This is also my understanding of it, Greco-Roman is neither Greek nor Roman but as Gene says traces its lineage to Norman Wrestling (as opposed to simply French). This would of course explain the French terminology of Greco-Roman wrestling, and it is something that has been brought up time and agai...
J., Again, read Mr. Clements article on continuity. You two probably agree with each other more than you think. I definitely agree with Mr Clements on a great number of things. John Clements is certainly a modern WMA/HEMA pioneer, and his work speaks for itself. In fact, along with a couple of other...
Mike, "Very little was made of shooting the horses out from under them, by the way." I would be very interested in looking up literature that talks about casulties amongst heavy calvary mounts from arrow fire. Intuitively, I should think that it would be very difficult to drop a horse at a...
James, An interesting episode of the European adaption of arms and armour to the prevaling conditions was with the early North American colonists. I can't find the source for this off hand -- one of my books -- so I'm a bit fuzzy on the whys and wherefores. By then the firearm had supplanted the bow...
Aaron, I always wonder why do Asian Martial Artists become suspicious of anything? Why are Western martial artists' interested in what Asain martial artists' have to say about authenticity? It is important to have a heathy respect for both, but I would never dream of going on a Asain martial arts de...
David, I admittedly know very little about archery, but I've often wondered if some longbow practice should augment our studies with melee weapons? I imagine that drawing the bow is an excellent form of resistance training. Archers were hardy folk. It should also be kept in mind that the English yeo...
Mr Clements, I dismiss this straw man argument. It's been discussed and soundly answered many times already (by several articles on this very website, in fact). With all due respect, I fail to see what's so "strawman" about my point, but if you could list the specific article(s) that addre...
Katherine, There's at least one period account of Agincourt, which mentions plate being penetrated. In addition, Sir John Smythe, in his Certain Discourses Military of 1590, noted that the maille panels of an arming doublet could be pierced (he mentions a specific plate-armored French knight who was...
I agree that many modern WMA reconstructionalists can be formidable. However, I suspect that one of the issues with AMA folks is not simply the case of whether or not what the current WMA/HEMA folk are doing is effective, but also its accuracy and historical/cultural validity. The fact that so many ...
I'm often asked "What kind of Martial Arts do you practice?" It's funny how puzzled people become when I explain that our art is not of Eastern origin. Some will find the subject facinating while others seem to strugle in finding it's validity. I think this skepticizm comes from the fact ...
What do we know about the style of esgrima used by the rodeleros (rondeliers; targetiers) that early 16th century Spain was so famous for? Was their espada y rodela similar to the Bolognese spada e rotella ? Are there any period treatises which cover this military form of swordsmanship, as opposed t...
Jay, No disagreement there except to say that judo as originally conceived by Kano was NOT a sport. It was corrupted into a sport after WW2, but still retains its nasty combat ways, which you can learn if you do the full range of kata and train with the right instructor. There was actually always a ...
Jay, That said, there is still a lot to be learned from an Olympic style wrestler. One must remember that the really bad stuff has been taken out of it because it is a sport, not combat. Actually, it's a combat sport . Anyway, I'm curious--you say that collegiate wrestlers can be defeated "rela...
