’t even know why people bother to argue about this, you need to be in good shape anyway. It makes no sense to spend all your time worrying about muggers and rapists and Secret Chinese Death Matches and then drop dead of a heart-attack.

Clint.

I love Martial Arts.

Learning any true Martial Art is a cathartic experience. Realistic training is, by necessity, brutally hard and un-avoidably somewhat dangerous. It takes Courage to keep coming back to the gym day after day, week after week and year after year. It takes Discipline to maintain your composure while being punched in the face or crushed into the mat.

The Virtues that you develop through Martial Arts tend to spill over into other areas of your life. To endure the training you need to stay in shape, watch what you eat and control your drinking. The physical confidence that you develop begins to show through in your speech and posture and bearing.

Martial Arts training is the ideal form of Yoga for Heathenism.

The only problem is that most people think of Martial Arts as being something Oriental. This update has been planned as the first in a series celebrating the value of the misunderstood and often forgotten Western Martial Arts, a group of disciplines every bit as profound, transformative and as combat-effective as their oriental cousins.

Clint