Western martial arts
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Western Martial Arts (WMA) refers to formalised fighting techniques and skills of European origin, as distinct from those originating in Asia.
According to Greg Mele, as noted in the discussion page for this article, the term "Western Martial Arts", was originally coined by Pete Kautz of Alliance Martial Arts, and is used to reference the study, recreation and preservation of combat skills developed during the 14th through turn of the 20th centuries, and is often distinguished by the term Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA). The related terms historical fencing and Historical European Swordsmanship are specific to the recreation of weapon-based martial arts. WMA is now also used in reference to traditional European martial arts and combat sports such as savate, Jogo do Pau and catch-as-catch-can wrestling.
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[edit] History
Traditional Western martial arts often possess no formal, written histories, being transmitted from one generation to the next largely via oral tradition. This is especially the case with traditional forms of wrestling, stick fighting and knife combat associated with rural areas and/or with criminal subcultures.
The existence of living Masters from documented, unbroken lineages is debated in the western martial arts community. On the one hand, some affirm that there are no living masters of Historical European Martial Arts because their practice was largely allowed to die out from the 17th to 20th centuries, mostly due to the refinement of firearms (in terms of accuracy, as well as higher quality and lower cost of production). Others hold that Masters of historical fencing with verifiable lineages do exist for arts such as saber and rapier and that these, though more modern than two-handed longsword, still fall under the umbrella of WMA. Some practices such as military saber and lance from horseback were in use until the early 20th Century. Contemporary enthusiasts and scholars of HEMA which are considered to have no living Masters from unbroken lineages attempt to recreate the "art" using period sources, experience in existing living traditions, and practical experimentation, a process equivalent to that of other forms of experimental archaeology.
Commonly used swords in the historical source material include longswords, arming swords and rapiers, and to a lesser extent smallswords and backswords (modern fencing with foil, épée, and sabre is a very 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, along with a wide variety of other shapes.
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] Reconstruction
Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century masters whose martial arts are presently being reconstructed include Edward William Barton-Wright, the founder of Bartitsu; combat savate and stick fighting master Pierre Vigny; London-based boxer and fencer Rowland George Allanson-Winn; French journalist and self defence enthusiast Jean Joseph-Renaud and British quarterstaff expert Thomas McCarthy.
The Society for Creative Anachronism has made its own reconstruction of medieval armored foot combat,[citation needed] using real (modern-made) armor and weapons made largely of rattan, and regulated by a series of strict safety rules.[1]
[edit] Traditional styles
- Further information: Folk wrestling, academic fencing, savate, Jogo do Pau, and catch-as-catch-can
Some forms of European stick fighting and wrestling can trace direct teacher-student lineages back into the Nineteenth Century.
[edit] Modern sports
- Further information: classical fencing, savate, catch-as-catch-can, and wrestling
Wrestling, Javelin and Fencing (1896), Archery (1900), Boxing (1904), and more recently Judo (1964) and Tae Kwon Do (2000) are the martial arts that are featured as events in the modern Summer Olympic Games.
[edit] Combatives
- Further information: Hand to hand combat
Martial arts also developed among military and police forces
