I was asked by my instructor in the states to take one of the martial arts certifications! YAY, that means I now get to really study my ass off and train like a nut so I can be ready for this thing.
What my groups do is study European arms and armor from the point of view of their historical function and use and historical source litertaure as instructional fighting guides. It's a martial arts association, not a sport like you would see in some of the Asian / eastern martial arts where everything is a point. We don't conduct costumed role-playing nor hold tournaments and sporting competitions. We also do not perform choreographed fighting stunts. Accurate investigation and interpretation of historical European fighting skills is the primary objective.
So simply put they teach me how to actually do historical combat (as in to the death) as taught way back in the day. I not only have to learn how to fight but the history of it as well (extensively too). We use all types of weapons and fighting manuals of that time and try to get it all down exactly how it was taught. In other words there are no points or chivalry here, this is fight to the death and when someone's coming at you in battle you're not gonna be concerned with how not nice it is to stike someone when their backs are turned. If you turn your back on me in combat I will hit you and hit you hard!
What my groups do is study European arms and armor from the point of view of their historical function and use and historical source litertaure as instructional fighting guides. It's a martial arts association, not a sport like you would see in some of the Asian / eastern martial arts where everything is a point. We don't conduct costumed role-playing nor hold tournaments and sporting competitions. We also do not perform choreographed fighting stunts. Accurate investigation and interpretation of historical European fighting skills is the primary objective.
So simply put they teach me how to actually do historical combat (as in to the death) as taught way back in the day. I not only have to learn how to fight but the history of it as well (extensively too). We use all types of weapons and fighting manuals of that time and try to get it all down exactly how it was taught. In other words there are no points or chivalry here, this is fight to the death and when someone's coming at you in battle you're not gonna be concerned with how not nice it is to stike someone when their backs are turned. If you turn your back on me in combat I will hit you and hit you hard!
Also on the old sailing ships they would take all the captain's fancy belongings and put them in a little boat behind the ship while they were fighting. It was deemed hugely impolite to fire upon the captain's belongings in the boat.