Interest in the Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) is growing. And one of its big questions is whether it’s possible to rediscover a lost or disrupted art, by studying and copying the techniques depicted in the old fightbooks (training manuals) . . . ?
As a training tool, sparring has loads of physical / technical benefits.
But according to Professor Janet (Jay) O’Shea – who is both an academic and a martial arts practitioner – sparring has all kinds of sociopsychological benefits too.
Here are five key points from a lecture she gave on this last week . . .
One of my female martial arts blogger friends, Megan, has been training in Lightsaber Combat for the last few months. It looks like they have a lot of fun – but until now I didn’t really get it.
But having attended a lecture on this topic yesterday by Dr Ben Judkins (of Kung Fu Tea fame), a few things have fallen into place. Here are the key points he made, which suddenly put this seemingly bizarre art into a very interesting light . . .
“I felt my life was two-dimensional and black and white, while I wanted three dimensions and full color. I wanted fun and adventure! The Kung Fu movies of my childhood offered that dream—that escapist experience. So I quit my job … Continued
Training in the martial arts can be incredibly empowering for women. So surely watching movies about female martial arts experts who kick ass must be a truly inspiring and liberating experience? Well, not necessarily . . . I was lucky … Continued
“In the media-congested world of YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix and other digital platforms, it is perhaps surprising that Kung Fury, a 30-minute martial arts action comedy short which pays tribute to the culture of the 1980s, could have raised $630,000 via Kickstarter, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and attracted more than 13 millions views of its trailer […]”
Most of us are very clear on the ways that martial arts have changed us, and made us better people. But how can we also use martial arts to help others grow? And can the martial arts even be used to transform wider society . . . ?
Unfortunately, academic writing often turns people right off. Even if it’s original and well-researched, many people just find it dry, wordy, full of jargon – and generally boring and hard to get through. But in the martial arts, we’re perhaps … Continued