Stephen Zeringue wrote:...how do u all know that they are being interpreted correctly?
Stephen
No one can ever be completely sure that an interpretation is 100 percent correct. However, John Clements put in place for ARMA a very simple criteria that keeps ARMA scholars focused and moving forward. That criteria say that an interpretation must be historically valid and martially sound. Historically valid means that the interpretaiton must match the text of the historical documents. Martialy sound means that the application of an interpretation must work in sparring. You will heard John Clements speaking not only of Interpretation, but also Application. Regardless of how well an interpretation matchs the historical documents when that interpretation totally fails in sparring one can only assume that they are not really doing what the historica masters were describing, ie. the interpretation was wrong! Thus, there is a never ending cycle between Interpretation and Application.
The other thing that John Clements did to keep ARMA focused and moving forward with its interpretations was to remove from ARMA all activities that have a very negative affect upon martial arts interpretations and applications, such as role playing, re-enactment, and stage-fighting activities. A few ARMA members do engage in role playing, re-enactment, and stage-fighting activities, but those activities are kept completely separate from their ARMA training and practices.
