Western martial arts
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[edit] Overview
Western Martial Arts (WMA) refers to the European based fighting techniques and skills as opposed to the Asian rooted systems, and are further differentiated by the lack of a spiritual component common to most of the Asian systems. Western Martial Arts have seen a resurgence of interest since the beginning of the early 1990's, centered mainly on the study, recreation and preservation of medieval and renaissance swordsmanship and combat skills developed during the 14th through 18th centuries, which one may consider the modern outgrowth or superset of Historical European Martial Arts.
[edit] History
It is generally well accepted that there are no living masters of WMA swordsmanship because its practice was allowed to die out in the 18th century with the emergence of more effective combat skills, due largely to the introduction of firearms, which is why at this point WMA enthusiasts are trying to recreate the "art", whereas the Asian Martial Arts have been practiced continuously since their inception. The resurgence of WMA may have started with the interest in Renaissance Fairs and the Society for Creative Anachronism.
[edit] Weapons
Commonly used swords include longswords, arming swords and rapiers, and to a lesser extent smallswords and backswords (modern fencing with foil, épée, and sabre is a rather different sport). Clubs and maces were used as crushing weapons, spears, staves, various polearms, and flail weapons are used for longer reach and greater momentum. Shields include the buckler and the kite shield.
[edit] The Masters
WMA knowledge was originally passed down from master to student with very little written instruction or documentation. Manuals that were written during the medieval ages were most likely closely guarded documents commissioned by the nobility of the day for use only by the nobles themselves, their knights and masters at arms. There are a scarce handful of manuals written between the 15th and 17th centuries available today. One of the the most notable is the work of the Italian Maestro Fiore dei Liberi circa 1490, known as Fior di Battaglia, or Flos Duellatorum which roughly translates to "The Flower of Battle". Fiore is considered to be the earliest master of the Italian school of swordsmanship. This manual covers his studies in Dagger (Daga), Sword (Spada), Long Sword, Short Sword, Poleax, Staff, Stick, and Wrestling/Grappling (Abrazare), both on foot and mounted combat. Another well-known manual is the Fechtbuch Manuscript I.33 (pronounced "One thirty-three" rather than "Eye-thirty-three") which deals with 13th century German Sword & Buckler skills, and now resides in the collection of the Royal Armouries in Leeds, England. The German Master Johannes Lichtenauer started a whole tradition of masters in the German school of swordsmanship and Fiore likely began with the work of the Germans and then built upon their work as a foundation. There were a number of Bolognese masters, such as Fillipo Vadi, Filippo Bartolomeo Dardi, Guido Antonio di Luca, Antonio Manciolino, Achille Marozzo, Angelo Viggiani dal Montone, and Giovanni Dall’Agocchie. The rapier masters include such masters as Salvator(e) Fabris, Camillo Agrippa, and Ridolfo Capo Ferro. In England George Silver and Joseph Swetnam were well-known fencing masters. Rince an Bhata Uisce Bheatha, a mode of combat better known as Bata which employs the Irish walking stick shillelagh, was invented by the Doyle clan of Ireland, though no one person can be ascribed as its creator.
[edit] Further Reading
The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts ( ARMA ) has a good deal of information available on their website as does The Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts which has a good library. Also ARMA has a rather extensive list of manuals available on their site. Each year as interest grows, more groups are being formed to preserve this "art", such as The Association for Historical Fencing More information can be found at many sites including Schola Gladiatoria which has a lot of good information on two main translations of Fiore's work, known as the Getty Translation and the Morgan Translation.
[edit] Schools and Training
There are a number of schools in the United States such as Schola Saint George that study Fiore, Tattershall School of Defense which also studies Fiore as well as other 14th through 19th century WMA, and Europe has a good deal of schools such as Schola Gladitoria located in West London, Great Britain.
In the United States there are a growing number of "Guilds" available for the inquisitive scholar, such as the Chicago Swordplay Guild, and the Rocky Mountain Swordplay Guild and throughout Europe there are also a growing number of "Academies of Arms".
"Nova Scrimia" in Italy researchs Italian fencing and fighting arts from 1300 to modern time and combine them for modern day-life martial arts. This group published several books on this field, in particular a detailed 1000 page study on "Flos Duellatorum". The linked group "Scrimia Schuola D'Armi" is an historical research group that develops protocols of philological studies on traditional fencing and italian fightings styles International Scrimia Organization - OIS
