NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/alt/magick/6418

Text File | 1992-12-22 | 3.4 KB | 75 lines

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From: [e-mail] (John Greer)
Subject: Western Martial Arts (again) (was: Re: Chivalry)
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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:22:02 GMT
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Long, long ago, in a thread far, far away, there was a discussion going
on about martial arts in Western culture...

I took some time off to do some research (and, incidentally, get into a
thorough tangle in the Apocalypse thread).  To all those to whom I
promised a response or further info, my apologies for the delay!

Anyhow:

The question was posed:  were there ever any Western equivalents to the
various Oriental martial arts?

The answer, unambiguously, is yes.

As little as a hundred years ago you could go to establishments in
England to receive a comprehensive training in boxing, fencing with
the foil, broadsword, quarterstaff and assorted other weapons.  These
were integrated to the extent of having common stances and footwork.

There was also the singlestick, which was basically an English _shinai_
-- a hazel stick as big around as your thumb, with a basket hilt
(literally -- it was made of basketry).  Singlestick bouts were fought
to first blood.

From a little earlier in the 19th century, I've found honest-to-gawd
sword katas, for cavalry saber and sailor's cutlass, which were
practiced (by the hour!) by members of Her Majesty's armed forces.

Go back farther still and there's a whole tradition of "schools of
defence" (which is where the term "fencing" comes from, ultimately)
which were precisely equivalent to the classical Japanese _bujutsu_
schools.  Earlier today I was looking at two prints, an English
engraving of about 1650 and a Japanese ukiyo-e print of about 1700,
both showing schools of arms with training in full tilt; the clothes
and some of the weapons are different, but other than that there's
not a lot of difference.

These Western arts aren't esoteric martial arts, true enough. My
suspicion, though, is that neither were the great majority of their
contemporary Asian equivalents.  Currently, most karate, jujutsu
and judo is pretty thoroughly non-esoteric in nature; ditto the
classical Japanese _bujutsu_ systems, and the "external" or _wai-chia_
schools of kung-fu (i.e., the great majority of them).  These use
the same kind of skills and approaches as, say, fencing or -- another
European martial art I should have mentioned! -- the French art of
savate, which is one mean form of kickboxing.

The Asian martial arts that fall on the esoteric side of the line
are, as I think LeGrand pointed out a little while back, of fairly
recent origin, all things considered.  (Ninjutsu may be an exception
to this, but then how much is actually known about its history?)
It seems possible that the esoterization of the martial arts in Asia
isn't an ancient tradition, then, but a relatively recent development
which is just now beginning to spread to other parts of the world.
(Rather like the history of alchemy, in fact, if Joseph Needham's
theories are right...)

Maybe the best answer to the question of whether there are Western
esoteric martial arts, then, is:  not yet...

-- John Michael Greer
   [e-mail]